Transmission goes forward in R,N,D

[Hitchhikingmike]

Howdy,

Here's the situation: I've got an '02 explorer 2x4 v6 with the 5r55w auto trans in it. The truck has 43,000 miles on it. I don't know if this would be related, but I had goodyear flush the transmission and put in a new filter 3,000 miles ago. This is the first flush the transmission had. During the last 3,000 miles the transmission shifted flawlessly.

I dropped a friend off at his house after school, during which I let the explorer idle in the driveway in neutral. When I tried to leave I shifted into reverse but the truck did not engage, nor would it engage in drive or any other gear. After re-selecting drive a few more time and restarting the engine trying to get the transmission to engage, the truck finally engaged in drive, but after that it was slipping and would not shift past 1st gear.

The O/D light then started to flash in my face after 10 minutes of driving!

I tried reverse, drive and neutral and the truck went forward in all gears. I drove a short ways home at about 30mph while the shift selector was on reverse. Then I put the car in park and selected drive again, but the truck went backward in drive, neutral and reverse!

I check the shift selector cable and it is attached and calibrated to the transmission.

A day later, no matter what gear i select the truck just remains in neutral in all gears selected.

Could this be a leak in the valve body? a stuck solenoid? Broken band? Burnt clutch pack? Do you think this will call for a complete overhaul at 43,000 miles? I am the second owner and the truck has never been offroading or driven harshly.

Do you think that if I overhaul the transmission it will crap out in another 43,000 miles? According to the reports on this site, this explorer seems to have a crappy transmission.

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/2002/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml

Please help! I need this unreliable truck for school! Thank you.

 

[Glacier991]

First off ...get the codes read. This sounds like an electrical issue, possibly even a transmission range selector failure. I would not presume that your tranny needs a rebuild at this point. Get the codes read.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Thanks, I'm going to take it into the transmission shop monday when they open. I'll have them read the codes since I do not have a reader myself. I am as familiar with transmission as much as one can without ever opening one up. So I think I will be able to determine if they are thieves (as most trany shops are).

Does any one else have any other ideas as to what could cause this?

Thanks

 

[Glacier991]

If you get the codes read get the actual code numbers and bring them back here. Do not just accept their "interpretation" of them... get the actual numbers!! (eg. P0734 etc)

 

[BrooklynBay]

I agree that it might be DTRS related. Either the part is no good or it is misaligned. Keep in mind that not every scanner could read manufacturer specific codes.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Good news! Cost me $45 to fix the transmission. Turned out that as soon as the mechanic dropped the tranny pan he spotted the problem. The gear shift selector cable for P,R,N,D etc came unfastened inside of the transmission. I wish I had taken a photo to show you guys, I don't quite know how to explain it with my limited vocabulary but a pin came out that secured the gear selector linkage together inside of the transmission.

Thanks for your quick response and for helping!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update! I don't know how that pin could fall out. It has the pan pressing against it, and it's one of the toughest parts to remove other than the rear snap ring.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

I did have goodyear flush the transmission and put in a new filter 3,000 miles ago, perhaps when they took the pan off the pin fell out onto the ground when they were not looking and the shift selector linkage just now took 3,000 miles to come undone.

You sound familiar with the 5r55w, so you know what pin I am referring to?

Have you ever rebuilt a 5r55w before? I would be interested in knowing.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I haven't rebuilt any 5R55W transmissions, but I've worked on A4LDs which have many similarities. This link has a lot of information on the 5R55W: http://www.ratiotek.com/tmp/5r55w-complete.pdf

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Thanks for the information. I understand that the 5R55Ws appears to be a weak transmission because the servo pins wear the case bores and those servo's bands begin to slip by 70,000 miles, if not sooner. When this happens I would like to attempt to rebuild the transmission myself. Do you know of any 5r55w rebuild diaries online? I haven't found any on Explorerfourm. Do you think that any A4LD rebuild diaries I come across would help me when rebuilding the 5r55w?

Another question, after i eventually rebuild the 5r55w and re-bore the case from the servo pins and insert bushings for the servos do you think the tranny will last longer on this modification than the original one?

70,000 miles seems like piss poor life of a tranny for me, I certainly hope that a rebuild with upgrade would last a lot longer.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

reference to page 49 in the 5r55w-complete.pdf for information about having to re-bore the servo holes in the case.

 

[Glacier991]

There is no 5R55W Diary... yet. I just have not had time to get to it. In fact there will probably be a video before there will be a Diary. I have the 5R55W sitting in my garage to rebuild too. (But candidly have been waiting for aftermarket "fixes" to show up... which usually takes 5-7 years after a trannies introduction..)