Random intermittent transmission solenoid problems

[Rick_M]

Hi everyone,

I have spent a good amount of time reading through posts, but nothing seems to resemble my problem.

I have 2007 4x4 4.0L XLT Explorer that is showing these codes every day and then working fine

Vehicle Manufacturer: Ford
Vehicle Calibration ID: PWFE0AB.HEX

Current Fault Log
------------------
P0750: Shift Solenoid "A"
P0755: null
P0765: Shift Solenoid "B"

Pending Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no pending faults

Historic Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no historic faults
Other discovered fault codes
(possibly pending, current or manufacturer specific)
----------------------------------------------------
P0442: Evaporative Emission Control System Leak Detected (small leak)
P0732: Gear 2 Incorrect Ratio
P0753: Shift Solenoid "A" Electrical
P0758: Shift Solenoid "B" Electrical
P0760: Shift Solenoid "C"
P0763: Shift Solenoid "C" Electrical
P0768: Shift Solenoid "D" Electrical
P1000: OBD-II Monitor Testing Incomplete

About 6 months ago, the connector to the solenoid pack on the transmission got filled with water from the AC outlet, shorted out and killed both connectors (on the solenoid pack and the connector on the harness). I replaced the solenoid pack with a rebuilt one and a new harness connector and it worked flawlessly for about 4 months.

The problem reappeared about 6 weeks ago. At first the wrench will show with no side effects and drive for about 50 miles without coming up again. Eventually it got to show more often and then would get stuck on a single gear (either first, second or third). Got a Ford tech to look at it and he decided to replace the solenoid pack with a brand new OEM one and fresh filter and fluid last week. That didn't work.

Another transmission mechanic said it was a loose connection and that we needed to remove the red plastic cover on the harness connector to make a better seating between the connector and the solenoid pack and that didn't work either.

Now ALL the grounds have been cleaned with contact cleaner and a mild scrub with sand paper and redone with dielectric grease, ALL the fuses and relays have been cleaned the same way and so have the battery terminals. The harness has been tested for continuity and wires from the connector to the PCM pass with no problems whatsoever.

The problem first generates the wrench and sometimes the car will sit like it is on neutral (no reverse or drive) regardless of the shifter position and some other times it will drive on first gear only. After a few minutes the wrench will still be on, but everything will be back to normal. All the gears will shift nice and smoothly for several miles until it shows again. The second time the problem comes up, the check engine light will come on along with it. The same problem comes and goes absolutely at random. Will appear at different temperatures, road conditions, speeds and distances traveled. We have hooked up a Autel MaxiSys Pro scanner and it shows the shifter is sending the proper signals (Park/Neutral, Reverse, Auto 1, Manual 3, Manual 2, Manual 1). While driving (when its working fine) it shows the solenoids activating properly to make the shifts. Temperature on the transmission shows about 200 F going up a fairly steep incline (ambient temp is about 86-90 F).

After the codes have been erased, a test with the Autel MaxiSys Pro scanner will show no relevant faults (a brake light and the tire pressure sensors malfunction only).

Something that caught my attention is that I had to go on a two week trip in the middle of all of this and the explorer just sat there. When I came back, it had a hard start. I turned the key, everything on the dash went dark for a split second and then it started. I cleaned the battery terminals which had the white/green buildup and then drove it around for about 100 miles without having the problem come up again. Another interesting fact is that sometimes the car will start up and immediately show the wrench, without moving the shifter or even pressing the brakes. After that it will show at least one time at every drive. Sometimes 1 mile after driving, some other times it will go for 50 miles without it coming up.

All input is welcome and thank you for reading such a long post

 

[jptrans]

Hi everyone,

I have spent a good amount of time reading through posts, but nothing seems to resemble my problem.

I have 2007 4x4 4.0L XLT Explorer that is showing these codes every day and then working fine

Vehicle Manufacturer: Ford
Vehicle Calibration ID: PWFE0AB.HEX

Current Fault Log
------------------
P0750: Shift Solenoid "A"
P0755: null
P0765: Shift Solenoid "B"

Pending Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no pending faults

Historic Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no historic faults
Other discovered fault codes
(possibly pending, current or manufacturer specific)
----------------------------------------------------
P0442: Evaporative Emission Control System Leak Detected (small leak)
P0732: Gear 2 Incorrect Ratio
P0753: Shift Solenoid "A" Electrical
P0758: Shift Solenoid "B" Electrical
P0760: Shift Solenoid "C"
P0763: Shift Solenoid "C" Electrical
P0768: Shift Solenoid "D" Electrical
P1000: OBD-II Monitor Testing Incomplete

About 6 months ago, the connector to the solenoid pack on the transmission got filled with water from the AC outlet, shorted out and killed both connectors (on the solenoid pack and the connector on the harness). I replaced the solenoid pack with a rebuilt one and a new harness connector and it worked flawlessly for about 4 months.

The problem reappeared about 6 weeks ago. At first the wrench will show with no side effects and drive for about 50 miles without coming up again. Eventually it got to show more often and then would get stuck on a single gear (either first, second or third). Got a Ford tech to look at it and he decided to replace the solenoid pack with a brand new OEM one and fresh filter and fluid last week. That didn't work.

Another transmission mechanic said it was a loose connection and that we needed to remove the red plastic cover on the harness connector to make a better seating between the connector and the solenoid pack and that didn't work either.

Now ALL the grounds have been cleaned with contact cleaner and a mild scrub with sand paper and redone with dielectric grease, ALL the fuses and relays have been cleaned the same way and so have the battery terminals. The harness has been tested for continuity and wires from the connector to the PCM pass with no problems whatsoever.

The problem first generates the wrench and sometimes the car will sit like it is on neutral (no reverse or drive) regardless of the shifter position and some other times it will drive on first gear only. After a few minutes the wrench will still be on, but everything will be back to normal. All the gears will shift nice and smoothly for several miles until it shows again. The second time the problem comes up, the check engine light will come on along with it. The same problem comes and goes absolutely at random. Will appear at different temperatures, road conditions, speeds and distances traveled. We have hooked up a Autel MaxiSys Pro scanner and it shows the shifter is sending the proper signals (Park/Neutral, Reverse, Auto 1, Manual 3, Manual 2, Manual 1). While driving (when its working fine) it shows the solenoids activating properly to make the shifts. Temperature on the transmission shows about 200 F going up a fairly steep incline (ambient temp is about 86-90 F).

After the codes have been erased, a test with the Autel MaxiSys Pro scanner will show no relevant faults (a brake light and the tire pressure sensors malfunction only).

Something that caught my attention is that I had to go on a two week trip in the middle of all of this and the explorer just sat there. When I came back, it had a hard start. I turned the key, everything on the dash went dark for a split second and then it started. I cleaned the battery terminals which had the white/green buildup and then drove it around for about 100 miles without having the problem come up again. Another interesting fact is that sometimes the car will start up and immediately show the wrench, without moving the shifter or even pressing the brakes. After that it will show at least one time at every drive. Sometimes 1 mile after driving, some other times it will go for 50 miles without it coming up.

All input is welcome and thank you for reading such a long post

Hey Rick, did you ever figure a solution to your above problem? I am having the exact same symptoms, codes, etc. as you were with this above problem. The transmission has been rebuilt. The solenoid pack WAS changed. We replaced the wire harness on the outside of the vehicle as well.

For some reason, this problem with the water leaking from the AC drain directly on to the transmission solenoid plug connector is starting to be an issue. This is the 2nd time I've seen this problem in as many weeks.

We are looking at replacing the PCM at this point, but there is no "smoking gun" that is actually pointing us in that direction. It's more of a hunch. When I get this problem resolved, I will post what we did for the fix.

 

[Michaelbowman86]

Did any of y'all figure this out?? Wife's 2008 is doing same thing and I'm beyond frustrated with it and I can't find any about it... We bought it used, the wrench light would randomly pop up but would never cause an issue driving it.... It has new selnoid pack, I'm getting power at fuse 38... We can drive it for about 5-10 miles shifting fine through all of the gears, then boom the gear will come one and it'll get stuck in gear... If I pull over, cut it off and reset the transmission codes (for the gear wrench not the check engine) with my scanner, it'll.do great for another 5-10 miles... The fluid is full and the filter is clean... pretty much everything Rick said is exactly what's going on with ours!!

 

[Rick_M]

hi all!

Sorry for not replying earlier, but all the notifications were going to my spam folder.

So basically the problem with this car was the solenoid pack having a short circuit at the connector due to the AC draining directly into it.

The first time around this happened I had to replace the solenoid pack, change oil and filters and the truck ran well for like 7 months until it got to do it again. At this point I had a brand new solenoid pack and connector installed and had already re-routed the AC drain to avoid the connector all together. Regardless the same problem came back - replaced the solenoid again and made no change - There were no shavings in the oil, no codes but it would still work randomly. Sometimes it would get stuck in neutral - sometimes work well for a few days and sometimes reverse would not engage at all. At this point everything pointed to getting a new transmission ECU, but I didn't get to that and sold it as it was.

However, before it gave in and I gave up - it started making a grinding noise at the front axle when launching and disappeared after getting up to speed. This was because the explorer would launch in 4wd mode regardless so I had to put a switch in the main wire of the transfer case to disengage it completely when driving around the city. After switching back on, the 4x4 would work as normally with the auto feature it came with OEM, 4x4 high and low range continued to work normally. This was more like a switch to force it into 2wd (which is not an option for this truck).

I know this story does not have a happy ending, because apparently after the first solenoid pack is gone, there is more damage done than the solenoid itself.

Hope this helps!

 

[Michaelbowman86]

hi all!

Sorry for not replying earlier, but all the notifications were going to my spam folder.

So basically the problem with this car was the solenoid pack having a short circuit at the connector due to the AC draining directly into it.

The first time around this happened I had to replace the solenoid pack, change oil and filters and the truck ran well for like 7 months until it got to do it again. At this point I had a brand new solenoid pack and connector installed and had already re-routed the AC drain to avoid the connector all together. Regardless the same problem came back - replaced the solenoid again and made no change - There were no shavings in the oil, no codes but it would still work randomly. Sometimes it would get stuck in neutral - sometimes work well for a few days and sometimes reverse would not engage at all. At this point everything pointed to getting a new transmission ECU, but I didn't get to that and sold it as it was.

However, before it gave in and I gave up - it started making a grinding noise at the front axle when launching and disappeared after getting up to speed. This was because the explorer would launch in 4wd mode regardless so I had to put a switch in the main wire of the transfer case to disengage it completely when driving around the city. After switching back on, the 4x4 would work as normally with the auto feature it came with OEM, 4x4 high and low range continued to work normally. This was more like a switch to force it into 2wd (which is not an option for this truck).

I know this story does not have a happy ending, because apparently after the first solenoid pack is gone, there is more damage done than the solenoid itself.

Hope this helps!

So do you think the 4x4 auto was causing the issue to begin with or you think it's the ecu because at the same stop point as you were at the moment... New solenoid pack and connector, clean fluid @ right level, same symptoms that you had just haven't had any grinding noises though. And long as the check engine light is off it shifts great with no issues... It's been sitting since Oct of last year we have drove it short distances, sometimes it'll do ok (wrench will be on) other times we have to pull over and reset the trans code with my scanner... One mechanic looked at it saying he was 95% sure it was ECU lol those are too expensive to buy with there being a 5% chance not fixing it....

 

[Rick_M]

I checked the harness for weak connections and everything ohmed out fine, so I'm guessing it will be an ECU problem. I did check all the grounds and cleaned them to no avail, so that's another thing to rule out. Let me know if you pull the trigger with good results! I'm curious to know if that would have solved it

 

[Michaelbowman86]

I checked the harness for weak connections and everything ohmed out fine, so I'm guessing it will be an ECU problem. I did check all the grounds and cleaned them to no avail, so that's another thing to rule out. Let me know if you pull the trigger with good results! I'm curious to know if that would have solved it

Well after a year of sitting in the yard I just bought the wife a reman PCM last week... For some reason with her year explorer and that PCM model number you can't get them with preprogrammed blanks keys, so this Friday the locksmith is coming to program her new computer to accept her keys... Hopefully it works, I sorta have my doubts but I have my fingers crossed.... The PCM I got was on the cheaper end but it has great reviews and we got 30 days to return it if it isn't the issue... I'll let you know how it goes

 

[Michaelbowman86]

So far it's been doing ok... After the first week it went back into limp mode (no acceleration response) with the check engine light codes for the throttle body and egr... I replaced both and no problems since... The wrench light still pops on after about 5 miles of driving with trans code p0741 torque converter slip above expected, but it's not causing any shifting or driving issues... Im going to put a bottle of lucas in it sooner or later to see if it makes the wrench go out... But anyways yeah bad PCM was causing the headache.... Lol it's been such a pain we have learned to hate anything with the word explorer in it, we will be selling it soon...

 

[jr230]

i never had this problem but i do remember reading on an E ford Econoline that theres a problem on the electronic controlled trans
that is pcm but for the trans in the van there's an aftermarket control that replaces using the pcm i think it was on you tube they were fixing up the van for camping not in my subs they said it was much easer and cheaper then new pcm