Trans Rebuild

[socky3850]

Well I just got the bad news. My trans rebuild is costing me $2,300 for a total rebuild. My problem started about a year ago with a high pitched whine coming from the passenger side of the trans. At the time there was no trans malfunction. Within the last couple of months, however, the shifts between 2nd and 3rd and 3rd and 4th were getting very soft. I was also getting very hard shifts when I was passing someone or accelerating to go onto the interstate when the trans shifted into 5th. I also got hard downshifts from 3rd to 2nd when slowing to a stop. I had no CEL or flashing O/D light. My Ex has 88K miles and I bought it new in '98. What really irritates me is that this trans was serviced by Ford every 30K miles (complete flush) and never abused, even when I was offroad. The rebuild was done by a local trans shop in Tempe, AZ, that came highly recommended. For those of you in the Phoenix area, I'll post occasionally to let you know if I got a quality rebuild from this shop. I'll post the name of the shop in later threads.

 

[tenikiwon]

Holy $hit that sucks. I have 85K+ and I'm thinking it's time to start saving, but I was looking at about $1200 just from talking with people who "thought" they know a price.

 

[twooverpar]

Socky,

Was your 'whine' constant or did it come and go? If it came and went, were there any situations that seem to have caused it, ie. braking, downshifting, etc.

Geoff

 

[pagz]

wow... i just bought my 97 Sport and it has 121K miles on it. It runs fine...for now... I don't know if that was a good idea....is there anyone out there with a 96-98 explorer with high miles without any tranny problems???

 

[socky3850]

The whine was always there. It varied with RPM (higher pitch with higher RPM, lower pitch with lower RPM) but never went away. It almost sounded like I had a supercharger.

 

[VOATMJ1]

Could the EXTREME summer heat in Phoenix, caused your early demise? Do you have an external tranny cooler?

 

[Robert]

The heat shouldn't be too much of a problem here in Phoenix. 80K of my 95K miles have been put on here in Phoenix, many of which involve some summer off-roading. I do have the stock Ford tranny cooler though which helps some.

 

[XLT_66]

I have 137,000 miles on my 96 and just recently i have been having problems. It will just drop into nuetral when going aroudn turns and stuff and then catch coming out of the turn. The fluid are all good, had a total flush only like 3 thousand ago. It is getting worse and worse. It feels real weak sometimes froma stop, then it will get better other times. I guess i just sit back and let it do what it has got to do.

I want a 4R70W that i have right now, but with a Baumann ReCal Pro and some heavy duty stuff put in when i get her rebuilt.

I am kinda ready for it to happen already, i wanna put all the goodies in there.

If only there was an aftermarket shifter for the 4R70W tranny, that would be sweet...

 

[Opera House]

XLT66

My X would loose power on the same high speed right turn every day when I drove home from work. That turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator that had worn a bevel on one side because the spring wasn't centered. Whoda thunk that! If it is your transmission and the fluid level is correct, I would expect that the O-ring(s) on the filter are damaged/missing or the new style filter didn't get the spacer added to the mounting screw.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Maybe you should have had it looked at when it started to to have problems. May have saved some money.

 

[Msupertek]

FORD CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN

If you keep get your trans flushed every 30k miles it will last a long time. I have 162k miles on the original trans, I keep an eye on the fluid and change it every 30k as recommended by ford. I work at a dealership in Texas, and I am a technician so if my tranny bites the dust I'll just overhaul it. Most failed trans that I have repaired have been due to lack of maintenance, and I mean about 95 %.

 

[VOATMJ1]

Wise words to live by. I will heed your warning and change my tranny fluid on regular intervals! I have 30,000 miles on my 2000, and just recently had it flushed. I will do it again at 60,000.

Actually, my extended warranty company requires proof all maint. records for a failed part such as the engine, tranny, etc. to see if it was serviced as recommended by Ford, if not.......

 

[Mbrooks420]

Most of the Explorer transmissions go bad because they are underbuilt, underdesigned pieces of garbage.

 

[socky3850]

As I said in my original post, I had this tranny flushed at 30K and 60K and was just getting ready to have flushed again at 90K. I have to agree with a lot of others that these trans are just not that good. The guy at the trans shop told me that, given what is required of 5r55e in shifting and moving the X, that it is underbuilt. I've had three Explorers and as much as I like my 98, this may be the last one that I own.