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Automatic Transmission problem?

Karin

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
7
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City, State
Kunszentmiklos, Hungary
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 4L petrol automatic
Hi

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I'm new, and female, so please let me off...! ;)

My 1998 4 litre automatic petrol Explorer (US import) has something wrong which we can't diagnose.

Let me explain, that I live in Hungary, so the local garages are more used to dealing with Trabants and Ladas (and Suzukis because they make them here!) I'm really struggling to get any help with my car at all.

My car was running perfectly, no problems at all. I stopped somewhere, then when I went back to my car, I put her in reverse, and backed off the shop forecourt, it made a really awful noise - like something was grating underneath. I checked all around and could find/see nothing. I managed to coax the car to the nearest garage - the steering felt awful, the brakes felt over-sharp and I had trouble actually getting her 'going' the word 'lazy' kind of describes how the car felt.

The mechanic (for want of a better word) told me everything from:

You need new brakepads (They are fine)
Your gearbox is falling off (Honest!)
Your handbrake is stuck on (No it wasn't)

To me, the car feels like it is in 4-wheel drive. You know the 'vibration' and heavy feeling you get through the steering wheel if you are in 4WD on tarmac? Which I know is really bad for my car!

Another very good and well respected local mechanic looked at my car yesterday and said that either the Automatic Transmission is failing, and / or the car is stuck in 4WD. I asked him to fix either/both problems, he said he couldn't - he didn't know where to start - and he knew no-where in Hungary I could take the car to! Apparently there are only 2 or 3 other Ford Explorers in Hungary - no-one knows how to work on them, and they are too 'technical'!!!

So....PLEASE anyone, any thoughts, ideas, things I could try?

Any ideas why this could have happened so suddenly when my car was previously running really sweet?

Anyone want a free holiday on a farm in the middle of no-where in Hungary if you fix my car!!? ;)

I would really appreciate some advice, or ideas. Although I'm a girl, I can cope with some technical info, but don't scare me too much. ;)

THANK YOU. :)
 






Welcome to this forum! It sounds like it's stuck in 4 low gear on the transfer case. Was it put into this setting for some reason (off roading or driving on rugged terrain)? Check the position of the shift motor. There is a sticky thread in the transmission section on how to repair the shift motor.
 






Hi BrooklynBay :)

No, I didn't put it in 4WD, I just parked up at a shop, then when I reversed away something was horribly wrong!

Thanks for the 'sticky' info.

After I've finished ripping the floor out of my horse trailer, (Seemed like a good idea at the time!) I'm going to go check out the shift motor.

I'm actually beginning to feel slightly encouraged that maybe I can fix this problem... even if none of the Hungarian mechanics can! ;)

Cheers. :)
 






If you decide to open the transfer case, check the shift fork, and the rail inside of it. There are some sticky threads about rebuilding the transfer case with pictures to help you out. Another possibility is that the low/reverse servo in the transmission is dragging. It could make it feel like it's in 1st gear. Shift from reverese to 1st gear, and vise versa a few times, and see if it helps.
 






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