rdgummow
New Member
- Joined
- April 18, 2016
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- American Fork, UT
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1994 Mazda B4000 4X4
Okay, check this out.
I have a 1994 Mazda B4000, V6 SOHC 4.0L, which I believe is the same as the 1995 Ranger, am I right? LE Trim, in case that's important. Haha, every other problem I've had with my truck has been fixed via these forums, however, I've been unable to find anybody with my same problem, so I figured it's time to register an account and see if anybody can identify what's going on.
As a side note, I'm fairly mechanically inclined. I rebuild motorcycles as a hobby, however, when it comes to my truck, I know very little. I redid the cooling system in February, after the water pump went bad, but aside from that, I know very little of what's going on. Especially when it comes to transmissions...well... basically, I have no idea what's going on.
Here's the story.
I deliver the pizza as a side job, delivering on the weekends and stuff, which racks up my mileage. 226k miles and still going, despite the abuse I put her through. Anyways, I was driving a couple weeks ago, and had something strange happen. I was accelerating out of an intersection, and when the truck acted like it wanted to shift from gear 1 to gear 2... well, it didn't. It seemed to disconnect from it's previous gear, but just refused to shift to gear 2. RPMs shot up, but no gear change and no acceleration, just like it was put in neutral. I got scared, pulled off the gas, and the gears caught. As I was almost done with work, I figured I'd check the transmission fluid as soon as I got off. Ended up driving about 15-20 miles more with the problem until I got off, and literally as I was leaving the parking lot, on my way to pick up some more transmission fluid, I heard a sort of *clunk* sound. I immediately pulled over, put her in park, and checked the fluid. Sure enough, she was low, about a 1/4 in below the two dots that signify the "enough" range. After having a friend pick me up some more fluid, I filled her up, but no dice. As I shifted her into gear, it was like I could hear the transmission turning as I accelerated (I had to move her into a safer spot, as I had just pulled off the highway) and kind of sounded like something was spinning around inside the case. I came back the next day to see if I could get her home, and funny enough, she started right up, shifted into gear with no sound. Drove her home, only having to let off the gas to let her shift. Never had the problem before, and it definitely wasn't an issue that worsened over time. Kind of just... happened.
Fast forward two weeks.
I tried throwing in some of the Lucas Transmission Treatment stuff, but nothing. Did some more research, discovered what a "slipping transmission" is, which pretty accurately described my truck's symptoms. Due to her high mileage, I wouldn't be surprised if the transmission is just worn down to the plates, but the more I drive her the less I think that's what the problem is.
First place I looked was the forums, where I found a thread where another guy was having a sort of similar problems. He said a new vacuum modulator did the trick, so I gave it shot. Yeah... Still no luck there, either. New vacuum modulator hasn't made any noticeable difference. I visually checked for vacuum leaks as well, but wasn't able to find any (I wasn't able to find any diagrams outlining the vacuum system, so I wasn't really sure where else to check other than the intake manifold and the connection to the vacuum modulator).
Now things are just weird.
When I start her up in the morning, she won't shift. She shifts from Park to Reverse to Drive just fine, but she won't shift out of first gear. I'll get her up to about 3,000 rpms, then I'll let off the gas and hover the engine's RPMs around where the gear used to catch (about 1k RPMs below) but nope. Take the gas off all the way, she just decelerates in first gear. This is horrible for the car, but if I get up to a high enough speed and get her up to about 4k RPMs, sometimes I'm able to skip 2nd gear and shift right into 3rd, which seems to function properly. When the truck finally warms up, usually after a mile or two, she'll start to shift into second, but with difficulties. As far as I can tell, shifting from 2-3 and 3-4 is almost normal, but then again, the gear ratios make the RPM jump significantly less drastic (maybe 500 RPMs per change, rather than the 1k jump from 1-2), possibly allowing the transmission to catch easier or something. I'm not sure if that's how it works, I'm just making stuff up that seems reasonable to me.
Hills are a struggle, even when she's warm. When I'm on a 2nd gear hill, the transmission will basically try to shift out of 2nd whenever possible. If I try to force it to shift into third, RPMs aren't high enough to pull her up the hill, so she'll shift back into 2nd. When she's in second, she doesn't want to be in second, so if I give her even just a little bit too much gas, she'll shift into first and try to pull herself up the hill at 4-5k RPMs.
The only temporary solution I've found is to warm her up in gear 15 mins before I need to leave in the mornings. If I warm her up, but not while she's in gear, she'll have the same problem as normal, although it'll only take a 1/2 mile to a mile to start shifting into 2nd. This makes me think there might be something up with the fluid pressure or something... I also know virtually nothing about transmissions, so I could be very, very wrong. She still requires me to let off the gas and let the gear catch, even when she's warm. It's kind of fun though, cause you have to shift the car like a manual, you know, without the stick.
I've browsed the forums and can't seem to find a thread where anybody has had a similar issue, although, I can't really seem to find anything to search for other than "slipping transmission". If somebody has had a similar issue or there is a thread on the topic, please shoot me a link.
Are these just symptoms of a slipping transmission? Am I just crazy thinking it's possibly something different? And if it is just a slipping transmission, how long do you thing I have before she gives completely? Am I going to have to rebuild her? It's a 4R55E 4x4 transmission, in case you were wondering. All replies are greatly appreciated! I'm happy to answer any questions as well.
I have a 1994 Mazda B4000, V6 SOHC 4.0L, which I believe is the same as the 1995 Ranger, am I right? LE Trim, in case that's important. Haha, every other problem I've had with my truck has been fixed via these forums, however, I've been unable to find anybody with my same problem, so I figured it's time to register an account and see if anybody can identify what's going on.
As a side note, I'm fairly mechanically inclined. I rebuild motorcycles as a hobby, however, when it comes to my truck, I know very little. I redid the cooling system in February, after the water pump went bad, but aside from that, I know very little of what's going on. Especially when it comes to transmissions...well... basically, I have no idea what's going on.
Here's the story.
I deliver the pizza as a side job, delivering on the weekends and stuff, which racks up my mileage. 226k miles and still going, despite the abuse I put her through. Anyways, I was driving a couple weeks ago, and had something strange happen. I was accelerating out of an intersection, and when the truck acted like it wanted to shift from gear 1 to gear 2... well, it didn't. It seemed to disconnect from it's previous gear, but just refused to shift to gear 2. RPMs shot up, but no gear change and no acceleration, just like it was put in neutral. I got scared, pulled off the gas, and the gears caught. As I was almost done with work, I figured I'd check the transmission fluid as soon as I got off. Ended up driving about 15-20 miles more with the problem until I got off, and literally as I was leaving the parking lot, on my way to pick up some more transmission fluid, I heard a sort of *clunk* sound. I immediately pulled over, put her in park, and checked the fluid. Sure enough, she was low, about a 1/4 in below the two dots that signify the "enough" range. After having a friend pick me up some more fluid, I filled her up, but no dice. As I shifted her into gear, it was like I could hear the transmission turning as I accelerated (I had to move her into a safer spot, as I had just pulled off the highway) and kind of sounded like something was spinning around inside the case. I came back the next day to see if I could get her home, and funny enough, she started right up, shifted into gear with no sound. Drove her home, only having to let off the gas to let her shift. Never had the problem before, and it definitely wasn't an issue that worsened over time. Kind of just... happened.
Fast forward two weeks.
I tried throwing in some of the Lucas Transmission Treatment stuff, but nothing. Did some more research, discovered what a "slipping transmission" is, which pretty accurately described my truck's symptoms. Due to her high mileage, I wouldn't be surprised if the transmission is just worn down to the plates, but the more I drive her the less I think that's what the problem is.
First place I looked was the forums, where I found a thread where another guy was having a sort of similar problems. He said a new vacuum modulator did the trick, so I gave it shot. Yeah... Still no luck there, either. New vacuum modulator hasn't made any noticeable difference. I visually checked for vacuum leaks as well, but wasn't able to find any (I wasn't able to find any diagrams outlining the vacuum system, so I wasn't really sure where else to check other than the intake manifold and the connection to the vacuum modulator).
Now things are just weird.
When I start her up in the morning, she won't shift. She shifts from Park to Reverse to Drive just fine, but she won't shift out of first gear. I'll get her up to about 3,000 rpms, then I'll let off the gas and hover the engine's RPMs around where the gear used to catch (about 1k RPMs below) but nope. Take the gas off all the way, she just decelerates in first gear. This is horrible for the car, but if I get up to a high enough speed and get her up to about 4k RPMs, sometimes I'm able to skip 2nd gear and shift right into 3rd, which seems to function properly. When the truck finally warms up, usually after a mile or two, she'll start to shift into second, but with difficulties. As far as I can tell, shifting from 2-3 and 3-4 is almost normal, but then again, the gear ratios make the RPM jump significantly less drastic (maybe 500 RPMs per change, rather than the 1k jump from 1-2), possibly allowing the transmission to catch easier or something. I'm not sure if that's how it works, I'm just making stuff up that seems reasonable to me.
Hills are a struggle, even when she's warm. When I'm on a 2nd gear hill, the transmission will basically try to shift out of 2nd whenever possible. If I try to force it to shift into third, RPMs aren't high enough to pull her up the hill, so she'll shift back into 2nd. When she's in second, she doesn't want to be in second, so if I give her even just a little bit too much gas, she'll shift into first and try to pull herself up the hill at 4-5k RPMs.
The only temporary solution I've found is to warm her up in gear 15 mins before I need to leave in the mornings. If I warm her up, but not while she's in gear, she'll have the same problem as normal, although it'll only take a 1/2 mile to a mile to start shifting into 2nd. This makes me think there might be something up with the fluid pressure or something... I also know virtually nothing about transmissions, so I could be very, very wrong. She still requires me to let off the gas and let the gear catch, even when she's warm. It's kind of fun though, cause you have to shift the car like a manual, you know, without the stick.
I've browsed the forums and can't seem to find a thread where anybody has had a similar issue, although, I can't really seem to find anything to search for other than "slipping transmission". If somebody has had a similar issue or there is a thread on the topic, please shoot me a link.
Are these just symptoms of a slipping transmission? Am I just crazy thinking it's possibly something different? And if it is just a slipping transmission, how long do you thing I have before she gives completely? Am I going to have to rebuild her? It's a 4R55E 4x4 transmission, in case you were wondering. All replies are greatly appreciated! I'm happy to answer any questions as well.
