Lost all gears

[Johan Greyvensteyn]

Hallo to all forum members. This is my first post on the forum. I recently got a 97 Explorer LTD for really good price from an old friend.
Being in South Africa it seems that I'm going to have hard time finding support/parts and info on the car. But even with that in mind I still lovit!
It's only done 100 000km, which in my opinion is very low for a 97.

I found a magnitude of super useful info on the site and do not know what I would have done without it.

I've been searching the forum for two days now and cant find a thread that has the exact same problem as mine. So here we go....

I was driving down the road in "Drive", rolling up to a stop sign, felt the transmission down shift as always, got to a full and form stop. Upon taking off, nothing, as in no movement.... There was no noise, bang or shake what so ever.. Got the car towed back home....

No 1,2,D or Reverse is engaging in all modes 2x4, 4x4 H and 4x4 L.

What I have done to diagnose..
Checked the fluid, it seemed to be low so I topped it up while running in nutral. Fluid seems fine now and before topping up I checked that the oil in the tranny was not burnt and clean from debris.

Checked the line pressure nearby the range selector on the side of the transmission and the pressure is within spec.

When in Park the it would not move, so park holds just fine which tells me the drive line is fine and not broken.

Seems like the 4 H an 4 L is engaging by the sound of the motor on the T case.

Only one Transmission related DTC present P0715. Something about the Turbine Speed sensor.

The car is fitted with a 4.0 v6 OHV and a 4R55W transmission.

I'm think there is an issue around the TQ area. As if the TQ is not attached the the engine anymore. But I was also told that if that was the case then I wouldn't have any line pressure...

Could the TQ dislodge or move out of position?

What would cause a sudden loss of all gears forward and reverse in all modes?

Hope you guys can help me!

 

[koda2000]

I'm thinking a transfer case problem.

 

[ThreeJs]

When I lost all gears it was my transfer case.
I did have 4x4 low though.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Sounds like possibly the turbine in the torque converter is broken. When this happens, you will have hyd. pressure because the torque converter case is spinning with the engine, but the turbine is not turning the input shaft to the transmission.

 

[fast_dave]

@Johan Greyvensteyn

Welcome to the forum!

Say man - keeping it simple since it was running and then just suddenly stopped without warning - have you dropped the pan of the 4R55W to see if there is anything abnormal in there?

While you're in there, you could also check your filter - or even better to rule it out - swap it out with a new one.

To expand on that thought - your current filter could be clogged to the "fine line" where you are getting line pressure, BUT not getting the required volume of fluid into the transmission to get the Ex moving from a stop.

I've seen this particular condition 7 years ago on a Chevy Colorado P/U Truck (yeah - I know - here come the Chevy jokes)

One day (overnight to be exact) with no warning, the truck wouldn't move out from it's parking spot.

ATF Fluid was full, smelled good, and no previous warning signs that the trans was on the way out.

Dropped the pan, cleaned the magnet, replaced the filter, refilled the fluid, and it was off to the races like nothing ever happened

Hope this is the same in your case and hope this helps!

 

[410Fortune]

WAIT WAIT WAIT don't drop the pan yet!!
Does it move if you force manual 1st gear?
How about manual 2?
Try in low range, high range and 4auto

report back
If it does not move with the column shifter put to 1 or 2 and the fluid level is good....THEN you can drop the pan.........

The first thing my transmission builder asks me when I have a 4r55e or 5r55e that lost all gears is "Does it move in manual 1? manual 2?" and I always forget that test...so I figured I would post up a reminder to check that

100000 KM on a 97 pushrod 4.0 is very low miles!!
But 1997 was a long time ago and the vulnerable 4r55e transmission does not like sitting......(age is almost as bad as high miles)

 

[fast_dave]

@Johan Greyvensteyn

I'm curious - did you ever figure this out?