bpopp
Member
- Joined
- February 21, 2007
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 2
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 99 Explorer 4.0 SOHC
I have what I think is an unusual situation with my 2WD 99 Ford Explorer Sport (6 cylinder SOHC engine). It has around 118k miles and I'm on my original tranny (automatic-- i think it's the 5r55s?). Prior to this weekend, I've never noticed any transmission problems and haven't had any engine codes for a good six months.
I jumped in my truck Friday morning and when I cranked it, nothing happened. No solenoid, no starter,nothing. I was in a hurry and I assumed it was my battery so I borrowed my wife's car. Later that day I was ready to jump start it using my wife's car and tried it again, but this time it started right up. I turned it off and didn't think too much about it. The next day I got in it, it started right up, and I commenced to drive to my destination. Here's where it gets interesting (and possibly expensive).
About 2 blocks from my house the tranny lurched pretty hard going into second or third gear and the OD light started blinking. After that, it seemed to shift normally, but I didn't have far to drive. Later that day, when I got ready to head back home, I tried to start it again and it wouldn't start. I tried shifting into neutral but it wouldn't start there either.
I used a screwdriver to bridge the terminals on the solenoid and it cranked right up, but on the way home, I didn't seem to be able to get past second or third gear (high RPM's at low speeds). After shifting the transmission manually to "2", it seemed to drive and shift normally, but I never drove over 35mph for the short trip home.
My hope, and this is probably just wishful thinking, is that my Transmission Range Sensor was intermittently failing (causing the startup problems) and when it finally died, my otherwise healthy tranny started acting up. Unfortunately I know Ford tranny's often fail at around the 100k mile mark, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but I don't want to get fleeced into doing a rebuild/replace if it's just a bad sensor.
Unfortunately I don't have an OBD scanner and I'm reluctant to drive the truck any more than I have to until I know what's going on. Should I just eat the 50 bucks and replace the sensor? Or should I pickup a scanner and do some more troubleshooting before taking it to a shop?
Thanks in advance for any tips/advice.
I jumped in my truck Friday morning and when I cranked it, nothing happened. No solenoid, no starter,nothing. I was in a hurry and I assumed it was my battery so I borrowed my wife's car. Later that day I was ready to jump start it using my wife's car and tried it again, but this time it started right up. I turned it off and didn't think too much about it. The next day I got in it, it started right up, and I commenced to drive to my destination. Here's where it gets interesting (and possibly expensive).
About 2 blocks from my house the tranny lurched pretty hard going into second or third gear and the OD light started blinking. After that, it seemed to shift normally, but I didn't have far to drive. Later that day, when I got ready to head back home, I tried to start it again and it wouldn't start. I tried shifting into neutral but it wouldn't start there either.
I used a screwdriver to bridge the terminals on the solenoid and it cranked right up, but on the way home, I didn't seem to be able to get past second or third gear (high RPM's at low speeds). After shifting the transmission manually to "2", it seemed to drive and shift normally, but I never drove over 35mph for the short trip home.
My hope, and this is probably just wishful thinking, is that my Transmission Range Sensor was intermittently failing (causing the startup problems) and when it finally died, my otherwise healthy tranny started acting up. Unfortunately I know Ford tranny's often fail at around the 100k mile mark, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but I don't want to get fleeced into doing a rebuild/replace if it's just a bad sensor.
Unfortunately I don't have an OBD scanner and I'm reluctant to drive the truck any more than I have to until I know what's going on. Should I just eat the 50 bucks and replace the sensor? Or should I pickup a scanner and do some more troubleshooting before taking it to a shop?
Thanks in advance for any tips/advice.
