No drive after fluid change.

[speednut]

Hi all.

Had a problem over christmas, when i lost forward drive on my 98 Explorer 4.0l sohc. While i was waiting for recovery to arrive, i decided to try it again and found that drive had come back, so decided to try to get it home. On way back it lost drive again 3 times over 10 miles. Each time i stopped to let it cool for a few minutes and off i went again. I checked the condition of the fluid when i got back and it didn't look like it had ever been changed (only owned car for a couple of months and no service history), so today i've just drained the oil by removing the oil pan and refilled with fluid (about 4.5 litres worth. Started it up and shifted through gears a few times once engine had warmed up, but now i have no drive at all in any gear!!!

When i took all the bolts out of the oil pan, i found there was no way i could get the thing off the car completely as it was fouling on the prop-shaft or the exhaust., hence i couldn't check to see if there were any bits in the bottom of the oil pan. Maybe i knocked something off when i was moving the oil pan about to get the new gasket in?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Just spent a whole morning on my back in the snow, so none too impressed now!

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[speednut]

no drive after fluid change

Sorry, forgot to say the drive light on the dash is flashing too. May be significant, may not?

 

[speednut]

Update!
Just went out to try it again from cold and it moved in all gears, but only for a couple of minutes, then it lost drive again.

Wondering if the clutch surfaces have gone with old/rubbish fluid in it? Also, couldn't get a new filter til next week, so decided to try to get away without one (silly i know, but needed the car). Maybe its clogged up? Are these cleanable, or do they have to be replaced. Went straight to Ford, but like i say, its going to be sometime next week.

 

[Opera House]

Without a filter, you better have a quart or more extra in the pan. Without the filter it will be sucking air.

 

[speednut]

Sorry, it has got a filter on, but its the old filter.

 

[Opera House]

Cleanable is a good question. Earlier versions had either metal screen or a synthetic felt material. Unless the fluid was really contaminated with metal particles there wasn't much point in changing it. It may be too late but the 5R55E was notorious for loose valve body bolts that caused valve body gaskets to blow out. I have found some that I could remove with my fingers. These only require a light wrist tightening of about 10 ft/lb.....don't ask me to convert to newtons/furlong. Next time try it with the OD turned off.

 

[speednut]

Thanks for that. Tried it with the overdrive off, but still the same. Where is the valve body and how do i recognise it?

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome to the site.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome paul

 

[speednut]

Thanks chaps, nice to be here - just wish it was under better circumstances!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the transmission section. I would suggest reading the 5R55E valve body rebuild diary sticky thread on the top of this section. It sounds like you might have a bad EPC solenoid, valve body gaskets, clogged filter, and loose valve body bolts. A flashing overdrive light represents a code which needs to be read.

 

[speednut]

Well, just spoken to a gearbox specialist who said its gonna be £1000 to take out the gearbox and rebuild it!!!!!! Is this strictly necessary if indeed it is the valve body/gaskets? At £1000 I may as well just scrap the car, which i don't really want to do. I have found a rebuilt valve body on ebay, minus the wiring loom. How hard is this to change? Never really dealt with auto-gearboxes before and would be starting from scratch. As an aside, I have rebuilt cars before, but when its come to the engine and gearbox internals, i've farmed the job out to a specialist.

 

[1998Explodasport]

I would definately change the filter before doing a rebuild, chances are your trans is toast but I think it's worth it to use a little effort and remove the trans pan completely and change that filter, it could be clogged or not seated right. Also what fluid did you use, I am pretty sure the 98 SOHC require Merc 5.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Transmission shops always try to push for an entire rebuild. Drop the pan, inspect the sides of the valve body gasket for flaking, and check the valve body bolts. Read the 5R55E valve body rebuild diary, and don't be afraid to work on something that is unfamiliar. You could always ask a question or post a picture if you need help with something.

 

[speednut]

I used the british equivalent oil as recommended by a national parts superstore and also in the british ford handbook, so should be ok. Is there a way to get the oil pan off completely without removing the exhaust? May be able to see whats going on then! )

 

[1998Explodasport]

I used the british equivalent oil as recommended by a national parts superstore and also in the british ford handbook, so should be ok. Is there a way to get the oil pan off completely without removing the exhaust? May be able to see whats going on then! )

Remove the two transmission mount bolts and use a block of wood and place it under the transmission and jack it up enough to give you clearance to remove the pan. I also have a 1998 SOHC and had alot of trouble removing the pan completely. Don't try to remove the exhaust, I tried that too and even with torches I coudn't get one of the bolts out of the left side manifold.

 

[speednut]

Thats valuable advice, thanks!

 

[speednut]

Just a note to say thanks for all the help with my problem. Good news!! After changing the oil (again) and the filter and cleaning out the oil pan, we have drive - forwards and backwards! Only thing that feels a bit rough is reverse, but all other gears work as they did before.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update!