Hoo boy. I need some help.

[Forest1996]

Hey guys, my name's Zach. Long time watcher, first time poster. You guys have helped me out a lot in the past, and I was hoping you guys could help me again. Basically, my Explorer has kind of gone to hell recently, and I really need to fix it (obviously).

Let me give you the backstory:

About a month or so ago, my Explorer (1996 V6 XLT) started acting like a spark plug was missing. I had to constantly push the accelerator to keep it from dying everytime I came to a stop. I assumed a spark plug was the case, so I went ahead and replaced all of the spark plugs. All were new. The wires were fine, but I went ahead and replaced those too. I made sure that each plug and wire went where they were supposed to, so no worries there. Well, therein lies the problem: it still acted like it was missing. So I did everything I could think of:

1. replaced the idle motor with that of a 1995 Explorer V6, which included splicing some wires in order to make it work.
2. took out the EGR valve, put a new gasket in it, put it back in.
3. replaced the coil-pack with that of a 1995 Explorer V6.
4. replaced the entire air line thing (air filter, plugs for the air line, and the MAFS sensor) with that of another Explorer. I can't remember if they were from a 1995 or a 1997, and I don't really have the ability to check for another week or so.

Finally, I discovered what the problem was. A rubber 'O'-shaped piece that was part of the EGR valve seemed like it somehow got messed up. So, I went out and bought another one, replaced it, and voila: the Explorer didn't act like it was missing anymore.

But unfortunately, now I have another problem. My transmission is acting up, now. It acts like it slips when shifting from 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd. 4th gear is seemingly not there; instead, I'm running at 3000-3500 RPMs in 3rd gear, while going about 50-60mph. On top of that, overdrive doesn't seem to work, either. Occasionally, the OD OFF light will blink, and will not stop blinking until I shut the Explorer off. But it still acts like there is no overdrive, even when I have it on. I'm worried, because I'm afraid something may now be wrong with my transmission. Also, I can't very well continue to fork out a lot of money for gas simply because my transmission won't shift.

So, I come to you guys for help. Is there anybody who's encountered the same problem, or someone who knows what I can do to fix it? Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Forest1996]

Another piece of info.

Alright.. so, driving my Explorer earlier, I discovered one other little thing: my OD button, which is obviously located on the end of the gear shift, isn't working. This leads me to believe that it could either be a fuse (speculative, highly unlikely), or that the transmission is deciding to crap out on me.

Luckily, that could possibly be fixed within the next week, considering that I have two spare Explorers (long story, don't ask), a 1995 SOHC V6 with no 4WD, and a 1997 V6 with 4WD. Both of the spare Explorers have good transmissions, but this leads me to a few questions that hopefully somebody can answer.

1. Which transmission would be most compatible with my 1996 SOHC V6 4WD? The '95 SOHC V6 without 4WD, or the '97 SOHC V6 WITH 4WD? I'm really not sure, as Ford apparently changed some things around from the 1996 model to the 1997 model.

2. Exactly how difficult would it be to swap transmissions from one of the Explorers above? I know it'd obviously be a pain, but exactly how difficult?

3. Really, better yet, would this fix my transmission issue? I'm basing this on prior knowledge of other vehicles, and I'm not sure if it would fix my problem.

 

[Elessar65]

I think, but I am not completely sure, that you want the 4wd tranny. The 2wd doesn't have the right tailhousing thingy to mate to the t-case. not completely sure though.

 

[corkey]

The 2wd will not fit in if the 96 is 4wd, so that is a given,
One thing that might limit all of this is the trans that is 4wd, if it is a 5r55e and not a 4r44e it might not work properly anyways as the computer may be set up for the other trans ,
maybe Brooklyn Bay will chime in here and tell us which one is in the 97 , if it is the same as the 96 it should work,

 

[my pos mounty]

The 2wd will not fit in if the 96 is 4wd, so that is a given,
One thing that might limit all of this is the trans that is 4wd, if it is a 5r55e and not a 4r44e it might not work properly anyways as the computer may be set up for the other trans ,
maybe Brooklyn Bay will chime in here and tell us which one is in the 97 , if it is the same as the 96 it should work,

Transmission....Years.........Trans code
4R44E............ 1995-2000.....T
5R55E............ 1997-2000.... D
Gonna have to look up the code, I believe

 

[corkey]

that code would be on the door tag, with the vin, and options,

 

[Forest1996]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys.

Unfortunately, I'm about 150 miles away from the two spare Explorers, so I can't really check the VIN of the other 4WD. I kinda assumed that the non-4WD would be a no-go, but I wasn't 100% positive. But for some reason, I still keep thinking that the transmission isn't the problem. I mean, let's look at it logically: it wasn't acting that way before. I swapped some parts, and that fixed one problem but started a different one.

What I'm thinking is that, and this is pure speculation, one of the parts I swapped (either the idle motor or the vaccuum/air line parts/plugs) isn't exactly compatible with the computer, and that could possibly be what's causing the transmission to act so strangely. That's sort of what I'm leaning towards, because it wasn't acting that way before I swapped the parts. That O-shaped seal/gasket/whatever was clearly one of the idling problems, but maybe one of the other parts I swapped is the new culprit.

Does anyone have any thoughts about it? Because, like I said, I'd really rather not have to mess with the transmission unless I know for a fact that IT's the problem.

EDIT: Oh, and apparently the OD button works again. Hmm.

 

[Elessar65]

could always try and put one of the old parts back in and see what happens. The idling problem may come back, but if it fixes the tranny issues then i would think you've found the culprit.