No reverse.

[suitcase78]

ok i am new at this so bear with me. i have a '99 ranger 4x4 with the 4.0 ohv and 5r55e automatic with 160,000 pretty trouble free miles. the other afternoon i went to back out of the driveway and poof no reverse. all of my forward gears are working fine though. i did some homework and found a number of arcticles on the valve body gasket going south on this tranny so i pulled it and changed it although there were no tears or other obvious problems with it. the fluid was a bit abused but not too bad. filter wasn't too bad either. now i'm stuck. when the gear selector is put into reverse the engine does drop about 100 rpm so it is trying but nothing. my forward gears are still fine after the gasket change. any help would be great. :rangerred:

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the transmissions section. Are any of your gears out of alignment? Do you see the back up lights turn on when you put it in reverse? Sometimes it could be a simple linkage adjustment. Do you have any issues with the transfer case?

 

[suitcase78]

hey i am a queens native. ok my reverse lights are fine and i don't believe i have any transfer case issues. the last time i used 4wd was in really heavy rain a few months back and it worked flawlessly. like i said the truck has been pretty trouble free since birth. just a starter 20k miles ago. a few light bulbs and o2 sensors a year ago. nothing else. i believe i read something about reverse and 1st gear sharing some of the same components so if reverse is out first would be too. true or false??? the last auto i worked on was a c-4 so aod is all new to me. thank you for helping me out. :rangerred:

 

[BrooklynBay]

The stem of the low/reverse servo sometimes gets chipped. This servo applies the rear low/reverse band. You could check this servo if you drop the pan, then the square cover with 4 bolts. Test the band with a long phillips screwdriver. As for the transfer case, a failure of the shift fork or the shift rail could cause a lack of reverse.

 

[suitcase78]

The stem of the low/reverse servo sometimes gets chipped. This servo applies the rear low/reverse band. You could check this servo if you drop the pan, then the square cover with 4 bolts. Test the band with a long phillips screwdriver. As for the transfer case, a failure of the shift fork or the shift rail could cause a lack of reverse.

well i drove the truck to and from work today (5 miles each way) with no issues. when i was in the tranny i did have the cover off the reverse servo and the only thing i noticed was that when i pushed the servo in it did not push back. i do believe there is a spring behind it. should there have been tension? it was nothing to push it up into it's cylinder. i did nothing further with it for fear of hurting something else. thoughts??? :rangerred:

 

[BrooklynBay]

You should have removed the servo to check the tip. The band could be checked with a long philips screwdriver to see if it's broken. The band should have spring action. The 5R55E doesn't have a large spring like the A4LD.

 

[PopRichie77]

Just another thought, do you have manual 1st and does it have engine braking? You said you replaced the gasket, meaning one. There is a upper and lower valve body seperator plate gaskets?

 

[suitcase78]

Just another thought, do you have manual 1st and does it have engine braking? You said you replaced the gasket, meaning one. There is a upper and lower valve body seperator plate gaskets?

my bad i didn't say gaskets. yes i replaced both the upper and lower vb gaskets and i do have engine braking when it is put into manual first. :rangerred:

 

[suitcase78]

You should have removed the servo to check the tip. The band could be checked with a long philips screwdriver to see if it's broken. The band should have spring action. The 5R55E doesn't have a large spring like the A4LD.

I guess I have a project next week. In the mean time I will order the servo. While I am in there, should I replace anything else? :rangerred:

 

[PopRichie77]

Unless I am looking at something wrong on the application chart, if you have 1st gear that means the low reverse servo and band are working.

 

[suitcase78]

Unless I am looking at something wrong on the application chart, if you have 1st gear that means the low reverse servo and band are working.

so maybe something electronic??? i made a mistake in my last reply to you (thank you by the way for any help) i do not have engine braking in first gear. it just coasts. other gears yes but not first. don't know if this helps. all the homework that i have done also says that about first gear and reverse sharing alot of the same parts. so if the band blew up then i shouldn't have first. i am 100% sure that i do because of the four gear changes. :rangerred:

 

[PopRichie77]

I also made a mistake and left out the word Manual. Manual 1st and Drive 1st are different. Same ratio but different things are applied in the trans. If you have no engine braking in Manual 1st gear, this usually means a bad separator plate gasket. Are you sure that you have 4th and 5th gear? If yes then I would say there is a stuck valve in the valve body or a gasket was out of position when you reinstalled. Did you use a torque wrench? These valve bodies must be torqued to the proper torque and in the right sequence.

 

[suitcase78]

I also made a mistake and left out the word Manual. Manual 1st and Drive 1st are different. Same ratio but different things are applied in the trans. If you have no engine braking in Manual 1st gear, this usually means a bad separator plate gasket. Are you sure that you have 4th and 5th gear? If yes then I would say there is a stuck valve in the valve body or a gasket was out of position when you reinstalled. Did you use a torque wrench? These valve bodies must be torqued to the proper torque and in the right sequence.

yes i am 100% sure of fourth and fifth gear. highway rpm for 65mph is around 2000. plus if i hit the over drive button it down shifts to fourth. i was **** as hell with putting it back together with gasket alignment as well as torqueing and sequence. i use to be a diesel tech for ryder back in my youth but these damn automatics i never touched. we use to send them back to the dealer. it was cheaper for us because of the small amount of vans we had with auto's then putting us through school to learn them. my buddy gave me a card to a guy who builds ford only offroad stuff. i am gonna give him a call tomorrow. i'll post what he says for some other opinions. :rangerred:

 

[PopRichie77]

I can email you a picture from the Ford manual for the proper torque sequence, if you want? The torque spec. for the 5R55E valve body bolts is 71-97 lb/in, servo cover 108-126 lb/in. A inch pound torque wrench is a must. You should tighten in at least 2 steps, that's after the valve body is positioned and all bolts are snug. You might be lucky and get away not using a torque wrench but the odds are against you. I believe that I read some where that over tightening can cause the loss of reverse, among other things. Can't find where I read it now.