brakes hanging & O/D lightflashing..

[O.Madsen]

Please tell me there is a good chance that these 2 things are connected...

Just got the big tires on yesterday and today me & the Mrs. went out to the mountains to find a spot to "use them"... Well. We didnt get that far. After visiting a small village in the mountians i got worried...

U see. If anyone remembers i got the rear discs & pads changed 2 weeks ago - maybe 3...
Since then i have had a REALLY irritating sound when braking really subtle and close to a complete standstill... Like dust shields vibrating and sounding annoying as h*ll... And it has sometimes been "whistling" when driving. As like one or more of the brakes were hanging... Really irritating. I have been passive and kept an eye on if it went away.. The sounds and when they occured has been dofferent you see. So i was sure that if i went to the shop to complain, they would take it for a spin and there was nothing.. You know how life is..

Well. Back to today...

When going downhill (and it was STEEP), the truck LOST speed.. as it usually does not do in Drive.. And cruising after on flat ground, seemed to need much more engine power than usual. At that point i had put it to a hold several times, and the brakes (i think in 2 corners ) were "making noise" a low pitch when driving slow and a high pitch going fast...
Right there i thought " ok, no more fun. We are going home". So we did... Then the ramp going on to the highway was uphill. And being mountains around madrid, they are often up hill. This one too. Quite a lot. I ended up giving it full throttle, but was stuck at around 40 miles an hour, all the way up. The revs were about 500-800 higher than normal at this speed on the speedo and the tranny had no intention of shifting up, as it normally would in a situation like this...
I got a bit worried. It felt like i was towing a motorhome. Really. I found out that picking up speed downhill and going around 70 miles an hout, gave me enought power/revs to make it up the steep hills without winding up doing 30. ( i rarely go full throttle and this allowed me not to)...

After going on the highway and having to give the truck OT uphill i shortly after saw my O/D light flashing... And i got really upset... I dont know when it came on. I was listening to "The regulator" with Clutch (some of u must know them...AWESOME really loud and maybe it was when i revved it bad, and maybe some minutes later i dunno.. But. It started flashing...

Being new to this Explorer stuff i got worried as hell! You cant pull over on the highways here around madrid. You will die. Seriously. So. I got the Mrs to take out the owners manual to see what that meant. O/D worked fine, and i suspected my worst fear... That means tranny problems..

The stupid thing about this though, is, that i didnt see that in the manual. It say nowhere that if that light flashes, it means transmission problems.. I drove all the way home, with an invisible motorhome draging along and found out, searching here.... Thank you Ford For not telling that. Besides that.. This is really weird.. Im danish and i bought an american truck here in madrid and... the owners manual is spanish? : Thats weird.. And my spanish sucks, so i have a hard time getting it.. And the Mrs is spanish, but knows so little about cars, that she doesnt even know how to translate it for me.. .. Well..

The thing i am hoping, is that i got that light, because of overheating in the tranny. Because the brakes were "active".. and GOOD.. And uphill half the time even...
But im thinking many things here...Sounds from the brakes has been there since i got them changed (it has varied a lot), But i have had that light before. Last week i checked the tranny fluid level.. In park, had been driving 20 miles and was warm... When i pulled the stick, it was almost dry. Only a drop in the bottom "snail".. And as i know, it should be in the xxxxx zone when in working temp. Tried several times, but got the same.. So i poured almost a quart dexron III untill it looked as i should again...
But. this is the bad thing now.. Parking the truck after that horrible ride home, made me want to first check the fluid level.. I did.. And it was WAY over the xxxx field..

I dont get it. First it shows like.. Nothing. Now it showed WAY too much... So .. Now i dont know where to start... Apparantly i dont even know how to check the level in the tranny...

This is what i will do tomorrow morning, hoping that this IS realted to tranny "overload".. (and has not made damage):

First. I will clear the memory from the ECU.

Then. I will start the truck to see if it comes on. First at startup and if not, i will take it for a spin and see if i can get it to come on. (although. I will not stress the drivetrain as i had to getting home. So i dont know how far i get in testing).. But..
3rd.. When its been warmed up i will check that tranny fluid level again.. Cause. I simply dont get it.. I hope it makes sense tomorrow..

Im sure you have additional troubleshooting, that why im here. I need some guidance... And. To read the code.. No can do.. Noone has anything to read codes from this vehicle..

Thanks!

Ole

 

[O.Madsen]

Another thing..

Anyone have a link to a good explanation in how the auto tranny works.. with some exploded views and stuff...
I need it bad. You see.. This is very different from the european autos i have had.. They have oil.. For lubrication only.. Id like to understand how this thing works specificly.. Especially right now... :-(

 

[O.Madsen]

Ok...

Is it just me, or reading the tranny stick is not that easy.. Can anyone give me a trick?

First off. I checked the fluid after coming home from my dreadful trip. When i dip it, its like 50/50 what i read on it.. half the time it looks good, the other half.. Not good..

Well. I pulled the - off the batt. started up to see if the OD started flashing.. It didnt. I went for seeral rtest runs, gave it hell to try and mimic the day before.. But nothing.. I thought. Ok. Overheating.. Beacuser of those goddamn brakes hanging..
Well this morning i left for my job.. Half way there, i get the flash again. I was focusing a lot on it and from the beginning i have this feeling that its slippping a little. Not much, but it doesnt "grab" the gears as expected. when it goes into the high gear doing 60 miles, i can press the gas further down and the engine revs and the trcuk climbs SLOWLY up... Its slipping..

The ****ty thing here was that i was forced to drive it home also.. i did. But parking it gave me a new experience.. Some LOUD ugly "clunks" when changing gears.. That was horrible. I went out to read the fluid level and it seemed low.. But again.. Its damn hard to read. But. I was pretty coinvinced that i needed more fluid. I added some. About 1-1,5 quarts..

But the problem is that i dont think i can read it clearly. When you add, it sits all over the tube for the stick and confuses me...

Does anyone have a good way of doing this, so youre not in doubt?

Anyways.. My fluid looks more like engine oil than tranny fliud.. Its brown-ish.. Its time for a complete change..

BTW: Adding more fluid made the horrible gearchange sounds disappear again.. That was a relief.