Torque-Converter/Sensor/Transmission woes

[OVERKILL]

I have a 1997 Ford Explorer XL 4x4 4.0L OHV, I now have 214,000Km on it and it has worked great since I bought it....until a few weeks ago. I was driving along and my O/D Off light started blinking, looked at my tach and my rev's were up by about 200-300RPM. Well, when I can to a stop it shiftled REALLY hard into the next gear, then the next, and so on, now, this was not a complete surpise, over a year ago it did the same thing for a day, went away and never came back. Ford said they thought a sensor got wet and now since it was dry it would be OK and that it would be next to impossible for them to find out what sensor it was unless it was acting up. Well, the next day, I came out, the light was blinking, drove about 3Km, it went out, was out for the entire day until I went to go on the highway. As soon as it grabbed 3rd, the light began blinking again and the torque converted wouldn't lock-up. Well, this has been going on for a few weeks now, it goes away, comes back, it only seems to come on when the vehicle gets warm, but its 5 degrees out right now, so I doubt its overheating. It has Mobil1 Synthetic fluid in it, put in about 4 months ago, Mobil1 5w30 oil, Front and Rear-End fluid, Power-Steering, Brake Fluid....etc. Under suggestion from a couple people it could be my Throttle Position Sensor, I replaced that today with one from Canadian Tire, it worked great for about 15 minutes, but when I came off a dirt road to go back on the highway, the TC wouldn't lock, then about 30 seconds later the light began blinking and its doing it again, even with the new sensor, though with the new sensor I've noticed the idle is a fair bit smoother. If anybody has had a similar occurence it would be great to know what the solution for yours was.

Thanks.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Could be as simple as a bad sensor, or your Tranny could be taking a dump. Fluid level is OK, and not burnt? You may want to have your alternator checked, cause if it is starting to go bad, it can affect the electronic transmission. Start with the simple/cheap stuff. You can also try resetting the computer, then see if the problem returns.

 

[daniel cauchon]

give yourself a chance my friend ! Never never go to Canadian Tire !! First thing I would try is exactly what TYPLYNCH told you , unplug the batt for at least 10 minutes and put it back on I go for a ride. If it comes up again , have the computer hooked on it But not at Canadian Tire please ! Go to RECOGNIZED shop. It`worth it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Hmmmmm

Well, to elaborate a bit, I haven't taken the truck to Canadian Tire, I only bought the TPS there, which seems to work fine. I think you might be right about the alternator, when I start the truck, the needle is above the "+" sign on the little picture of the battery and stays there for about 10 minutes and then it goes down to below the "+" sign, but never goes any lower. It is keeping the battery charged, but it might not be enough juice to keep everything working right. I installed a "larger" stereo a few months ago, a Pansonic CD Deck, a 500watt Amp (in addition to the factory ford amp which is still powering the door speakers) and a set of 12" speaker boxes in the rear. Maybe the load that setup put on it was what pushed it over the limit. The tranny fluid is relatively new, only a few months old, smells fine, its Mobil-1 Synthetic. When I reset the computer, it does immediately clear the error and the truck is fine for awhile. I've noticed that the voltage guage only goes down when the truck is hot, and the tranny only acts up when its hot, so there may very well be a correlation between the two. Does anybody know an easy way to test an alternator?? If I do take it in, it will be going to Ford to have the codes read and I'll see what comes up. Thank you for the advice.

-Chris

 

[OVERKILL]

New Alternator....still doing it.

Well, I got a new Alternator tonight, a 130-AMP Bosch to the tune of $327.00 after tax (but I bring my old one in and they give me 50 bucks). It was working great all night and I thought "yes!!! its fixed!" but, then, I took her out on the high-way, gave 'er pretty good from the lights leading onto the 115, and after she grabbed the last gear, the Torque Converted didn't lock up, she sat at 3100RPM@120Km/h for about 2 minutes and then the O/D off light began blinking once again and I'm back where I started, with about $400.00 in parts so far, and its still not fixed, though now my lights are a bit brighter and its charging higher on the guage and doesn't fluctuate when I come to a stop, which seems to tell me that the Alternator was on its way out anyways. Oh well, just like the TPS. Any other suggestions? If not, I'm taking it to a transmission place tomorrow to see if the guy there can tell me what is going on.

 

[OVERKILL]

Transfer Case

Well, tonight a buddy of mine got under the X, it needs new front bushings for the front axel assembly, my whole drive-train has an inch of vertical travel (REALLY not good), and there is about 1/2 a centimer of slop where the rear drive-shaft comes out of my transfer case and its leaking fluid, so I'm assuming thats where my problem is. I don't know how much a friggin transfer case is, or whether I need a new one or just a new rear-seal for it. I'm finding out on monday....ahhh, the fun.