VinnieBoombots
Member
- Joined
- June 29, 2008
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Southwest USA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1996 Limited (140K miles)
My trans will not engage in reverse when cold. This condition never occurred when I was in SoCal or Las Vegas for 10 yrs. The ambient temp was always above 55 degrees. When I came to NJ in the last few months, as soon as the temp dropped below 35-40 degrees the trans won't go into reverse unless the vehicle is warmed up for at least 5 minutes.
I have a 1996 Explorer Limited w/4 wheel drive.
It is a 6 cylinder 4.0 engine.
It has 125,000 miles and has been driven across the USA six times. So far.
It is well maintained; I have owned it since it was a baby.
All fluids are clean and up to their proper levels.
I just went to the local trans place, (I have redacted the name), since their labor is less expensive than Ford. They took the vehicle through it's paces and did not detect and abnormalities. Since the ambient temp was over 60 and the vehicle was well warmed, the manager has asked me to try a few things or leave the car overnight, Since it's not in the greatest neighborhood, I'll try to do what he asks as follows:
1 - Make sure car is parked level. It has been parked on a 10-15 degree incline with the nose down. His theory is that reverse is at the rear of the trans and may not be getting the fluid flow properly.
2 - Next day, again on level ground, after starting the vehicle, immediately switch to 4WD Auto, and place the vehicle in reverse. He says that occasionally the transfer case can cause this problem.
My questions to the group are the following:
A - Has anyone run into this problem before?
B - Are the requests the manager is asking of me legitimate?
He indicated that he was reluctant to drop the trans and open it up unless he had something solid to go on. He felt that it would be costly for me to have him do this, somewhere in the range of 600-800 bucks.
I've always had good luck searching these forums and you guys always seem to have the right answers.
Thanks for your opinions.
Vinnie
I have a 1996 Explorer Limited w/4 wheel drive.
It is a 6 cylinder 4.0 engine.
It has 125,000 miles and has been driven across the USA six times. So far.
It is well maintained; I have owned it since it was a baby.
All fluids are clean and up to their proper levels.
I just went to the local trans place, (I have redacted the name), since their labor is less expensive than Ford. They took the vehicle through it's paces and did not detect and abnormalities. Since the ambient temp was over 60 and the vehicle was well warmed, the manager has asked me to try a few things or leave the car overnight, Since it's not in the greatest neighborhood, I'll try to do what he asks as follows:
1 - Make sure car is parked level. It has been parked on a 10-15 degree incline with the nose down. His theory is that reverse is at the rear of the trans and may not be getting the fluid flow properly.
2 - Next day, again on level ground, after starting the vehicle, immediately switch to 4WD Auto, and place the vehicle in reverse. He says that occasionally the transfer case can cause this problem.
My questions to the group are the following:
A - Has anyone run into this problem before?
B - Are the requests the manager is asking of me legitimate?
He indicated that he was reluctant to drop the trans and open it up unless he had something solid to go on. He felt that it would be costly for me to have him do this, somewhere in the range of 600-800 bucks.
I've always had good luck searching these forums and you guys always seem to have the right answers.
Thanks for your opinions.
Vinnie
