new flexplate, new OD problem

[italianbigsky]

Hi everybody,

I'm opening this post as soon as I had my 96 limited back after more than 45 days.
Last time I wrote, I asked about the bad noise and shake I had in the front of transmission, we thought it was the torque converter but then at the garage they discovered it was "just" the flexplate. the converter is OK.

Now, after 45 days and about $1,800 (yes, thats' the whole cost of repair here in italy), I drove my explorer and after a few miles, as soon as I reached a decent speed, the OD light started blinking.
From that moment on, it always blinks, as soon as I start the engine, no matter the speed or the gear or the 4x4 mode.
The OD isn't working, it goes 1-2-3 gear but then the rpm stays high and the gear won't ****f into OD.

I'm sure that before I took it to the garage to solve the torque/flexplate problem, it shifted softly and without any problem. The whole transmission has been rebuilt 2 years and 20,000 miles ago. This time the flexplate was broken in the middle, while the torque converter had no damage.
Consider that we don't have a way to read codes here (American things... who knows them? ) and that I don't have money to spend "trying to solve".

What do you suggest? To go there and ask him to fix the problem once again, or do you really think it's time to throw the whole thing away?
Do you also think that the problem could be related to the job he did dimounting and mounting the transmission?

Thanks for your suggestion.

Edit: I called the grage and he told me that trans fluid could be low, because he prefers to stay low when adding fluids. I'll take the car to the garage this afternoon. That's why I asked for your expert opinion, to discuss with him knowing what could be said and could be a stupid excuse.

Trans fluid is strange: I measured it COLD, and itìs very high, well above the hatched area of the stick.
Measuring it HOT with engine idling, it's almost the same.
if this could help for a diagnose...

 

[italianbigsky]

An update... many people read my post but no suggests

Anyway, I took the car to the garage this afternoon and he worked on two other issues: a water leak (he replaced waterpump a few days ago, but the leak seens to come from the inner part of the engine compartment) and a fuel leak in the upper part of the engine. Actually, the fuel leak was supposed to be there since I bought the car 10 months ago, but nobody could find it. Thsi morning, I parked the car on fresh snow and found a single drop of fuel on the white snow. That helped to find the leak.

I'm leaving the explorer to the garage tomorrow, the fuel leak should be fixed easily (he said and I hope). The water leak is supposed to be left as it is because it's too expensive to dismount a large part of the engine to find it. I'll add coolant and cross my finger the whole thing lasts the more it can.

Finally the OD problem. Fluid level was ok. Still, no way to read the code. The OD light is still blinking, OD doesn't work. All the other gears shift almost perfectly. There's a little fluid leak in the front part of the torque converter, but it has always been there and never gave any problem.
4x4 runs perfectly, even low4x4 is fine.

He will try to find a way to solve the problem without pulling down the whole transmission once again, and I really really really hope he will.
Once again, if you could help me with a hint, no matter how accurate it could be without the codes, I appreciate. This morning a stupid picture of the white snow witha drop of fuel on it helped to find a problem and maybe to solve it.

Thanks for your help, living in italy and driving an old American car isn't easy at all. I'm trying to do my best, I love this car.
regards from snowy Italy.

 

[yavapaires]

An update... many people read my post but no suggests

Anyway, I took the car to the garage this afternoon and he worked on two other issues: a water leak (he replaced waterpump a few days ago, but the leak seens to come from the inner part of the engine compartment) and a fuel leak in the upper part of the engine. Actually, the fuel leak was supposed to be there since I bought the car 10 months ago, but nobody could find it. Thsi morning, I parked the car on fresh snow and found a single drop of fuel on the white snow. That helped to find the leak.

I'm leaving the explorer to the garage tomorrow, the fuel leak should be fixed easily (he said and I hope). The water leak is supposed to be left as it is because it's too expensive to dismount a large part of the engine to find it. I'll add coolant and cross my finger the whole thing lasts the more it can.

Finally the OD problem. Fluid level was ok. Still, no way to read the code. The OD light is still blinking, OD doesn't work. All the other gears shift almost perfectly. There's a little fluid leak in the front part of the torque converter, but it has always been there and never gave any problem.
4x4 runs perfectly, even low4x4 is fine.

He will try to find a way to solve the problem without pulling down the whole transmission once again, and I really really really hope he will.
Once again, if you could help me with a hint, no matter how accurate it could be without the codes, I appreciate. This morning a stupid picture of the white snow witha drop of fuel on it helped to find a problem and maybe to solve it.

Thanks for your help, living in italy and driving an old American car isn't easy at all. I'm trying to do my best, I love this car.
regards from snowy Italy.

IMHO there is a wire left loose somewhere. Pull all the wire connections off the transmission, clean them with electrical contact cleaner, then plug them back in, making sure you have a good connection. Good luck.

 

[yavapaires]

Also, be sure the shift linkage is properly adjusted. If the truck starts in Park AND neutral, it probably is.

 

[italianbigsky]

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate. The garage man is working on it today, I hope he'll check the wires carefully.

Anyway, the truck doesn't start in P or N.
Actually, this morning, it struggled starting in 1 and D too, but it was really cold (around 23-24°F) and as soon as it warmed up, it started correctly. I think cold weather could give this problem.

Back to the transmission, yesterday night I drove it for about 50 miles ant high speeds too, and the OD worked correctly. This is very strange. The OD light still blinking, I could feel the OD in and off.
The only problem I noticed, is a slipping from 2 to 3 when trying to increase speed, or going up on a hill.

If I only had a way to read the codes... and understand them the right way!

PS: another question about this problem. A friend of mine told me that his wrangler v6 had similar problem due to an overfilled trans fluid. He had a leak for a long time and some bad behaviour in the transmission, but could never find the reason. When the fluid level decreased, it stopped leaking and problems disappeared.
I have a high level too, even when cold it is well over the hatched area. When hot it's almost the same.
maybe it's a stupid hint, what do you think?

 

[yavapaires]

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate. The garage man is working on it today, I hope he'll check the wires carefully.

Anyway, the truck doesn't start in P or N.
Actually, this morning, it struggled starting in 1 and D too, but it was really cold (around 23-24°F) and as soon as it warmed up, it started correctly. I think cold weather could give this problem.

Back to the transmission, yesterday night I drove it for about 50 miles ant high speeds too, and the OD worked correctly. This is very strange. The OD light still blinking, I could feel the OD in and off.
The only problem I noticed, is a slipping from 2 to 3 when trying to increase speed, or going up on a hill.

If I only had a way to read the codes... and understand them the right way!

PS: another question about this problem. A friend of mine told me that his wrangler v6 had similar problem due to an overfilled trans fluid. He had a leak for a long time and some bad behaviour in the transmission, but could never find the reason. When the fluid level decreased, it stopped leaking and problems disappeared.
I have a high level too, even when cold it is well over the hatched area. When hot it's almost the same.
maybe it's a stupid hint, what do you think?

If the truck starts in any gear other than (N) neutral, or (P) park, then the linkage is out of adjustment. Get this fixed FIRST. The fluid level will be above the crosshatch on the dipstick when cold. To properly check the fluid level: Warm up the truck, go for a drive of about 20 miles to be sure the fluid is up to temp. Run trans through All the ranges, park, reverse, neutral, all the ranges. Leave running in Park,actual park, not where the indicator says, unless you have adjusted it, pull the dipstick, wipe the stick clean, reinsert the stick and read the level. Do this a couple or three times until you are certain of the reading. I would look into getting a new mechanic.

 

[cakeboy06]

There is a reason they call them "exploders", 4th gear involves a band that compresses on a drum. Can't tell you how many times we have serviced an explorer transmission only to have it quit pulling at our facility, and the customer says, "It worked fine before you changed the fluid and filter." It got so bad that we would no longer service an explorer transmission. Aside from the electrical connections and the neutral safety switch adjustment, you may need to have it rebuilt. Quite a bit of fluid is lost while removing the transmission, when you replace that fluid, it acts as a detergent and washes away what is left of the clutch and band material. Hate to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[italianbigsky]

Well I'm not afraid of bad news, they're more useful than false good news. And sometimes they're not as bad as they seems.

Now, I took the car to the mechanic once again. he fixed the fuel leak, not the cooland leak yet. Anyway, he's one of the best among mechanics who repair 4x4 around here, and the only one who was brave enough to tell me "I want to try" when I said it was a 4r44 tranny. I may change it but I should drive more than 200 miles to go to the one who rebuilt the tranny a couple of years ago. There are just a few mechanics who work on american cars here.

Anyway, he tried to fix the trans problem checking the fluid level and adding it as it seemed too low.
He asked me to try the car, I drove it for about 100 miles last night, both on highway and in town, and the OD light didn't blink. OD seems to enter without problems, and when I want to turn it off I can.

The only problem I still noticed this morning, is that when the car is cold (we are around 22-24°F these days), I can't almost move the car. The only gear working is R, then I have to wait some minutes and try to use D or 1 and 2. Gears slips for some miles, until fluid reaches the right temperature or pressure. That's what I think could be the possible reason, but I'm not sure and I'm asking you experts.
Thanks a lot!