new guy here.. 2004 xlt

[richard82]

hey any of the moderators can move this to a different place if it will get more readings, thanks!

hi we recently bought a 2004 explorer xlt with 62000 mile on the clock, nice truck btw! im a totally chevy man, and own a 2003 silverado z71 ext cab as a tow rig, well within 4 days of owning the explorer, it was in the shop under warranty due to transmission failure, they say. i was driving it, slow shift and feels like reverse doesnt want to work all of the time, got it back a week later, feels great for the first 100 mile, then it feels the same as before, after i did alot of researching on here when i found this site. im starting to suspect that the problem isnt the transmission, i dont trust my dealers around here. im a mechanic. and im deaf/hard of hearing, so alot of the dealer thinks i dont know nothing, when in fact i have worked on car to big diesel trucks since i was 16 im 25 goin on to 26 so i know what im doing, i think its the throttle body problem. im gonna work on it as soon it warm up, and mod it some. the explorer is mainly my finaces ride, but it is my ride to so i will be towing snowmobile with it durin the winter months when the 03 crunk (silverado its name is crunk) is takin a break or down.

so my question is, is there anyway to upgrade the trans? like heavy duty kit, etc to make them last? im gonna have the trans taken out in the fall and have my friend, tranny guy rebuild it, (hes a tranny prof. and builds for drag racin too) all my trans is rebuilt by him and never had a problem, even for off roadin to drag racin, i owned them all. so is there any heavy duty kit? im gonna get a shift kit too, etc. let me know whats the best upgrade kit. better than factory.

2004 explorer xlt
4.0 V6 sohc
3.55 gear ratio
class II tow pkg. will be puttin on class III
Rich

 

[Essex4x4]

First of all welcome to the forum
second you said your going to put a class III hitch on right? i wanted to do the same untill i talked to ford read this first, i made a post about installing a class III hitch and got several responses with very good info.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212169
I don't know how much of your warrenty you have left but if you don't instal the tranny cooler, and oil cooler you will void your warrenty if your ex breaks because you were towing a heavy trailer. Just a suggestion,

 

[tower]

The 5r55w is not know as the great tranny, do you know what they did when they "fixed" it, the solenoid body tends to fail right around 60k. What makes you think its the TB?

There is a shift kit for it though I have not heard of anyone trying it on the 5r55w there is a nice write up for the 5r55e (almost the same). No "heavy duty kit" that I know of but I would recommend putting a external filter and a bigger cooler on.

 

[richard82]

First of all welcome to the forum
second you said your going to put a class III hitch on right? i wanted to do the same untill i talked to ford read this first, i made a post about installing a class III hitch and got several responses with very good info.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212169
I don't know how much of your warrenty you have left but if you don't instal the tranny cooler, and oil cooler you will void your warrenty if your ex breaks because you were towing a heavy trailer. Just a suggestion,

Thanks! yep im putting on a class 3 hitch doe to 2 inch size reciever, and i dont like the way small one looks! the trans cooler will be coming in the fall, and probably a trans over haul kit. im not towing a *heavy trailer* i have my 2003 silverado for this. i will be towing a aluminum snowmobile trailer, with 1 or 2 sleds on it at a time, it will be around 2000 lbs so i should be ok. but am wishin for a heavier duty trans. is there any other trans that bolts on the motor and wiring system with out a problem? why the heck did A ford company think of small trans in a mid size suv?

 

[richard82]

The 5r55w is not know as the great tranny, do you know what they did when they "fixed" it, the solenoid body tends to fail right around 60k. What makes you think its the TB?

There is a shift kit for it though I have not heard of anyone trying it on the 5r55w there is a nice write up for the 5r55e (almost the same). No "heavy duty kit" that I know of but I would recommend putting a external filter and a bigger cooler on.

they replaced the solenoid body. they says. a friend of my is buildin the trans with a shift kit now, and it is the 5r55w so I'll ask him to take me for a ride in it after its fixed.

why do i think its the throttle body?
Well because i have contantly noticed this problem, i shift in gear, feel the truck shifts in gear just fine, i push the gas nothing happens then the BIG V6 kicks in and act like it wants to break my neck. it happens alot more in the reverse tho. and everytime i let off the gas to go around the corner i push the gas nothing then it kicks in again and go too fast. which sucks in the city. good thing i live in the country. this is getting annoying. i want it fixed asap. i will do the mod to tb and some stuff i learned from this forum, so will have to wait and see.

what warranty do i have? i took the 3 months warranty since its free and im a mechanic so i will do the work myself, and i will be putting on a good parts. at least i didnt get the trailblazer! i was lookin at them and this explorer i stayed away from 02 to 03 model and got the 04.

why does the transmission in a EXPLORER sucks? when the mustangs have almost the same trans and they can handle 500 hp? i will have to do my homework abt the mustang and explorer trans. before i get mine rebuilt.

 

[richard82]

as for heavy towing, i use this truck

see the 1980 gmc behind it? it now looks like this.

 

[tower]

Read this
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212220
Not much help but at least you are not alone.

You can do a search about the 5r55w/s but try this

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/2002/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml

Part of the problem is you can't just check the tranny fluid and people think that there "sealed" so they don't need service.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice x u got there keep up the good work

 

[richard82]

Read this
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212220
Not much help but at least you are not alone.

You can do a search about the 5r55w/s but try this

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/2002/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml

Part of the problem is you can't just check the tranny fluid and people think that there "sealed" so they don't need service.

thanks for the forums. and yep i understand abt cant checkin the fluids, thats why my friend the trans guy told me to bring it in on tuesday or wedensday of this week and he will check the level of it, etc to make sure its good.

i seriously am condsering to find a better trans like from a F150 if possible to fit on the explorer but have to see if it fits or not, possible or impossible?

 

[richard82]

nice x u got there keep up the good work

thanks man! love the X

 

[richard82]

i just started reading abt the 5r55e trans. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140987&highlight=5R55E
and am wondering if i get the trans rebuilt with transgo kit, etc will the problem be solved? and whats the difference between the 5r55e and 5r55w? sorry for the questions, i just want to get the problem corrected with the trans and make it a good suv overall. thanks
Rich

 

[richard82]

just to bump this thread back up or should i start a new thread? i just got back home from a trip to ny and back, total mile is 284 miles, fuel used est. of 11 gallon, which turns out to be 25.8 mpg, correct? i thought it was pretty darn good with 1000 lbs of gears. and my est speed is 69 mph. now to make it go up a few more mpg...