Damaged Transmission Case

[iowa_hick]

Recently I was having an issue with the transmission in my 2002 Eddie Bauer with the 4.6l engine. Based on research on this board and a few other places, I concluded it was the servo pins, which I replaced with the version with o-rings. This must have been the issue, because the transmission worked flawlessly when I was done and I drove it around 50 miles afterwards with no issues.

Unfortunately, it appears that when I reinstalled the snap ring for the servo pin, I must have damaged the lip on the transmission case that retains it, because this morning when I moved the Explorer the snap ring and a section of that lip popped off, followed by the majority of my transmission fluid.

Does anyone know if there's any way to repair the case in a situation like this? If it comes down to replacing the transmission, I'll probably just have to scrap the truck out because it's not worth the cost.

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Jake

 

[410Fortune]

how big of a section of the lip?
That is unfortunate!! I believe the trans case will need replaced
There are some band aid fixes, I have not seen one yet just heard of them in the past

Your transmission is a 5r55s, this happens ALL the time....its a crappy design with that tiny lip and snap ring, which is under alot of pressure....you really have to make sure the snap ring is seated
pita

 

[iowa_hick]

Unfortunately it's a pretty good sized section, I'm guessing about 1/3 of the circumference.

So, not having the snap ring fully seated likely caused this?

Thanks!
Jake

 

[transman304]

Was the area heavily corroded around servo cap? Likely will need a case at minimum. You might try cleaning the snap ring and grove thoroughly and reinstall with ring opening across from broken area.
Brad

 

[iowa_hick]

It didn't look that corroded, but I think I did something stupid. The old transmission fluid was pretty dirty, so I was worried the clutches were badly worn. I decided that two bottles of Lucas transmission fix would help things. Looking back, that plus the sub zero temperature we're having right now probably just made the pressure higher that the snap ring could hold.