new 5r55e tranny on its way out?

[SmokeGrinder]

Ok so I am driving around town and I pull away from an intersection and my transmission makes a sound like a electric radio control car does when it’s going….. like a whine sound.
It seamed to shift just fine, a few moments later the sound stopped and everything was normal.
I then parked and left the car for two hours.

When I came back to the car I started it and put it into drive. The transmission makes a clattering sound when your foot is on the brake and the engine is idle.
I drove away and it was shifting ok but still every time we stopped in drive you could hear this clattering sound.

The rest of the journey was ok apart from going up one hill where I almost had my foot flat to the floor and the transmission would not shift.

The fluid level is alright, and cherry red in color.

any ideas at all. I am meant to be going back to college tomorrow, but that does not look hopefull now.

thanks guys

 

[Glacier991]

Noise from the trannie is NOT a good sign. How many miles, what kind of usage?

 

[SmokeGrinder]

about 8,000 miles on the new tranny and T case...... if these trannys are only going to last me 8,000 miles then im pretty upset...

only used it once to tow a light load..... apart from that hardly used under any stress

 

[Glacier991]

"new trannie" !!!! Give us the entire history please! I'm NOT lking what I am hearing. People blame the A4Ld for bad life expectancy on rebuilds - when they SHOULD be blaming the rebuilders... I have no experience wih the 5R series, but I bet it is the same thing! Soft rebuilds do not cut it.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

this was a new new new new new tranny never rebuilt... ok it was taken from an explorer that had done 11 miles... but it was basicly brand new thats all the history

 

[Glacier991]

Then I will view it as a factory trannie. 51K is NOT a normal life. The 5R series fixed a lot of A4LD and successor 4R problems.... I cannot imagine WHY they should only last 51K. People are tired of hearing it, but I have 206K on my A4LD, usage like yours. This is NOT a normal expectancy. FWIW, my 206K trannie failed at 3K. Fixed and lasted another 203K.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

from the stuff ive said and the sounds i can hear....what does it sound like is going on in there anyways?

 

[Glacier991]

Impossible to tell. Nothing good. Planetary failure heads the list, which is not short.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

what do you think i should do :-(

 

[glfredrick]

I would lay you heavy odds that what happened is that the ECP solenoid broke its mounting braket and popped out of its socket. This transmission is totally controlled by soleonids and the breaking of a solenoir braket is pretty common. Another alternative is that your valve body bolts are loose and you blew the paper gasket between the valve body plate and the trannsmission housing.

If you drop the pan, you will easily be able to see if one of the solenids have popped out. If the gasket is blown, that is a bit more difficult as it requires dropping the valve body to inspect, but either problem is no big deal and neither requires a total rebuild of the tranny as long as you get them fixed right away.

 

[Glacier991]

You describe common 5R failure modes, but the noise he describes is curious. Your failure modes usually lead to low control pressure and slipping and missed gear changes far as I know, or missing gears.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

glfredrick,
Thanks for that. I know transmissions are a dark art, I do not have any understanding of them at all.
I will take it to the tranny shop on monday and have them take a look at it.
thanks

 

[Majisto]

Glacier knows about these trannies. For the record, I have 130K on my stock 5R. Runs great even when I pretend the Explorer is a sport truck.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

it's in the trannie shop right now, they are going to drop the pan and have a look...
all they could say is something is breaking up inside it. The sound I heard when it all started was the oil pump...

 

[SmokeGrinder]

Turns out it was the toque converter that blew. Unfortunately it has polluted the rest of the transmission with metal pieces. This will require a transmission rebuild and a new converter.
I am disappointed that a transmission cant even last 8,000 miles