What transmission do I have? 2002 Explorer.

[silvershark]

Excellent, that documentation was a great help! Looks like I defiantly broke the intermediate band and the apply stut fell out with it.

I will keep you guys posted if I do decide to rebuild it myself this weekend. I am waiting on my father in law to see if my wife can borrow his car until next monday. If so, then I will have a 5r55W rebuild process for you guys wanting to do a basic bench rebuild.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I would suggest that you start to gather parts now so that you won't have too much down time waiting for parts to come in the mail.

 

[trucku]

If I was to tear down my transmission and create a documentary on the rebuild process would anyone else be interested? .

Interested
Subscribing

 

[CDW6212R]

Unsubscribing, ignorance bothers me. I get tired of arguing with books which are wrong. A 4.10:1 gear is a higher gear ratio than 3.73:1 gear. Regards,

 

[Opera House]

Now I'm really confused. Would be interested to know if you find any valve body bolts that are loose. I just got an 02 V6 "E" and the rear end went up on blocks the first day I got it. Haven't got around to looking at the transmission yet with all the other problems. Does the pan seal look reusable, wouldn't mind doing a quick pan drop if I can get it back together. A weekend rebuild seems a little ambitious if it is your first one. The ASTG manuals leave a lot to the imagination. Fight the urge to pull it apart quickly and bag everything in paper, any writing on plastic will soon disappear. DON'T TOUCH THE PUMP, LEAVE IT BOLTED TOGETHER!!!!

I have a '99 5R55E as a spare. Is everyone saying that can be installed in my 02?

 

[silvershark]

Despite what everyone here is saying 2002 ford explorers came with either the 5r55W (4wd) or the 5r55S(2wd). If you have an explorer made in 2002 before 3/1/2002 then there is a possibility that you may have an 5r55E(4wd) or 5r55N(2wd).

Yes, the pan gasket is reusable. I have torn down my camaro many times and I would consider myself a reasonable mechanic. I fix others cars on weekends etc. I have done everything but a rear end gear swap.

Removing the pan, unbolting 16 bolts for the pan, and then removing about 6 bolts for the solenoid is not bad imo. It takes literally 1/2hr to do it with the right tools.

Upon closer inspection I noticed that only half of the band lip broke off, and funny enough, its not even the side that the apply strut pushes against. So I am simply going to back off the nut for the intermediate servo, put in the apply strut, tighten the servo nut back to spec and see if there is any play in the apply strut against the band lip before I assemble everything else. If this works I will more than likely be trading the exploder in for a subaru. This is my wifes car and she needs something reliable.

Anyhow, I will post pictures of the process tonight so you can see what I mean. It is very clear that the band is not broke, but infact the top riveted lip on the band broke. There were no metal shaving in the pan period. I have some pretty good magnets and I was unable to find any shavings.

I also ordered a new pan bolt. The fluid was never swapped and the allen key portion was frozen solid along with the outter bolt. I used PB blaster and was able to break the bolt loose, but not the allen.

The part number for the bolt is: Bottom Pan Plug $13.73 #3l2zk6667aa

I hope that helps.

 

[Opera House]

Finally got the rear end off blocks and had a chance to crawl under the front. My 02 XLT with a date code of 02-01 has a sticker on the transmission has a sticker 5R55W EXCHANGE PROGRAM TSB-00-16 VOID AFTER AUG 2001. Do they all have this sticker or was this transmission replaced early on? Feb 01 seems rather early for the 02 model year. I sure don't feel great about having a first run of a new generation.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

Interesting thread. Since this is my first Ford in about 12 years or better, I've been a bit out of the loop on some of the newer trannies such as this one. This is one of those stupid "lifetime fill" units if I'm not mistaken, correct?
I for one despise that idea. Yes, it's filled for life...The life of the transmission. *puke*
So since there's no dipstick, am I correct in thinking this is just like the BMW I did a tranny service on a while back, where you fill the blasted thing from the bottom of the pan? I saw in one of the pics posted, a little fitting screwed into the pan plug. I'm assuming this is the fill procedure? I didn't click on any of the other links in posted in this thread, but a casual walk-thru of the refilling procedure would be tremendously appreciated. I plan on doing mine just for my own reference point so that I have peace of mind that it's been done.
I do have a little helper if anyone wants to try it. When I read how to refill that BMW (ZF 5HP-30) tranny, and saw that guys were using little hand pumps to pump the fluid in, my brain started storming, and I used a little 12 volt universal electric fuel pump I had laying in the bottom of my toolbox for years and some clear plastic tubing. The little "jitterbug" pumps from Carquest or NAPA or wherever that cost around 16 bucks. It didn't pump it as fast as gasoline, but it did work. Hooked it up to the jump pack, and it puttered the fluid in at a nice steady pace.