No reverse

[Bigolo]

Hi Guys,
I have a 99 Ford Explorer Aus delivered.
It has the 5R55E Gearbox.
All the forward gears seem to drive fine.
Put it into Reverse and it just revs with no movement.
Does anybody have an idea what it could be.
Been told it needs an overhaul.
Is there anything I can check or adjust before pulling it out.

 

[No1dan2001]

Id definitely take a look at some of the posts about the transfer cases. mine did the same exact thing, and its in the shop right now.. best of luck to you

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Did you drop the pan, and inspect the seals on the low/reverse piston, or adjust the bands? Have you checked your fluid level? It might be possible that your valve body needs to be cleaned out thoroughly. When was the last time the filter, and fluid were changed? Did you see if your reverse lights came on when you put it in reverse? Your DTR could be out of alignment, or your linkage might need an adjustment. One common problem on these transmissions is that the VB gaskets go bad, and the VB bolts have to be retorqued. You could have a pressure loss. If you have high mileage, it is possible that your EPC solenoid might not be putting out the proper amount of pressure.

 

[Glacier991]

No reverse in the 5R55 has a variety of possible culprits... some can only be fixed by a pull out and teardown.... so let's explore those that MIGHT not need that!

(The pull out teardown involve the reverse clutch assembly)

Transmission shift cable or bracket damaged. The Digital Tranmission range Sensor assembly out of adjustment.

Filter damaged, or plugged. Seal cut or damaged.

Valve body screws out of torque specification - retorque main valve body screws.

reverse modulator bore spool and or spring damaged, or stuck.

That is about it tranny wise. But as others note, you could have a TC issue too.

 

[je5]

Likely a broken shift-fork in the transfer case allowing disengagement in reverse only since the high/low gear is helical cut and promotes mesh only in forward motion.

 

[No1dan2001]

Glad to say Mine came back today, working fully. It was the Shift fork.

 

[Bigolo]

Thanks Guy's gonna have a proper look this weekened.
I'll do those checks before I pull it out.

 

[tmonly]

Newbie Here..I have the same exact problem with my 98 sport 4.0L sohc eddie w/ 74000 miles . No reverse...All other gears work fine . It will actually coast foward in reverse like neutral . I have done a lot of reading on here..Thanks for all the info...

I did the ford repair on the vb with new seperator plate and bonded gaskets. Same problem...The seperator plate had a blown gasket right by the reverse servo and the orings on the servo looked good

Now my question -- is there a way to check the tc(fork) with out removing it...or just pull it out and take it apart. In this issue is it ok to replace the fork or just look for another TC

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! You don't have to junk a transfer case just to replace a fork. Did you read the stickies in the top of the transmission section? They have detailed diagrams about repairs on the transfer case. For a break out diagram of the transfer case, look at WWW.Drivetrain.Com. They show most of the diagrams, but not all of them.

 

[tmonly]

Not sure which stickie you are referring to but looks I will just drop the TC and take a look at the fork to see if it is broken.If it is not that then I will probably have to rebuild the tranny