Dropping the Tranny on a 2000 Explorer XLT...some questions! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Dropping the Tranny on a 2000 Explorer XLT...some questions!

NWTPilot

Member
Joined
July 30, 2013
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
City, State
Hay River, Northwest Territories
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Explorer XLT
Hi Folks - been reading through the forums for the last few weeks, preparing for this job. Boss gave me a 2000 Explorer XLT ( 4x4, V6, 4.0L, SOHC ) that had a a blown reverse band in the tranny.

Picked up a donor tranny ( 5R55E ) from a local guy and now putting it in.

Just a note, I live in the Northwest Territories in Canada. The nearest auto wrecker is a 6 hour drive, shipping is horrific. I can order parts from a local shop, but cant just run down to the pick-a-part like I used to...

Picked up a Ford Service Manual and a Haynes manual ( the Haynes is to mop up coffee spills off the service manual..haha )

Anyhow, inevitably....challenges...

So, I got the rear drive shaft off, no problem. Front drive shaft at the front diff, no sweat. Front drive shaft from the T.Case, problem.

The propeller joint / CV assembly does'nt want to come off the output flange of the T Case. I did some googling and reading through a billion forum posts here and it looks like it is supposed to just slide out of the transfer case flange once the 6 bolts w/ strap plates are taken off.

Nu-uh, wont budge. Beat it with a rubber mallet, no joy. screwdriver and hammer to try and break ( what I think is just corrosion in the flange ) it apart, no luck.

Finally, looking at the transfer case, I " think " I can simply undo the T Case, with the front driveshaft disconnected at the diff, giving me enough room to slide the transfer case off the transmission shaft and rotate it down and out of the way, STILL CONNECTED TO THE FRONT DRIVESHAFT. Since the tranny will have enough room to back off the flexplate with the t/case hanging down, rotated down and out of the way, hanging off the front driveshaft.

Nagging doubts tell me that they wouldn't tell me to take it (the t/case )out without good reason, but I'm at a loss to try and disconnect the d/s from the front output flange on the T Case.

Went ahead and unbolted the t/case and slid it back far enough to come off the transmission shaft, where it sits in the garage right now, draining into my catch bin. Havent tried rotated it downward yet, as my fat fingers needed to be cooled off around a cold aluminum beverage can from getting that top $%&#@ bolt off the t/case.

Oh, and I'm aware of the sensitivity of the rubber boot on the propeller joint / CV of the front driveshaft and would make sure that any weight of the transfer case is taken up with blocks to make sure the front shaft doens't pinch the boot.

Also, want to thank all the folks who went before me and posted lots of fantastic info on this site. Its been a great help so far for this novice knuckle-banger. I'd like to think I can contribute a bit with this thread as I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go.

Looking forward to my new wheels!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Ok, so an update.

T Case slid off the shaft and rotated down and out of the way quite nicely. So far so good! Looks like lots of room behind the extension housing to slide the tranny back/down/out when the time comes. We'll see if half-removing the T Case comes back to bite me....

Moving onto the starter, came off pretty easy, motor had recently been swapped out so the last mechanic kindly put some anti seize on the bolts. The top bolt is still a PITA to get at. I'm finding that a stubby ratchet is a very handy thing to have with the limited swing room in some of these spots.

Flexplate to Torque converter nuts were next, accessed through the starter opening on the bell housing.

Took me a bit to figure out that the Harmonic Balancer Nut that I need to access to spin the crank and thus flex plate, was a 19MM. Seeing as how you can actually see it, working from underneath you can thread a socket w/ extension up through some of the cooler lines and sort of feel around in the Balancer housing for the nut in the middle with the socket.

Was pleasantly surprised to find that with one hand working the ratchet w/ breaker bar, I could scooch forward underneath the truck and with a flashlight, actually see through the starter housing opening and watch my nut come into view as I turned the engine over. Clockwise, as suggested.

My little stubby ratchet came into play again as I tried to break the nuts, unfortunately, the limited swing also gave me limited torque and couldn't break the nuts loose. Finally figured out that I could string a approx 2 foot extension through the front, under the rad and it lines up perfectly with the starter housing. Little bit of a process doing this all solo though. Hook up the balancer ratchet, rotate the engine to bring the nut into view, hook up the ratchet to the extension and fit a socket onto the nut, break it, crank it off with the stubby once broken, and then back to the balancer to bring the next nut into view.

Between my day job flying airplanes and my night job tending to a wife and three year old daughter, I can only give this project a couple hours a day. Since I'm a novice as well, what some of you could probably do in an hour takes me a couple sessions!

Anyhow, next up is disconnecting the shift linkage, electrical harness and sensors from the old tranny. Then its Catalytic convert ( LH ), crossmember and tranny support and finally yank the old boat anchor out!

Any tips or tricks would be most welcome! Hopefully some dirty, knuckle-scuffed poor ******* some years down the line can use this info!
 






I just recently removed my 96 Explorer tranny (4X4 v6) I'll tell you what caught me up the most:
The driveshaft bolts (came from Qouge NY so rust rust rust)

The flexplate was really hard to turn, so to remove compression I removed a spark plug and it became easier from that.

I didn't remove any catalytic converter exhaust...they were rusted on. Even torched them to red hot but they didn't break loose. I left it in. Took an extra 2 hrs or so to remove the trans with it in, but it can be done.

Torque converter probably won't cause any problems for you removing...it won't fall out as long as you keep it slightly tipped backwards. The input shaft is long enough on the tranny to keep it seated in the bellhousing.

ANother thing...when the tranny is out, you'll figure out how easy the flexplate is to move around with TWO hands instead of one screwdriver...lol

Good luck with it!
 






Ok, onwards and upwards.

Lets see, got the crossmember and rear transmission support piece out, no problems. realized as soon as it was out, that the T Case, along with still-attached front drive shaft, can now be slid right out, easy peezy, japaneesy.

Which is a good thing, as the space where the TCase sits at the rear of the transmission is very valuable real estate coming up, in removing the transmission to engine bolts.

Glad my donor tranny had a complete wiring harness still hooked up to it, so I could review all the clips that hold the various sensors on. Seriously, why cant automakers just pick one electrical clip design and stick with it? why does every single clip need to be different?? When you're laying on your back reaching up into little dark recesses to try and undo something, its gotta be one-handed or its an acrobatic nightmare.

Anyhow! Went to undo the cooler lines on the passenger side of the tranny and that was unnecessarily difficult. Working from underneath, I could just barely get the two wrenches in there, one to hold the case fitting and the other to undo the line nut. Just barely holding the wrench with my fingertips, it was a 1/8th turn at a time, fingers bruised and cramping, trying to work around the exhaust pipes and the RH Cat.

After that, decided to remove the center console to get bettor access to the dreaded top-two bellhousing bolts and found.....perfect top-down access to the cooler lines I had just finished fighting for two hours. Sigh. If anyone's reading, take the console out and use the hatch for the cooler lines...waaay easier.

The hatch didn't do much for access to the bell housing bolts, but it was also an easy disconnect of the two O2 sensors from up here, trying to disconnect them from below would have been very hard. I probably would have left them till the tranny was being worked out and got them then.

There is some really good posts on here ( sorry, too much of a luddite to link them ) on how to remove the centre console. When it gets to the part about beating the console with a hammer and piece of wood to get it to slide backwards off the clips...they are right, you have to BEAT on it. I was two angry swings away from giving up when it finally popped out. Glad I removed the CD changer before the beating began, that thing would just be a box of loose parts had I left it in.

Luckily for me, the truck I'm working on recently had an engine swap, so the Trans-to-engine bolts are recent and properly anti-seized. They even did me a favour and didn't bolt the dipstick or vent tubes to the top of the bellhousing either, so two less bolts to go after.

Access is really only from the rear, with 3 feet of extensions on a ratchet. You have to get your head right up to the back of the extension housing to see as you line up the sockets or have someone else up front guide them on by feel, working from underneath.

I have come across a little hangup though, one bolt on the drivers side, right behind the cat. flange rounded off nicely as I tried to take it out. Got all the others out with little effort, but that one just slips in the socket now.

Went online and found a nice set of Irwin Bolt Extractor sockets for 30 bucks off Amazon, so I'm going to order a set and stand down till they arrive. They look promising and are very well reviewed. Sort of a helical fluting inside the socket, hammer it down onto your stripped bolt head and it bites into the metal and tightens down the more torque you put to it. Like I said, they are fresh bolts, so I'm hoping it doesn't put up too much of a fight.

I took a four foot snipe to the bolts on the flange of the cat pipes to try and get the LH cat out of the way, but they wont budge. As fordgreen helpfully noted, I think the tranny will come out with the cat in place, with a little extrra wrestling. Hopefully I can avoid dropping it on my face in the process. If I keep trying to undo the bolts, I'm just going to snap off a bolt head or my ratchet and then I'll be sorry.

Once its out, I'll have enough room to just hacksaw the bolts off, remove the cat in preparation for the tranny install and just put new bolts on.

So far, so good!
 






Ok, onwards and upwards.

Lets see, got the crossmember and rear transmission support piece out, no problems. realized as soon as it was out, that the T Case, along with still-attached front drive shaft, can now be slid right out, easy peezy, japaneesy.

Which is a good thing, as the space where the TCase sits at the rear of the transmission is very valuable real estate coming up, in removing the transmission to engine bolts.

Glad my donor tranny had a complete wiring harness still hooked up to it, so I could review all the clips that hold the various sensors on. Seriously, why cant automakers just pick one electrical clip design and stick with it? why does every single clip need to be different?? When you're laying on your back reaching up into little dark recesses to try and undo something, its gotta be one-handed or its an acrobatic nightmare.
Dumb. Very. Every connector is different in the way they're routed through. I actually removed the connectors AFTER the tranny was halfway down. I could sit up and lie on top of the top of the trans and reach those measly top connections. Especially the main plug. Hassle in and out.

Anyhow! Went to undo the cooler lines on the passenger side of the tranny and that was unnecessarily difficult. Working from underneath, I could just barely get the two wrenches in there, one to hold the case fitting and the other to undo the line nut. Just barely holding the wrench with my fingertips, it was a 1/8th turn at a time, fingers bruised and cramping, trying to work around the exhaust pipes and the RH Cat.

After that, decided to remove the center console to get bettor access to the dreaded top-two bellhousing bolts and found.....perfect top-down access to the cooler lines I had just finished fighting for two hours. Sigh. If anyone's reading, take the console out and use the hatch for the cooler lines...waaay easier.
Welcome to my world. lol...:D That is a brilliant idea! I never removed that panel beneath the console. Never needed to. Next time i put a trans in though, that panel is OUT!
The hatch didn't do much for access to the bell housing bolts, but it was also an easy disconnect of the two O2 sensors from up here, trying to disconnect them from below would have been very hard. I probably would have left them till the tranny was being worked out and got them then.
There is some really good posts on here ( sorry, too much of a luddite to link them ) on how to remove the centre console. When it gets to the part about beating the console with a hammer and piece of wood to get it to slide backwards off the clips...they are right, you have to BEAT on it. I was two angry swings away from giving up when it finally popped out. Glad I removed the CD changer before the beating began, that thing would just be a box of loose parts had I left it in.
I recently removed my center console, (master detail of the Ex) and it slid right out. 4 Bolts, one bolt on a connecter, pulled backwards a couple times and out she came. I had both front seats out so I was in the back yanking and tugging on the thing.

Luckily for me, the truck I'm working on recently had an engine swap, so the Trans-to-engine bolts are recent and properly anti-seized. They even did me a favour and didn't bolt the dipstick or vent tubes to the top of the bellhousing either, so two less bolts to go after.

Access is really only from the rear, with 3 feet of extensions on a ratchet. You have to get your head right up to the back of the extension housing to see as you line up the sockets or have someone else up front guide them on by feel, working from underneath.
Nasty, I know. THough, it wasn't the hardest part of the trans removal, it was pretty close. Since mine were never removed, (197k), and were rusty, (NY), they were pleasant to remove. You used 1/2 inch drives and extenders, correct? I had to use a torque bar to get the two top ones out. Lotsa blood and tears but all in all it's worth it!

I have come across a little hangup though, one bolt on the drivers side, right behind the cat. flange rounded off nicely as I tried to take it out. Got all the others out with little effort, but that one just slips in the socket now.

Went online and found a nice set of Irwin Bolt Extractor sockets for 30 bucks off Amazon, so I'm going to order a set and stand down till they arrive. They look promising and are very well reviewed. Sort of a helical fluting inside the socket, hammer it down onto your stripped bolt head and it bites into the metal and tightens down the more torque you put to it. Like I said, they are fresh bolts, so I'm hoping it doesn't put up too much of a fight.

I took a four foot snipe to the bolts on the flange of the cat pipes to try and get the LH cat out of the way, but they wont budge. As fordgreen helpfully noted, I think the tranny will come out with the cat in place, with a little extrra wrestling. Hopefully I can avoid dropping it on my face in the process. If I keep trying to undo the bolts, I'm just going to snap off a bolt head or my ratchet and then I'll be sorry.

Once its out, I'll have enough room to just hacksaw the bolts off, remove the cat in preparation for the tranny install and just put new bolts on.

So far, so good!
As I mentioned before, I never removed the exhaust anything. Not even the o2 sensors. Since all the bolts and o2's were either rusted to *$%# or rounded over, I left it in. Cats and all. It took an excessive extra 2-4 hrs to remove, but I've proven that you don't need to remove the exhaust to replace a trans.

When putting the trans in with the o2 sensor and the exhaust in the way, you have to rotate the trans on the tranny jack to the left, then up slightly to get over them. Hassle? Yes. Worth it? Yes.

Heck, better then a hacksaw, torch, and a sawzall, IMO at least.

Don't forget to remove that transmission dipstick tube. Small, but in the way.

Goodluck on your tranny replacement. Hope you enjoy putting it back in as much as you did taking it out! :D
 






Licked!

Yeah Baby. Got her all done this past couple days.

Learned lots for next time too. Don't need to disconnect the front driveshaft from the T-Case, take her out, shaft and all. Once the cross member is out, she slides right out, still bolted up to the TCase. Bonus is, the six bolts on the CV joint, with the little bands, never need be removed. Service manual says don't re-use them and Dealer wants 6 bucks PER BOLT for a new set....Zoiks!

Transmission can definitely come in and out without removing the exhaust(LH Cat ) a little bit of a struggle to wigggle her in and out, two guys under the truck balancing the tranny and knees, hands, beer guts and occasionally the side of my face, to get her out and eventually, back in again.

BUT. There is one pitfall.

Seems like one of the worst traps is getting the Tranny mounted back up there with an unseated Torque Converter.

Lots of threads on here detailing the best case scenario of an unseated TQ, re-doing the whole tranny swap, pull it all the way back out again, seat and then back in again. Major PITA.

Worst case, get everything bolted up and go to start her and rip the pump shaft teeth off. You're done.

One of the best catches to tell if you have an unseated TQ is when you go to mate her up to the bellhousing. If you have to use bolts to pull it onto the bellhousing and alignment dowels, STOP. Make darn sure the TQ is seated properly before going any further, it should slide right onto the dowlels and input shaft.

Problem is, if you left the LH Cat on, you dont have room for a tranny jack and have spent an hour or more wrestling and twisting the tranny back up there, generally with it ending up sitting on top of the Cat. The only way I could see to get it to the bellhousing ( working alone ) was to use the bolts to pull it on.

I decided to double check with the old busted tranny ( which had its TQ in it still ) the clearance between the face of the TQ and the bellhousing when it is properly seated. My tranny, now up and an inch and a half away from the bellhousing, did NOT have its TQ properly seated. I neglected to use a holding tool ( highly recommend, especially if wrestling and twisting the beast up and over the exhaust ), and she slid out two full "clicks".

Played around with the dead tranny and found that if you spin the TQ quickly enough, its easy as pie to just push gently in on the shaft and she pops all the way in, all three clicks.

With less than two inches clearance to access the TQ in the half-mount tranny, resting atop the LH cat, I came up with a homemade kludge that worked quite well.

I took a little soft rubber "puck", about an inch and a half diameter and 3/4 inches thick, drove a sheet metal screw with a hex-head on it right through it and mounted it on a drill. I could spin the TQ a bit with my fingertips to get it started, apply the Spin-O-Matic(TM) to the inner face of the TQ and she'd spool up nicely. Once it got going fast enough, a little light pressure on the shaft and I was rewarded with three clicks and the right amount of clearance to prove it was seated all the way. You could probably use on those little super-rubber balls too for the same effect. Just needs to be soft, tacky rubber that you can drive a screw through and get her spinning on a drill.

Anyhow, as FordGreen mentions, the worst part about wrestling it up there is getting it past the o2 sensors, it does in fact need to be twisted/rotated sideways a bit to get it in there. I also got hung up on one corner the body/floor pan, but since I only needed a half inch, I took a chisel and hammer and proceeded to flatten that corner out from underneath till I could get the tranny by it. You'd never see the small bump from inside, under the carpet, under your feet or the seats..

Tranny up and mounted, everything bolted up nicely.

I had to use the floor hatch quite a bit this time and would definitely not do this job without the hatch, especially on install.

Original wiring harness that came with the truck and its busted tranny had two 02 sensor hookups as well as two 16-pin connectors on the front of the unit. Donor tranny had only one o2 hookup and one 16-pin. I'm pretty sure this truck has had a motor swap at some point, so it might be why. I lloked at everything I could find online and could not find any reference to a 5r55E tranny with two connectors to hook into the trucks wiring.

I could reach the passenger side 16-pin connector from the hatch, working one-handed, blind, I hooked it up on the first try. Blind luck.

Drivers side hookup was a little more challenging, but was much easier with the front left wheel off and accessing it through the wheel well.

As mentioned by someone else, when filling the TCase with fluid, make sure you aren't getting a "false-full". There is a little ledge inside the TCase right behind the fill hole which can back up and overflow if your pouring too quick, causing it to overflow out and appear full. I took a small diameter hose and worked it about thee inches into the Case, routed the hose up and over the T Case and into the cabin through the floor hatch, where I attached my funnel. Book lists 1.5 Quarts as capacity and I think it took just over that.

Got the donor tranny for 200 bucks, battery, filters, fluids, plugs, wires and a couple extra tools for another 300. 500 dollars in, plus a good two weeks of evenings and weekends and I have a 2000 XLT with a full load. ( including Reverse!! )

She'd been sitting in the weeds for about three years, so now that Ive had it on the road for a few days, I'll be moving on to a couple more little fixes.

Big thanks to previous posters, this site is awesome!

I don't know how me and my buddies ever pulled off some of the repairs we did back in the day without a resource like this! ( I do know actually, our successful completion versus mangled tools/parts/limbs ratio was a lot different! )
 






Yeah Baby. Got her all done this past couple days.

Learned lots for next time too. Don't need to disconnect the front driveshaft from the T-Case, take her out, shaft and all. Once the cross member is out, she slides right out, still bolted up to the TCase. Bonus is, the six bolts on the CV joint, with the little bands, never need be removed. Service manual says don't re-use them and Dealer wants 6 bucks PER BOLT for a new set....Zoiks!
IDK what you're reffering to...whatever it is, I wouldn't pay that crapload of money for stupid bolts. LOL

Transmission can definitely come in and out without removing the exhaust(LH Cat ) a little bit of a struggle to wigggle her in and out, two guys under the truck balancing the tranny and knees, hands, beer guts and occasionally the side of my face, to get her out and eventually, back in again.
Yep. It is hard, but doable.

BUT. There is one pitfall.

Seems like one of the worst traps is getting the Tranny mounted back up there with an unseated Torque Converter.

Lots of threads on here detailing the best case scenario of an unseated TQ, re-doing the whole tranny swap, pull it all the way back out again, seat and then back in again. Major PITA.

Worst case, get everything bolted up and go to start her and rip the pump shaft teeth off. You're done.

One of the best catches to tell if you have an unseated TQ is when you go to mate her up to the bellhousing. If you have to use bolts to pull it onto the bellhousing and alignment dowels, STOP. Make darn sure the TQ is seated properly before going any further, it should slide right onto the dowlels and input shaft.
TQ wasn't too big of a beast for me, the trans alignment pins was the kicker. IDKW so many people have issues with seating the TQ in...I know it is important...but it's just too hard not to...:)

Problem is, if you left the LH Cat on, you dont have room for a tranny jack and have spent an hour or more wrestling and twisting the tranny back up there, generally with it ending up sitting on top of the Cat. The only way I could see to get it to the bellhousing ( working alone ) was to use the bolts to pull it on.
Actually, when putting the tranny in, I used the exhaust to hold up the front of the trans , while I messed around with the rear side.

I decided to double check with the old busted tranny ( which had its TQ in it still ) the clearance between the face of the TQ and the bellhousing when it is properly seated. My tranny, now up and an inch and a half away from the bellhousing, did NOT have its TQ properly seated. I neglected to use a holding tool ( highly recommend, especially if wrestling and twisting the beast up and over the exhaust ), and she slid out two full "clicks".

Played around with the dead tranny and found that if you spin the TQ quickly enough, its easy as pie to just push gently in on the shaft and she pops all the way in, all three clicks.

With less than two inches clearance to access the TQ in the half-mount tranny, resting atop the LH cat, I came up with a homemade kludge that worked quite well.

I took a little soft rubber "puck", about an inch and a half diameter and 3/4 inches thick, drove a sheet metal screw with a hex-head on it right through it and mounted it on a drill. I could spin the TQ a bit with my fingertips to get it started, apply the Spin-O-Matic(TM) to the inner face of the TQ and she'd spool up nicely. Once it got going fast enough, a little light pressure on the shaft and I was rewarded with three clicks and the right amount of clearance to prove it was seated all the way. You could probably use on those little super-rubber balls too for the same effect. Just needs to be soft, tacky rubber that you can drive a screw through and get her spinning on a drill.

Anyhow, as FordGreen mentions, the worst part about wrestling it up there is getting it past the o2 sensors, it does in fact need to be twisted/rotated sideways a bit to get it in there. I also got hung up on one corner the body/floor pan, but since I only needed a half inch, I took a chisel and hammer and proceeded to flatten that corner out from underneath till I could get the tranny by it. You'd never see the small bump from inside, under the carpet, under your feet or the seats..
Actually, got a lil impatient and got a 2LB hammer and whacked away at the edge of that metl that is convieniantly in the way. Sure messy up there but the trans is in.

Tranny up and mounted, everything bolted up nicely.

I had to use the floor hatch quite a bit this time and would definitely not do this job without the hatch, especially on install.
Haha, now I find out..lol, it was a kick in the butt for me because I was too lazy to remove that access panel. Next time, like I menotined, that panel is going.

Original wiring harness that came with the truck and its busted tranny had two 02 sensor hookups as well as two 16-pin connectors on the front of the unit. Donor tranny had only one o2 hookup and one 16-pin. I'm pretty sure this truck has had a motor swap at some point, so it might be why. I lloked at everything I could find online and could not find any reference to a 5r55E tranny with two connectors to hook into the trucks wiring.

I could reach the passenger side 16-pin connector from the hatch, working one-handed, blind, I hooked it up on the first try. Blind luck.

Drivers side hookup was a little more challenging, but was much easier with the front left wheel off and accessing it through the wheel well.

As mentioned by someone else, when filling the TCase with fluid, make sure you aren't getting a "false-full". There is a little ledge inside the TCase right behind the fill hole which can back up and overflow if your pouring too quick, causing it to overflow out and appear full. I took a small diameter hose and worked it about thee inches into the Case, routed the hose up and over the T Case and into the cabin through the floor hatch, where I attached my funnel. Book lists 1.5 Quarts as capacity and I think it took just over that.

Got the donor tranny for 200 bucks, battery, filters, fluids, plugs, wires and a couple extra tools for another 300. 500 dollars in, plus a good two weeks of evenings and weekends and I have a 2000 XLT with a full load. ( including Reverse!! )

She'd been sitting in the weeds for about three years, so now that Ive had it on the road for a few days, I'll be moving on to a couple more little fixes.

Big thanks to previous posters, this site is awesome!

I don't know how me and my buddies ever pulled off some of the repairs we did back in the day without a resource like this! ( I do know actually, our successful completion versus mangled tools/parts/limbs ratio was a lot different! )
Glad you got that beast in! Had to pay 400 bucks for my Trans to be rebuilt, except I was wrestling with a 4R55E trans, not a 5R55E, though, I did remove one from a donor 98 sport at the JY, and it wasn't hard at all. Took me and my Dad 40 minutes.


lol, maybe thats because the engine was gone...:confused::bsnicker:
 






Well, not out of the woods yet.


Been driving it around town for a few days, no problems whatsoever.

Took it out on the highway last night.

Ten minutes or so at highways speeds, everything grand. Turned around to come home and tranny started slipping...badly.

Got into town and limped it home on the side streets in first gear.

O/D light blinking as soon as it started to slip.

Left it overnight in the driveway and went to pull codes in the morning and nothing stored.

Started it up and it runs fine, around the block a couple times, shifts perfect. I suspect if I get it up to temps again I'll have a repeat performance.

A little tranny fluid leaking, but I cant really tell from where. Its either coming out the bottom of the bellhousing ( shaft seal? pump seal? ) or it was just blown out the vent tube which hangs down in the same neighborhood ( front left ).

Any ideas?

When I swapped tranny's, my donor tranny had a totally different wiring harness and dipstick. I measured the stick and it looked like the same amount of stick would end up in the pan once assembled, so I used my original one. Donor one would have had the dipstick head way down beside the exhaust manifold. Also re-used my old wiring harness as it had the two 02 sensor hookups I needed along with two seperate 16 pin connectors at the front versus donor tranny's one.

I filled her up with 10 litres of Mercon V, and it started to overflow the tube. Ran it to let it fill up and it has and still does, check normal, both hot and cold. I might throw another litre in for ***** and giggles as it certainly acts like a tranny that is low on fluid.

Oh, and my worst fear is.... since the old tranny never grenaded ( simply lost reverse ) and had clean oil and pan, I didn't flush the cooler. In my defense, I planned to, but got distracted during assembly and hooked up the cooler lines ( with a big headache getting one of them threaded back onto the tranny ) before I realized I hadn't flushed yet. I sure hope I didn't just kill another tranny with the guts of the other.


Any other ideas??

Thanks!
 






Well, not out of the woods yet.


Been driving it around town for a few days, no problems whatsoever.

Took it out on the highway last night.

Ten minutes or so at highways speeds, everything grand. Turned around to come home and tranny started slipping...badly.

Got into town and limped it home on the side streets in first gear.

O/D light blinking as soon as it started to slip.
Guess what? The exact thing happened to me. Exactly. Drove perfectly, without blemish, until, about 15 minutes into the dive. Slipped like crazy, barely made it up the hill. You know what it was? Low transmission fluid. I know the 4r55e takes 9.8 with 4x4 so the 5r55e cant be much different. It also was a combinatin of the intermidiate band needing adjusting.

Left it overnight in the driveway and went to pull codes in the morning and nothing stored.
A regular OBD2 code reader cannot read transmission coding. The system is much more intricate than the definitive everyday control ideology.
In order to apprehend those codes stored, you will need an intermidiate code reader, made specailly for Ford transmissions.
BTW, I went through this exact thing as well.

Started it up and it runs fine, around the block a couple times, shifts perfect. I suspect if I get it up to temps again I'll have a repeat performance.

A little tranny fluid leaking, but I cant really tell from where. Its either coming out the bottom of the bellhousing ( shaft seal? pump seal? ) or it was just blown out the vent tube which hangs down in the same neighborhood ( front left ).

Any ideas?
Had this problem as well, at least, slightly. That was caused by overfilled fluid inside the transmission. Check the fluid leve ASAP so you dont explode the internal valve body plastics.

When I swapped tranny's, my donor tranny had a totally different wiring harness and dipstick. I measured the stick and it looked like the same amount of stick would end up in the pan once assembled, so I used my original one. Donor one would have had the dipstick head way down beside the exhaust manifold. Also re-used my old wiring harness as it had the two 02 sensor hookups I needed along with two seperate 16 pin connectors at the front versus donor tranny's one.

I filled her up with 10 litres of Mercon V, and it started to overflow the tube. Ran it to let it fill up and it has and still does, check normal, both hot and cold. I might throw another litre in for ***** and giggles as it certainly acts like a tranny that is low on fluid.
10 quarts is too much. You were suppossed to only add around the ballpark of 7 qts. Even if you have the transfer case....(if you do, did you fill that?)
Empty to the correct level before you bust internal parts unreplaceable.

Oh, and my worst fear is.... since the old tranny never grenaded ( simply lost reverse ) and had clean oil and pan, I didn't flush the cooler. In my defense, I planned to, but got distracted during assembly and hooked up the cooler lines ( with a big headache getting one of them threaded back onto the tranny ) before I realized I hadn't flushed yet. I sure hope I didn't just kill another tranny with the guts of the other.


Any other ideas??

Thanks!
I didn't do crap with the transmission cooler. If it was clogged, it wouldn't be having as bad problems as you're experiencing. My best guess is, you're hyperventilating. Read the owners manual, be acqainted with how much volume of ATF poured in the tube, and make sure to check the fluid level on parallel ground, with the engine at idle.

Also, a note to everybody, who ever has 4x4, and has replaced the transmission, and the T-case is leaking like heck, it's caused by the paper cheap piece of crap gasket the auto parts place gives you. Get a real one and do it right!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 






Looks like you were right Green!! A friend talked to a guy who used to work as a service tech at the local ford dealer and he said overfilling was a very common and very problematic issue for this vintage of tranny in particular.

I had already resigned myself to pulling the VB and cleaning her up, check the gasket for blown out bits, flushing the cooler and adding some Lubegaurd or similar product in a last ditch before I started the hunt for another tranny.

I installed the Torque Converter with what felt like 1/2 to 2/3 full of fluid when I put it in. Added five quarts and ran it to make sure it was pumping. Shut it off and added another five quarts. ( mistake! ). On the tenth quart ( total capacity, INCLUDING TQ is 10 Quarts ), she overflowed the vent tube about half way through, so I stopped. Ran it for a bit and road tested.

Everything worked fine, fluid level was well over the dipstick markings, but I figured it would just puke out what it didn't need though the vent. Not So.

Rigged up some surgical line to the shop vac and spent an hour or so slowly sucking out the overage today. Seems to be running fine, even after 20 minutes or so on the road. I'll be taking it for a shakedown cruise tomorrow, but I'm pretty optimistic that was the issue.

Definitely fits the symptoms. Everything shifts fine when cold, up to temp and the fluid expands, and it starts acting like it has no fluid at all.

Here's hoping I didn't cause too much damage, I let the speed drop and only drove it in a gear she would hold without slipping on the night it pooched out on me.

Hopefully some poor fool reads this and can learn from my mistake(s)!

A regular OBD2 code reader cannot read transmission coding. The system is much more intricate than the definitive everyday control ideology.
In order to apprehend those codes stored, you will need an intermidiate code reader, made specailly for Ford transmissions.
BTW, I went through this exact thing as well.

Thanks for that, I didnt know that. Is there any indication of stored DTC's for the tranny that need pulling and clearing? My O/D light flashed while it was occurring, but hasn't flashed since.

I did in fact fill the TCase separately after I put it back in. I ran a tube up and over the TCase and up through the floor hatch to fill it from inside the cab. Also made sure to push the tube into the TCase a couple inches to clear the little flat area just inside the fill hole. Someone on here mentioned how easy it was for fluid to get backed up on that flat spot while filling and make it look full when it wasnt. On my first try she puked back out right away, so I knew I had to push it further in and it worked a lot better. Also made sure I checked capacity against what I put put in and they matched up perfectly when she overflowed. ( I think it was 1.8 quarts, but dont quote me )

Frankly, even if I do still need a new tranny, I've learned a boatload about transmissions in general and Explorers in particular. A lot of that through this site. Given that the truck was free and the tranny cost me 200 bucks, as a trainer-install, it was well worth it. Better to learn on this one than the 1500 dollar certified rebuild one that would come next!
 






Looks like you were right Green!! A friend talked to a guy who used to work as a service tech at the local ford dealer and he said overfilling was a very common and very problematic issue for this vintage of tranny in particular.

I had already resigned myself to pulling the VB and cleaning her up, check the gasket for blown out bits, flushing the cooler and adding some Lubegaurd or similar product in a last ditch before I started the hunt for another tranny.

I installed the Torque Converter with what felt like 1/2 to 2/3 full of fluid when I put it in. Added five quarts and ran it to make sure it was pumping. Shut it off and added another five quarts. ( mistake! ). On the tenth quart ( total capacity, INCLUDING TQ is 10 Quarts ), she overflowed the vent tube about half way through, so I stopped. Ran it for a bit and road tested.

Everything worked fine, fluid level was well over the dipstick markings, but I figured it would just puke out what it didn't need though the vent. Not So.

Rigged up some surgical line to the shop vac and spent an hour or so slowly sucking out the overage today. Seems to be running fine, even after 20 minutes or so on the road. I'll be taking it for a shakedown cruise tomorrow, but I'm pretty optimistic that was the issue.

Definitely fits the symptoms. Everything shifts fine when cold, up to temp and the fluid expands, and it starts acting like it has no fluid at all.

Here's hoping I didn't cause too much damage, I let the speed drop and only drove it in a gear she would hold without slipping on the night it pooched out on me.

Hopefully some poor fool reads this and can learn from my mistake(s)!
Overfilling in the short run isn't serious. In the long run, however, it could become quite a colossal contention, as I observed with my Franketranny of monstristy!


Thanks for that, I didnt know that. Is there any indication of stored DTC's for the tranny that need pulling and clearing? My O/D light flashed while it was occurring, but hasn't flashed since.
Reset the ECU, then see if the code comes back. If it's already absent, then there is no need to attempt to pull the code. Routinely, if your Transmission is transacting with ease, there is no need to even worry about performing an ECU reset.

I did in fact fill the TCase separately after I put it back in. I ran a tube up and over the TCase and up through the floor hatch to fill it from inside the cab. Also made sure to push the tube into the TCase a couple inches to clear the little flat area just inside the fill hole. Someone on here mentioned how easy it was for fluid to get backed up on that flat spot while filling and make it look full when it wasnt. On my first try she puked back out right away, so I knew I had to push it further in and it worked a lot better. Also made sure I checked capacity against what I put put in and they matched up perfectly when she overflowed. ( I think it was 1.8 quarts, but dont quote me )

Frankly, even if I do still need a new tranny, I've learned a boatload about transmissions in general and Explorers in particular. A lot of that through this site. Given that the truck was free and the tranny cost me 200 bucks, as a trainer-install, it was well worth it. Better to learn on this one than the 1500 dollar certified rebuild one that would come next!
Man, what a spin of the roulette that was, for me at least. Filling the transfer case kicked my butt. It's leaking anyways...

I've never thought one would be inclined to learn so much on a simple transmission swap. (simple, we say...hehe) But you're indeed correct. Better DIY than 1500.:thumbsup:
:salute:
 






Hows the trans working now?
 






Like a top!

As it was explained to me, overfilling it causes the fluid to froth excessively and too many bubbles in it causes a loss of pressure, similar to an air leak in a brake line.

Now I've got a pesky squealing from the belt section that is puzzling me.

I got a new serpentine belt, put it on and she squealed even louder.

Took it off and checked all the pulleys by hand. Everything felt good. The Tensioner had the slightest side-to-side play and the alternator gave a little squeak. Took the tensioner off and checked the bearings, they seem fine to me. Turns smoothly, with no resistance or crunching, like a crapped out bearing might give, free-wheels forever when you spin it by hand.

Got a new alternator, because, frankly, its easy to justify replacing things when every part on the truck is 13 years old, operating in a serious sub-arctic environment. That, and it was only 180 bucks.

Still squealing.

Took the belt off and ran it, to make sure it wasn't the cam position sensor ( something I read on here can be a cause of a persistent squealing ). While the belt was off I inspected it very closely ( the old belt ) and shes in tip top shape. No wears, cracks, missing ribs, rocks in the grooves or anything. Slight glazing on the smooth side.

Next suspect is the Idler Pulley, so I pulled that off and it seems fine too, on a surface inspection. Shot a wack of WD40 into the bearing and put it back on, along with the new belt. New belt squealed for about 15 seconds and then shut right up. Five minutes down the road and shes squealing even louder than before.

My suspicion, the bearing in the idler pulley is gone, running dry and maybe even off centre a bit, causing the smooth side to squeal. The oil shut it up till she heated up and dried out.

Tomorrow my new idler pulley is in, I'll slap that on and know for sure.

If that isn't it, I'm afraid I'm running out of cheap bits to replace.

I could still replace the tensioner I guess, but that's 65 bucks.. After that its AC, Water Pump or Crank Pulley. Running out of good weather up here for shade-tree repairs. In another three weeks or so the snow will start to fly! Man I wish I had a garage! It'd be nice to have this thing done and dusted for the winter season!

I'm going to repost this as a separate topic and see if anyone else has any bright ideas!
 






You COULD replace it with a Cadillac, and solve all your problems (and live with all the NEW ones!). Sorry! Couldn't resist! Hope you work it out. imp
 






It is either the A/C compressor pulley clutch, or the idler pulley bearing. Popular problem on these Explorers.

Question: Did you ever have to adjust the bands on your transmission or did you get it brand new?
 






As to the tranny, it was pulled out of another exploder, I didn't adjust the bands. The guy I bought it from figures it has 80,000 or so kilometres on it.. I was looking at the procedure for adjusting the bands the other day, it doesnt "look" to hard... what do you think? If it was yours, would you do it if it appears to work fine, or leave it alone? I really don't know a lot about them...


Funny story on the squealing...solved today, quiet as a church mouse now.

So my very first target was the belt.

Ordered the belt...waited. Installed the belt, squealed way worse.

Thought, ok, might be the tensioner then.

Ordered, waited.

Pulled the old tensioner out. Looks and feels fine. Spins freely, bearings sound good. Sigh. Tried to put the new tensioner in and it turns out they ordered me the wrong one. Score for me I think to myself, they can take it back.

Doesn't help my problem, but saves me a few bucks. Get an idler pulley instead.

Ordered, waited.

Pull the old idler out, thing is fine, same story, bearing is good, surface clean, spins true and free. Oh well. Put the new one in anyways.

Still squealing.

Kind of stumped, but figure, the tensioner is still the cheapest in the shrinking list of parts I can replace. AC Comp, Water Pump, PS Pump or Tensioner.

Ordered Tensioner, waited.

Put the new tensioner on, and the new belt. Whats this? New belt is sloppy and loose? WTH.

Ah-Ha! Not only was I correct in the first place and the tensioner was bad, but they had also sold me the wrong belt. It wasnt the bearing in the tensioner, it was the spring. Kind of kicking myself for not catching that.

When I put the new belt on the first try, of course it squealed worse, the tensioner was out of pull, trying to tighten up a belt that was way too loose with not enough spring left in it to do the job.

I enjoy solving these things, but the lessons learned can be a bit spendy at times...haha. Somewhere in there I replaced the alternator as well, but I dont feel so bad on that count as the old was was stock and I can chalk that one up to preventative maintenance instead of rookie-move replacing expensive bits when it was a cheap bit all along.

Makes it real tricky to figure out whats wrong when there is multiple culprits as well.
 






As to the tranny, it was pulled out of another exploder, I didn't adjust the bands. The guy I bought it from figures it has 80,000 or so kilometres on it.. I was looking at the procedure for adjusting the bands the other day, it doesnt "look" to hard... what do you think? If it was yours, would you do it if it appears to work fine, or leave it alone? I really don't know a lot about them...
If your trans is workin fine, don't mess with the bands. After my Explorer trans was rebuilt and installed, the shifts were grotescly off. I'm in the process of adjusting them and figures my stud is rusty as crap, as well as the rest of the stupid Ex. Oh well. 17 years in NY on an Explorer.


Funny story on the squealing...solved today, quiet as a church mouse now.

So my very first target was the belt.

Ordered the belt...waited. Installed the belt, squealed way worse.

Thought, ok, might be the tensioner then.

Ordered, waited.

Pulled the old tensioner out. Looks and feels fine. Spins freely, bearings sound good. Sigh. Tried to put the new tensioner in and it turns out they ordered me the wrong one. Score for me I think to myself, they can take it back.

Doesn't help my problem, but saves me a few bucks. Get an idler pulley instead.

Ordered, waited.

Pull the old idler out, thing is fine, same story, bearing is good, surface clean, spins true and free. Oh well. Put the new one in anyways.

Still squealing.

Kind of stumped, but figure, the tensioner is still the cheapest in the shrinking list of parts I can replace. AC Comp, Water Pump, PS Pump or Tensioner.

Ordered Tensioner, waited.

Put the new tensioner on, and the new belt. Whats this? New belt is sloppy and loose? WTH.

Ah-Ha! Not only was I correct in the first place and the tensioner was bad, but they had also sold me the wrong belt. It wasnt the bearing in the tensioner, it was the spring. Kind of kicking myself for not catching that.

When I put the new belt on the first try, of course it squealed worse, the tensioner was out of pull, trying to tighten up a belt that was way too loose with not enough spring left in it to do the job.

I enjoy solving these things, but the lessons learned can be a bit spendy at times...haha. Somewhere in there I replaced the alternator as well, but I dont feel so bad on that count as the old was was stock and I can chalk that one up to preventative maintenance instead of rookie-move replacing expensive bits when it was a cheap bit all along.

Makes it real tricky to figure out whats wrong when there is multiple culprits as well.
Glad to read you got it fixed! Your Explorer is now bullet proof! :)
 






Back
Top