OBD2 scanner for transmission codes?

[bleached rock]

Hi Everyone, I've been looking through the forums and google for a OBD2 scanner that will read Ford's transmission codes, preferably via Wi-Fi or bluetooth. There are tons of scanners on the market and I wanted to get your feedback about a scanner you've actually used and preferably actually pulled transmission codes.


Bit of background:
I have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer AWD 153k miles that started blinking the "O/D off" light with a "check transmission" message in the message center. The light will stop blinking if the ignition is turned off but it will come back after a few miles.

I believe I have a 5R55W transmission.

The Merc seems to be driving fine and shifting fine. It does seem to have a slightly higher RPM's.

To be honest, I jumped the gun and assumed it was the servo bore problem without as least checking the codes So, I bought a OD & IM kit from fordservoboretransmissionfixsolution.com but it did not fix my problem.

** side note: My IM servo looked to be in excellent condition and had no detectable wear on the servo shaft but the OD did have a ever so slight change in the polish on the servo shaft. It's our baby-hauler so we drive with a light touch apparently.

Anyway, I've learned my lesson and I want to at least see if I can get pointed in the right direction by getting a proper transmission code. Also, like someone else wrote if I'd have to pay a transmission shop 100 bucks to read my code, then I'd rather just buy a scan tool that I can use again and again.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

 

[drdoom]

I use an OBDlink and ForScan open source software on my laptop.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

You can get a $10 generic ELM327 tool in either WiFi or Bluetooth from eBay, Amazon, etc. With that, a laptop, and ForScan, you have a highly capable scan tool.

 

[bcurbox@aol.com]

Hi Everyone, I've been looking through the forums and google for a OBD2 scanner that will read Ford's transmission codes, preferably via Wi-Fi or bluetooth. There are tons of scanners on the market and I wanted to get your feedback about a scanner you've actually used and preferably actually pulled transmission codes.


Bit of background:
I have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer AWD 153k miles that started blinking the "O/D off" light with a "check transmission" message in the message center. The light will stop blinking if the ignition is turned off but it will come back after a few miles.

I believe I have a 5R55W transmission.

The Merc seems to be driving fine and shifting fine. It does seem to have a slightly higher RPM's.

To be honest, I jumped the gun and assumed it was the servo bore problem without as least checking the codes So, I bought a OD & IM kit from fordservoboretransmissionfixsolution.com but it did not fix my problem.

** side note: My IM servo looked to be in excellent condition and had no detectable wear on the servo shaft but the OD did have a ever so slight change in the polish on the servo shaft. It's our baby-hauler so we drive with a light touch apparently.

Anyway, I've learned my lesson and I want to at least see if I can get pointed in the right direction by getting a proper transmission code. Also, like someone else wrote if I'd have to pay a transmission shop 100 bucks to read my code, then I'd rather just buy a scan tool that I can use again and again.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

I have the same symptoms, I even did the same servo bore kit install and same darn flashing O/D light (shudders while driving freeway speeds shifting into 5th sometimes). Odd thing is, after driving a long distance, the light started to flash BUT the shudder went away while on the same long drive. I decided to pull over and turn off the car for a moment, then drove on and the O/D light was out again but the shudder came back. I am awaiting a TRANSGO shift kit and a new (rebuilt) sonnex solenoid pack I bought online. I came across this post hoping to get a reply on how you fixed yours. (did have AAMCO rebuild my 5R55W 70,000mi ago and they put in the sleeved servo bore kit and it worked fine till now, I even paid more for the lifetime warranty at AAMCO but my car was broken into a while back and no longer have the receipt, so they won't honor it, so I am trying to fix myself). Thank you, Brian
(side note that is more of a cart leading the horse, but going to try today to pull codes)

 

[bleached rock]

My trans fluid had little gold/copper flakes in it. A sure sign the torque converter is slowly dying. It turned out that a flake got stuck in the the valve that controlled torque converter lockup. The valve could not fully close allowing fluid to leak by and prevent lock-up. After some amount of time the OBD trips the OD OFF light because lock-up was not achieved.

I did get a cheapo obd2 scanner tool from Amazon and it came with what looked to be hacked software. I don't remember if it was forscan or one of the supplied programs that could drill down to the transmission codes but one did work and told me that lock-up was not being achieved.

I wound up pulling valve body and cleaning all the torque converter related valves one by one ensuring they moved smoothly. I actually just put everything back together, with a new trans filter, and kept on truckin. That was about 12k miles ago and have not had a problem since.

I know I'm on borrowed time so I got a quote for a full rebuild for about $2500 at a local privately owned transmission shop.

I did not have shuddering only the TC lock problem. For what it's worth you can tell if you are not getting TC lock when at driving at 50+ mph if you slowly pump the accelerator (not enough to downshift) the tach will swing 500+ RPM and it should not. With proper TC lock the tach should barely move and you should only feel the truck accelerate.

The valve body looks complex as hell but it's really pretty simple if you tackle one valve at a time and pay attention to the direction of the parts. You may have something stuck in your OD control valve causing it to flutter this causing the shuddering you feel.

 

[TechGuru]

You can get a $10 generic ELM327 tool in either WiFi or Bluetooth from eBay, Amazon, etc. With that, a laptop, and ForScan, you have a highly capable scan tool.

Don't buy generic, unreliable, especially if ever gonna use PATS features in ForScan.

http://www.amazon.com/ScanTool-425801-OBDLink-USB-Professional/dp/B005ZWM0R4

 

[bcurbox@aol.com]

My trans fluid had little gold/copper flakes in it. A sure sign the torque converter is slowly dying. It turned out that a flake got stuck in the the valve that controlled torque converter lockup. The valve could not fully close allowing fluid to leak by and prevent lock-up. After some amount of time the OBD trips the OD OFF light because lock-up was not achieved.

I did get a cheapo obd2 scanner tool from Amazon and it came with what looked to be hacked software. I don't remember if it was forscan or one of the supplied programs that could drill down to the transmission codes but one did work and told me that lock-up was not being achieved.

I wound up pulling valve body and cleaning all the torque converter related valves one by one ensuring they moved smoothly. I actually just put everything back together, with a new trans filter, and kept on truckin. That was about 12k miles ago and have not had a problem since.

I know I'm on borrowed time so I got a quote for a full rebuild for about $2500 at a local privately owned transmission shop.

I did not have shuddering only the TC lock problem. For what it's worth you can tell if you are not getting TC lock when at driving at 50+ mph if you slowly pump the accelerator (not enough to downshift) the tach will swing 500+ RPM and it should not. With proper TC lock the tach should barely move and you should only feel the truck accelerate.

The valve body looks complex as hell but it's really pretty simple if you tackle one valve at a time and pay attention to the direction of the parts. You may have something stuck in your OD control valve causing it to flutter this causing the shuddering you feel.

Waiting on Solenoid Block and Shift Kit and will update how it went. I'm hoping this will be the fix.

 

[bcurbox@aol.com]

Shudder fixed

NO MORE SHUDDER, ALL FIXED

Well today I got my 02 Explorer back from Walters Transmissions in Temecula CA. I was going to take it in to AAMCO where they pulled a P0741 and they said it needed a full rebuild and it would start at $1500 not including parts, as I wrote earlier in a post in 2012 I had same AAMCO do a complete rebuild and paid extra for the lifetime warranty which they now won't honor due to a stolen receipt from same explorer. So after talking to the guys at TRANSGO they told me of a trustworthy person they deal with which is Walters. I just drove it 50miles without any shudder or other issues, ran great. Let me again tell you what I have done till I threw in the towel and took it in. I bought and replaced the solenoid pack (rebuilt), put in a new TRANSGO shift-kit (not incl pump part due to couldn't drop trans), replaced int/od servo with oring type, checked bands each time I touched the trans, the separator plate was in good condition, changed the filter 2x during the process, the pan was always clear of any debris other than a little normal black sludge on the magnet, the fluid when I first dropped it was good, and probably drained the fluid 3x during the whole process of when I started on this adventure, even tried to drain the torque convertor but didn't find a plug as I marked it turning the engine by wrench looking up at it through the access cover (I marked an X on it with perm black marker to make sure I did do a full revolution to find plug, but no plug was there), I always torqued everything to specs (I always buy factory manuals for all my vehicles just for reasons like this). The trans looked great up to this point since it was rebuilt back in 2012 by AAMCO and I even saw the new sleeves when I did the servo-bores. So at that point I started looking for a misfire somewhere. I ended up changing my plugs, plug wires(yes, I did find a white spot on at least one wire), coil, air filter, pcv, fuel filter, and did the full reset of the memory by disconnecting the neg battery cable and jumped it from the positive so it could relearn the shift values (can find on youtube). At that point I talked to Mark and Larry at TRANSGO and got Walters info. I have a 69 mustang that is using all my trans stuff to drop another trans. I took the Explorer to Walters Saturday and on Monday they called me yesterday (Wednesday) and said after all the test I needed a new torque converter, I gave the go ahead and they told me it was done today. They also found a kinked evac line which they fixed which may have caused a misfire but not the shudder. They also checked it over pretty good, no other issues. As I was there today, I saw the the converter they pulled out, and it did have the X I marked on it. They said it was stuck pretty good onto the flywheel and took some to get it off. I just drove it home and it runs great. Yes, it's only been a few hours, but if you don't see any more post, you know it's still working. Hope this helps. Lesson learned, always pull your codes first and use a person you can trust. Walter did the job for half of what AAMCO wanted.

 

[TechGuru]

as I wrote earlier in a post in 2012 I had same AAMCO do a complete rebuild and paid extra for the lifetime warranty which they now won't honor due to a stolen receipt from same explorer.

Um, even in 2012, who still did paper receipts? They should have your warranty stored in their computer? or are you saying someone stole your identity and used your warranty on their own exp? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Number Twelve]

Um, even in 2012, who still did paper receipts? They should have your warranty stored in their computer? or are you saying someone stole your identity and used your warranty on their own exp? Makes no sense to me.

AAMCO is the most unscrupulous business I ever examined. They tried to sell me a complete rebuild 9 months after I rebuilt my own transmission, saying it's completely shot. All I wanted was it's first annual fluid change and check the band adjustments.

Then I took in a transmission that had been running on an AAMCO warranty for 4 years and they said it was shot, too. Then I produced the warranty papers and he told me to go F myself.

Why on Earth would AAMCO produce the warranty records when they can screw you twice?

 

[TechGuru]

AAMCO is the most unscrupulous business I ever examined. They tried to sell me a complete rebuild 9 months after I rebuilt my own transmission, saying it's completely shot. All I wanted was it's first annual fluid change and check the band adjustments.

Then I took in a transmission that had been running on an AAMCO warranty for 4 years and they said it was shot, too. Then I produced the warranty papers and he told me to go F myself.

Why on Earth would AAMCO produce the warranty records when they can screw you twice?

So where is the best place to go that has a national warranty? A warranty with a local shop won't help you if it dies 1000 miles from home.

Stuck with the Ford dealers?

 

[Number Twelve]

So where is the best place to go that has a national warranty? A warranty with a local shop won't help you if it dies 1000 miles from home.

Stuck with the Ford dealers?

Guard your paperwork.

I don't know of any wide-spread chain of transmission shops except AAMCO. I only know I went to their school, rebuilt my own transmission, and they tried to sell me a rebuild nine months later. That's the way it is EVERY TIME you go to AAMCO. It doesn't matter if all you need is a modulator valve or the shift solenoids, or your very first annual fluid change. You ALWAYS buy a whole transmission at AAMCO.

If you can't help your self (like bcurbox), guard your paperwork.
After all, you have a car that locks its own doors and won't start without YOUR key, so it shouldn't be all that difficult.