Help 2000 Tranny Explorer XLS

[bri36]

Hoping someone can help: My wife has the 2000 Explorer XLS with 54k miles, at 40k I carefully changed trans fluid and filter with no problems since, The car is not abused at all and kept in the garage. Anyhow the other day the car began to slip monentarily from 1st to 2ng gear, it does this as soon as you start to drive the car, while cold or warm. What happens is at about 25-30 mph the car rpm will rev up as if the car goes into neutral gear for about 1-2 seconds then will change into the next gear. It is def. slipping, but only in this gear, the fluid looks ok. not pure red but a brown red color, but not burned. I called a couple places was told a range of joy from new tranny needed to valve body gasket prob. needed. Wife said the o/d light was flashing, so I ran the codes with a real nice obd 2 coder, all systems passed, This is the 5r55w trans. If anyone has any ideas I thank you in advance for your response. Btw the car will slip like above on both the o/d on and o/d off modes. Thanks again.

 

[matt97]

I've experienced the same problem , seems like you need to check the valve body bolts , they should be hand (snug) tight only. Also may try cleaning the shift solenoids as the screens may be dirty or clogged.look here

 

[Brain]

Yep, mat97 is right when it comes to where to start....valve body to case bolts should be 71-97 inch*pounds (not ft*lb)....solenoids are suspect.

It sounds like the overdrive band isn't applying as fast as it should (OD band is applied in 2nd gear, so a delay in application could cause an overspeed condition where the engine over-revs before it gets into 2nd gear).

Are you sure it isn't happening in 5th gear as well (a slight delay between 4th and 5th gears)?

 

[bri36]

Im not sure if it is delayed in 4th -5th I will have to check it out. As I have no decent manual on this trans and even less time I decieded to spend all day..lol in the trans shop..Low and behold I need a trans rebuild. They state it is a burned clutch pack..all this without even pulling the valve body? But seems trustworthy,,30$ later for the fluid replacement,, I drive home and price shop on overhauls, Another shop states a 50% chance its the valve body and selnoid problem..cost about 70$ to evaluate, so I may try that route for now..overhaul quote was 1500$. They did scan it for codes third gear out of ratio,,not the solenoid, this was eliminated with the scanner on while driving through the gears.

 

[TPLYNCH]

You have the all to common 2-3 shift slippage. There is a TSB from Ford regarding this issue. If you search this site for "2-3 shift" you will find threads regarding the issue. More than likely it's the loose valve body.

 

[Brain]

I've learned that the solenoids do have what they call an "inductive signature", which is just a way of saying it can monitor its own position, but it can't tell if a valve is plugged up, just wether it is electrically activated and in the proper position.

I don't understand why thrid gear would be popping up when you said it was second gear that was overspeeding (the slipping/overspeeding is what it means when it says "incorrect ratio" or out of ratio). If it is third gear that is slipping and not second, then it isn't the OD band that is slow to apply, but rather the intermediate band. Again, same issue-> slow application of the band will let the engine over-rev on the 2-3 upshift. Partially plugged solenoid valve or valve screen would be my first try (and the solenoid valves can be had for less than a couple hundred bucks, so spending a hundred on a diagnosis might be better spent on new solenoid valves). Let us know.

BTW, it doesn't sound like a burned clutch pack to me because it isn't doing this in all the gears - is it? Another "it needs a new tranny" perscription without the right diagnosis....what BS!! Somebody wants to have a very merry x-mas.

 

[bri36]

When the shop dropped down the pan, the fluid was not a cherry red but a brownish pink and darker than the usual trans fluid color, I think this was why they mentioned the clutch pack as the source, also in the bottom of the pan was a black silky soot, much like carbon of a pencil between the fingers but with all the oil in it too. When I changed the fluid myself at 40k the fluid was the same color then, and so based on that , the shop felt there was definity something burning up, since it turned to crap again within the 54k mark, the final thing is i didnt do a trans flush,, just a fluid change from pan and filter, so maybe it just mixed with the rest of the old oil. I tempted to drop the pan and explore the valve body myself. any good books for this. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

[Brain]

Was the black soot looking stuff metallic (very very bad) or just like brake dust (not quite as bad)? Did it have this material in the bottom of the pan when you changed part of the fluid at 40K miles? With that materail in the pan, it might be time for a rebuild - that is friction material if it is non-metallic (not shimmery in the light). Like brakes, there is only so much friction material that can be worn away before a rebuild is necessary. Some of this material could be plugging up the solenoids, which is why it would take longer to change gears, which in turn leads to an engine over-speed condition, which in turn leads to more burning/wear of the friction material. Damn viscious cycle....14K miles ins't a very long time for that much material accumulation to occur. Sorry.

 

[TPLYNCH]

If you haven't done the full flush, then do it. When you drop the pan, only about 4qts gets changed, leaving ~6qts (give or take a few qts.) of old stuff still inside. That would explain having the crappy looking fluid still.