Transmisson slipping

[pb311]

I have 90k miles on original 4 wheel drive transmission. It is slipping going from 2nd to 3rd gear. One mechanic told me I need to replace it because of internal damage. Car is used mostly for freeway driving. What is the average life of an Explorer tranny? Any recommendations for transmission shops in Sacramento, CA area? I don't want to replace it if all it needs is repair or adjustment.

 

[SethD]

Oh Boy

I too have a 95 eddie Bauer explorer, and since I have gone through 5 transmissions in 12 months, I gave a little knowledge on such a subject. I have found that our a4ld transmission being what it is, has an average life of 85000 miles. I know of many people that have got much more milage, but that is on average. Now, I did exactly what you do not want to do, if you look into what they will charge to open that tranny up and have it repaired, you are more likely better to go ahead and have it rebuilt or replaced while it is out with 90,000 miles. Somone else might argue with that, but believe, I've had my share of this crap, and learned the hard way. If there is anything I can do, let me know. Good Luck. Seth

 

[Jon_Herr]

Bad news travels fast...

....but good news is hard to find.

I would go to an acredited ATSG transmission shop and have it replaced.

You should stay away from rebuild shops unless you can find multiple people that have RAVE reviews for a particular one. There are multiple hardware updates to the old transmissions that must be applied to get any reasonable wear out of a rebuild.

The best thing to do is find a particular shop that is a member of ATSG and then ask around to see if anyone has had a bad experience with them. Bad news travels really fast so it shouldn't be hard to find out.

Good news is hard to find - and may be vehicle specific. Just because the local mom / pop shop fixed an old lady's buick tranny doesn't mean they can do a troublesome explorer tranny with any success.

I had the tranny in my girlfriend's '93 Explorer w/ over 100K miles replaced by an ATSG shop here in Albuquerque, NM over 2 years ago with no problems.

Also had friends go to local rebuild shops and return for leaks, and then return for leaks, and then return for leaks, and then return for leaks, and then return for leaks, and then return for leaks, and then return for leaks... You get my point.

Good luck,
Jon

 

[pb311]

Thanks everyone for the advice

Now I'll decide if I can afford to unload this beast and take on a new car payment, because I get the feeling there is no happy ending to this story.

 

[ga_sport4X4]

arghhh!!!!

My tranny that has 64k miles on it and also slips alittle between 2nd and 3rd gears as well. Apparently, this occurs in many Explorers. Enough so that there is a TSB about the issue. I have yet to read TSB, but i'm curious as to what the TSB says to do to remedy the situation short of rebuilding or replacing the transmission.

 

[Perrin]

Does anyone know if the modulator on the side of the trany will help to corect this. I have heard that this could possible be a loss of pressure in the tranny. Can anyone verfiy this or disprove this? I am having this problem in my 2000 with 56k miles. I would love to fix it with a modulator rather than having to replace the whole thing.

 

[micurn]

Level 10 Transmissions

I dont know if you guys heard of this place but apparently the do exellent work and sell performance equipment ( the owner drives a explorer)
www.levelten.com is the place to go.

 

[ndwhitaker13]

this seems crazy the fact that you are having problems with these trannys at that many miles. I have a 95 limited with 146,000 on it and my mother had a 98 with 135,00 on it with no problems. I had some slippage and shutter at about 140,000, but that was readily solved by changing the what im assuming stock fluid with new mercon V.

 

[micurn]

Trans

I was shocked at mine although a tps or speed sensor can cause the malfunctions in the 95-96 vehicles Im hoping mine is such the case but we will see. I have 110000 on it all majority highway

 

[Billy177]

have you tried just flushing your transmission it looks as the intermediate band is slipping

 

[dogfriend]

Re: arghhh!!!!

Originally posted by ga_sport4X4
I have yet to read TSB, but i'm curious as to what the TSB says to do to remedy the situation short of rebuilding or replacing the transmission.

I posted the TSB in this thread near the bottom.

trans TSB

The TSB is for installing a new kit in the valve body to raise the line pressure if it is too low.

 

[micurn]

Trans slipping

it might be possible the band could be slipping but the 1 gear holds on forever and fails to shift to second only when you back off then it shifts to 2nd then 3rd and in to 4th the kickdown shifts to 2nd and reves out but I just dont know th ecars is at level 10 and we will see what happens. www.levelten.com

 

[micurn]

Well trans is out

lo and behold explorer limited 1995 with a 5R55E tranny???? trans has been out before who ever done it did a crappy job Dowl pins missing and bolts missing from bell housing. Will know later about whats up with it.
Road test with pressures showed faultin pressure along with 2-3 gear ratio codes in computer
www.levelten.com has the tranny, 1 year unlimited milage warranty, Will keep you all posted about work progress.

 

[micurn]

Well the slipping could be caused by a cracked or worn band the 55e Bands have been reported to have snapped at the rivet site causing the 2-3 shifting problems the problems youdescribed earlier in the posts are pretty reliable fixes tps and speed sensor But I would focus more on the Trans esp if you get fault codes pointing to 2-3 shift ratios You will find a Band and or Servo problem requiring a tear down to fix it. I had similar complaint My repair was $2840.00 at level 10 I will keep all posted of the results and trans fix along with road tests. www.levelten.com