Please Help - Transmission or AWD problems

[john.oulton]

I have an '04 Explorer XLT AWD V6 with 43K miles on it. I bought it from Carmax with 21K miles on it just over a year ago. It has always had an annoying problem. From time to time it seems to get stuck in a rut. I always assume it's a transmission problem. While on the highway it seems to get stuck between 60 and 65 MPH. It makes loud engine noise and sounds like the engine is going to take off. It finally kicks into place and everything is good unless somebody cuts you off and you fall below 65 MPH. Then you have to start all over again. It recently started doing it on city streets also. If we are in traffic starting and stopping at traffic lights it does it around 35 MPH. We took it into the Ford dealership today and told them about the transmission problem. While it was there we told them to do a state inspection and change the oil. They had it about 15 minutes when they called and told me it failed the sate inspection because it needed new brakes front and rear. No problem on the oil change, but the Transmission problem is actually an AWD problem. It is caused by your tires. My tires are stock tires so this one is confusing to me. The tires still have plenty of tread left, but they tell me that since the front is worn a little more than the rear it is tripping out the AWD while I am on the highway. They say that in order to fix it I have to replace all four tires. On these AWD vehicles when you need to replace one or two you have to do all four at the same time. We also need to service the front and rear differentials and the transmission.

It sounds like bull crap to me, but what do you guys think. I think they are low on new car sales so they are trying to make up by screwing people like me out of 1,400.00

 

[shadowless127]

That is a the biggest crock of sh*t i've ever heard. You do NOT need to replace all 4 tires. My back tires are considerabley more worn then my front and I have never had the AWD kick in when it wasn't supposed to, and when I rotate them I'm going to have less tread on the front. By their "logic" you can never rotate your tires, and when you NEED to rotate, you MUST buy a brand new set of 4...Think about how irrational that sounds.

I suggest taking it to a local trans shop and having them look at it. You may also want to enlist the services of another dealer, your trans may need to be reflashed.