Has someone swapped a 5r55w to a 5r55s?

[Joshua11]

Hello, I just bought a 2002 Explorer 4.0 sohc built 2/02 and trans was bad and I know it came with a 5r55w. I pulled the trans to build it and it is a 5r55s in it now, My guess and they just got one from the junk yard and throwed in it. My question with out knowing how it worked before this one went bad is this. Has anyone installed a 5r55s in an Explorer that had a 5r55w and if so did it work fine, was there and O/D light flashing or incorrect ratio codes? Or did it work just fine? I need to know if I need to changed the gears now or find a later model PCM. I have searched for 2 days on the internet and nothing that anwsers this. Thanks in advance

 

[transman304]

How did you determine the transmission you removed was a 5R55S?

 

[Joshua11]

The trans tag is 2L2p-BA, the door sticker code is R which shows a 5r55w. Also when I tore it down it has 38 teeth sun gear,94 teeth ring gear and 28 teeth pinion. Which shows the ratio of .71 for overdrive and that comes up for a 5r55s. So do I replace with 24 teeth set up or will the 5r55s set up for a system that was made for a 5r55w?

 

[Joshua11]

Also the trans tag shows the build date of trans BD-2H13 so that would be August 13,2002 and truck was built 2-02

 

[transman304]

Wanted to make sure you weren’t going off outside visual clues. Now this is just from my experience as I don’t usually interchange parts as a rule. But in a pinch have used the S OD planes assembly in the W models with no issues as W planets were failing at a high rate and the supply dropped of and to get the job out the door I would use the S parts in the W with no known issues that ever came back to be addressed. Maybe James will give his take on this. This is strictly from my experience and your results may differ. Just a tip,flush the cooler and cooler lines before installing the fresh unit

 

[Joshua11]

I am planning on flushing the cooler and replacing the torque convertor,, I am guessing the transmission has been in there for a while but with no know history from how it performed before I am thinking it may have done ok but that is a lot of hard work if my hunch is wrong.
I hate to beat the bush here, but in your past experiance you have made a w into a s model and don't remember any shift issue or incorrect ratios? I am really into this more than I wanted to be, but I do plan on keeping this truck and really don't want to go through this again.Maybe 200,000 miles from now lol

 

[transman304]

When I put S planets in a W it worked with no ratio codes but I did not change the forward planets or sun gear to an S. Granted its not much difference or for 5th gear. But the S at 2.29 and the W at 2.41 have some differences that the computer might pick up. I can only say I have used S OD planets in a W with no issues. Will yours work I cant say. Can you find a W to put in? Wish I could give you a 100% answer but I can’t.

 

[Joshua11]

When I put S planets in a W it worked with no ratio codes but I did not change the forward planets or sun gear to an S. Granted its not much difference or for 5th gear. But the S at 2.29 and the W at 2.41 have some differences that the computer might pick up. I can only say I have used S OD planets in a W with no issues. Will yours work I cant say. Can you find a W to put in? Wish I could give you a 100% answer but I can’t.

There is no place around here for over 100 miles that I have found that has a W. I can get S all day long.
The Overdrive sun gear is shot so I know it will have to be replaced with the OD planets. I would think they the OD sun for a w would not work on a S sense they are different gears.

 

[mhcody44]

Did you end up doing the swap and how did it work?