Have the 2-3 shift flare, have some questions.

[mesome]

First off, I have say the volume of information on here regarding this issue has been extremely helpful. Thanks to all the people who were kind enough to document this stuff.

Vehicle info:
2000 Ford Explorer Sport
178,000 miles
4.0L V6
Transmission Door Code: D

I started getting the 2-3 shift flare this past Sunday, it was jumping up 1000+ RPM's under acceleration before shifting into 3rd and right before I made it home the O/D light started a steady blink and I had to manually use the column shifter to get it to shift. (Limp mode?) I drove it to a local transmission shop on Monday and asked them to look at it. Unfortunately the guy who owned it before me screwed up the wiring on the diagnostics plug-in so they couldn't read any codes for it, but after we drove it down the street and back the guy told me it would have to be completely rebuilt. ($1800+) That night I found and read through the rebuild diary a few times and some of the other sticky threads.

Since then I've driven it around some more, making sure to always back off the gas before the 2-3 shift (around 25 MPH) and it's behaved a lot better than it did on Monday, no more blinking O/D light. Right now it seems to be shifting fine most of the time, even under mild acceleration. I'm not having any issues with reverse or any other gears like I've seen others mention on here. Obviously I can't leave it like this, so I've decided to pull the valve body and see what I can find but before I did that I wanted to ask a few questions on here just to make sure I had my information strait. So enough of the rambling, here are my questions.

1. Everything I've seen says I have the 5R55E transmission. (see vehicle info above) True? (is there another easy way to confirm this?)

2. Assuming 1 is true, I'd prefer to buy a rebuilt valve body and install it rather than rebuild the one that's in there. Is there any reason not to do this other than cost?

3. I've seen a few people link to this valve body http://www.800700tran.com/prod.itml/icOid/80 Why is it so cheap when Ford wants $100+ for just the EPC solenoid? Is Ford bending us over on price or are the new parts on that rebuilt one lower quality? (AKA, am I safe buying it?)

4. I've never changed the fluid or filter in the one year that I've owned it, should I have it flushed before replacing the valve body or is it better to just replace the fluid that was lost while replacing the VB?

5. If I don't buy the rebuilt valve body right away, would it make any sense to buy a new EPC solenoid and replace it to see if that's the root of the issue? (Can that be replaced without removing the valve body?)

Anyway, thanks in advance. Hopefully I can get this fixed and avoid that expensive rebuild.

 

[dogfriend]

1. Yep, you should have a 5R55E.

2. Unless the valve body is warped or otherwise damaged, you probably can replace the gaskets and it would be fine. IIRC, the 2-3 flare is usually a problem with the EPC solenoid (the OEM design is susceptible to contamination) or a leak in the valve body gasket which causes a loss of pressure in the circuit.

3. There isn't much to rebuilding a valve body, really it just amounts to inspecting it carefully and replacing the little check balls and other doodads. But all the little doodads need to go in the correct locations. So that is why they aren't all that expensive. The EPC solenoid is rather expensive; there may be some aftermarket sources cheaper than the dealer.

4. When you drop the pan and drop the valve body, you are going to lose a lot (most) of the ATF anyway. The remaining amount will be in the torque converter (which does not have a drain plug in the 5R55E) and in the main gearbox. I don't think it is necessary to flush first unless you suspect that you have contamination or burnt fluid because you are just going to end up replacing a lot of it anyway

5. Yes, you can replace the EPC without removing the valve body. You could replace the EPC and see if that fixes the problem on its own. However, when I removed the valve body on my 5R55E, the valve body gaskets were as brittle as you could possibly imagine, so I suspect that this is actually the source of the problem in many cases. Mine did not have the shift flare yet, but I preemptively replaced the VB gaskets and EPC solenoid at about 115k because I was given an evaluation EPC solenoid to try out. I now have just under 120k with no issues.

 

[kwinters2]

I just did this very thing....

1. Yes you more than likely have the 5R55E

2. Save yourself some time and hassle, hit up Donny at Central Valve Bodies.

3. All the solenoids come with the VB from Central Valve Bodies and they are already tested. Basically a swap n go.

My recommendation would be this:

Get the VB from Donny, get the Transtec Viton D ring kit from Transmissionpartusa for the reverse servo as well as the ATSG book on the 5R55E. Read the Rebuild thread, the stairway thread, and the band adjustment thread that are stickied. Get your hands on a good 3/8 lbs in torque wrench. Finally get a pan gasket, some Mercon V and a filter.

Good luck. Its a pretty easy job just messy as hell

Cheers
Kinley

 

[mesome]

Thanks for the answers guys.

I think I'll order a valve body on Monday and try and tackle this whole thing next Saturday. I imagine if I run into any problems I'll be back on here begging for help.