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Ford F-Series Transmission Problems

KCRamKCRam Member Posts: 3,516
Whether you shift for yourself or not, this will be the place to diwscuss tranny questions.

kcram - Pickups Host
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Comments

  • robert31757robert31757 Member Posts: 1
    i need help with 95 f-150 manual tranny. tranny shifted fine going to work but when i left work and shifted into reverse had to really rev up the engine to get truck to move and the same was true with the forward gears. the truck finally quit pulling totally.
  • wpalkowskiwpalkowski Member Posts: 493
    How's your Clutch? Sounds like it's slipping and is either badly in need of adjustment or needs to be rebuilt.
  • gdafftgdafft Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2005 F150 supercrew, 4.6L, automatic. 2 wheel drive with 45,000 miles. I just noticed a grinding noise coming from the transmission or differential when I start out from a stop. The noise seems to be in the lower gears only and returns when I slow down to a stop. Any ideas?

    Thanks,
    Gary
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    I have a 93 F-250 4x4 Automatic. When you shift it to Drive it will go threw the gears till it gets to the overdrive, then it just acts like you shifted into neutral, if I push the button on the gear shift knob to turn the overdrive off it will go into gear then, as soon as you try the overdrive it will not go until it slows down to the lower gears. Once in awhile I can get it to work if I drive it for 15 or twenty minutes in drive , also the gas gauge won't work on the front tank when this happens.
  • patsea2patsea2 Member Posts: 1
    Can anyone help with an answer. After a twenty minute highway drive, when slowing for off ramp the transmission makes a grinding sound and just before stopping it clunks down into first gear. I have had it back to the dealer and they have not been able to repair it because they cannot get the truck to repeat the noise. Does anyone have any sugestions as to what might be causing the problem.
    Thanks
  • robmorobmo Member Posts: 1
    Hi, anyone know about this: 1991 f150 xlt lariat 2wd 302, when driving about 40 mph tranny slips, have to shift to L2, tried changing fluid that help in that now the tranny slips about 55 mph.....any ideas?
  • KCRamKCRam Member Posts: 3,516
    You need to do more than just change the fluid - especially if it was done via the tube and not by dropping the pan. My 90 and 96 F150s (both 302 and AOD 4-speed automatic) were very cranky without a full transmissionservice - fluid, filter, band adjustment, pan gasket. If your truck didn't have an auxiliary transmission cooler, you may want to invest in one, as these trannies overheat.

    kcram - Pickups Host
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    Just wondering if you are having the same problem as I am having, with the OD, one guy tells me there is a elec. switch on the tranny that has to engage the OD, when I went to the Ford Parts store they said there is no such thing on the E4OD trans. but the other mecanic I talked to said he has replace a couple of them, and he bought the switch at the Ford store for about 47 bucks, anyone know what is what on this deal. :lemon:
  • gdafftgdafft Member Posts: 2
    See my entry #4 above. I had the same problem with my 2005. took it to dealer and they said the gear set was shot and advised me not to drive it off the lot until they checked it out the next day!! They ended up installing a whole new transmission for $1400, after Ford discounted it from $3000 since the truck was only 9,000 miles ot of warranty. Since the 2006's have that 100,000 mile warranty on the drive train, sounds like they are balking on replacing the transmission early instead of later.

    Gary
  • KCRamKCRam Member Posts: 3,516
    (That should've been 90 and 93 F1450s I used to have, not 96).

    The E4OD did have an OD switch on the shifter tip. The AOD selections went P-R-N-OD-D-1, the E4OD was P-R-N-D-2-1 and the tip switch controlled OD off/on.

    kcram - Pickups Host
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    This 93 has the OD switch on the shifter, I looked at the trannny and notice there is a sticking indicating that it is a remanufactered tranny, no date, there is a wiring harness connected to the shifted at the tranny with several wires, I suppose for bacup lite and saftey start, but is there also a OD wire in that harness???
  • seabee72seabee72 Member Posts: 1
    Gary,
    Just had my 2002, F150 with 60000 miles lose the "Sun Gear" (weld broke) this in turn destroyed the clutches, Torque converter, and Overdrive. All total a bill for $2,100 for a new Transmission. Not sure if this is a common problem with this Trans, Just trying to get some feed back before I write a letter to Ford about it. Any help would be grateful

    Joe
  • kinkykinky Member Posts: 1
    91 F-150 5.0 L with the larger OD tranny. Dec 05 had tran rebuilt. Last week started shifting rough. Took back to shop. Mech installed a new solenoid pack in tran. Yesterday drove 20 miles home no problem till I turned last corner onto my road. BAM!, it started again. Mech said smietimes electrical issues can cause rhe part to malfunction. Could I have some sort of wiring problem elsewhere that would cause this.
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    I have been going threw all the elec. plug in on my 93, it seems to work part time but still takes about 10 min. to start shifting into D and OD. I have been cleaning and adding the elec. grease. I am wondering if maybe the TPS may have something to do with it, I'm going to change mine and see if it helps.
  • fish12fish12 Member Posts: 3
    my 2006 f150 has had a vibration during acceleration.i have had it back to the dealer 3 times.They said it is normal.I find it hard to believe they would invest in quiet steel and not worry about vibrations.It is like a buzzing more than a grinding.It is not acceptable to me that the 2 vehicle's i just sold,a honda with 150,000miles and nissan pickup with 85,000 miles were smoother than my brand new truck.And the dealers response to this problem was IT IS WHAT IT IS.It is the last ford and american vehicle i will ever own!Good job FORD another lost customer.
  • mschmalmschmal Member Posts: 1,757
    Don't take one dealer's word for it. If you are unhappy, try a different dealer.

    Mark.
  • one17one17 Member Posts: 6
    I've had my F-150 (4X2) for a while with 120K miles. I mainted it pretty well with all the scheduled maintenance. But, I found out a few months ago that the radiator fluid was flooded with pink transmission fluid. My machanic said his never seen it before. I replaced the radiator and flushed both the radiator and transmission (this took more than 6 tries at the dealer over a 3 day period). They warned that there might be transmission damange and told me to keep an eye on it. This seemed to have fixed it for couple of months.

    Now I find that the transmission is very rough and it hesitates for upto 5 seconds from 1st to 2nd, which makes the truck loose power dramatically. I'm afraid to take it in to hear that the transmission needs to be replaced. Everything else seems to be fine. There is no 'funny' noise or feel when the car is idle or is in high gear.

    Does anyone have any ideas of what I might expect to hear and what my options are if I need to replace the transmission? I don't want to take it to a dealer as the labor rate is high, but it's too big to trust it to my local mechanic. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
  • jnealjneal Member Posts: 247
    First you need to find a different mechanic if the one you have been using has never seen an internal leak in the radiator between the cooling system and the transmission cooler. Granted this is not a very common problem but certainly not unheard of either.

    My preference would be to ask friends,co-worker, etc for a recommendation for a independent shop that specializes in transmissions. It sounds as if your transmission is on its last legs.
  • daisylady2daisylady2 Member Posts: 4
    daisylady2

    transmission does not engage right away when engine cold.everything find when warmed up.fluid ok.any ideas

    thanks
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    Hope you have better luck the me, I have had my 250 in the tranny shope for going on 2wks, they have had it hooked to the computer, but says my truck won't talk to their computer, the took it down the road to an elec. specialist and got the same thing. Now they are going to try going wire by wire. Mine won't go into D or OD till it worms up but will go in 1 and 2 .
  • daisylady2daisylady2 Member Posts: 4
    nov.15/06

    Thanks for the information timbertim please let me know how you make out.My truck is presently in the body shop;so I have to wait before repairing the tranmission.
    thanks again
    daisylady2
  • timbertimtimbertim Member Posts: 9
    Just got my 93 out of the shop. It was the Solenoid in the transmission and the wiring harness that conects to it. Replaced both after 2 weeks of checking things out. Tim
  • daisylady2daisylady2 Member Posts: 4
    dec.03/06

    Thank you very much for the information Tim,this will be helpful for me now and in the future.

    bye
    daisylady2
  • mbanzmbanz Member Posts: 2
    Had the same thing with my 2004 FX-4. Finally nailed it. The geniuses (geni?) at Ford made the IWE solenoid notso much weatherproof, and it controls the 4wd system. There is a TSB out for it finally. TSB 06-08-145. Now I'm trying to get them to do something about my tires......
  • raddrobbraddrobb Member Posts: 2
  • raddrobbraddrobb Member Posts: 2
    help!
    I have a 2001 f-150 xlt 5.4 auto standcab l/b 4x4.Im the 2nd owner and got it with 39,000 mi.It has clunked when shifting from 3 to 2 and does it mostly when there is some let up on the accel like turning and then accel causing the tran to dwn shft.clunk.Its not noticeable from a stop but have had it happen with atv trlr on the back in stop n go traf. I have ext. warrt and so far dealer has tried lubric. of drivshaft yoke and this week pulled tranny, replaced clutchpack, torqconvtr,any items possible suspt. It seems worse and am going back 12-28 to diagnos further. It does this in 4wdr as well.Any ideas? On my 2nd dealership.
  • cgkvakcgkvak Member Posts: 1
    I have a 1996 F250 4x4 with an E4OD transmission. Recently, the speedometer stopped working and the OD light started to blink. According to posts that a found at several Ford forums, this usually occurs when the ABS speed sensor fails. Even though the ABS light didn't come on, I replaced the ABS speed sensor (located on the differential). This hasn't fixed the problem. Does anyone have any idea what may be causing this problem? The transmission was recently rebuilt (less than 11k miles) and the torque converter was replaced at that time. I have checked all the fuses (all ok), and scanning with an OBD II scanner has not turned up any codes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  • raggettraggett Member Posts: 1
    I'VE RECENTLY HAVE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF RATTLING IN MY TRANSMISSION.I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND I HEARD A SLIGHT POP AND MY TRANSMISSION WAS NO LONGER IN GEAR AND NOW WILL NOT GO IN ANY GEAR BUT 4TH.DOES ANY ONE HAVE A CLUE? THANKS, WILLIAM
  • darrelltoodarrelltoo Member Posts: 1
    Looking at buying a 1989 F250 4x4 - 302 AOD. Tranny seems to work fine, but has a slight whine that starts in 3rd gear, but almost entirely disappears in 4th. Were these transmissions known for any kind of whine, and is there anything else I should look for???
  • marlonpopemarlonpope Member Posts: 1
    I'm having the exact same problem with my 2006 F-150 and can't get it to happen for the dealer when I take it in for service. I have tried driving it differently to see if I can make it repeat without success. However, I am noticing that the frequency of occurrence is increasing. The problem is strange especially since the truck has less than 17,000 miles. If I get any results with my dealer I'll post back.
  • kdbbmantonkdbbmanton Member Posts: 1
    where is this solenoid located? My 04 will not go in to 4x4 since the weather has gotten into the teens. thx!!
  • pavementguy96pavementguy96 Member Posts: 1
    I am in the middle of replacing the ATF filter/fluid on my 2004 FX4. This is the first fluid filter change for the tryck. I've done this many times with my old vehicle. But, this time I ran into something new. When I pulled the pan off there was a circular/spherical yellowish piece of plastic with a small O-ring around it laying in the bottom of the pan. Does anyone have any clue what this thing is? I've looked and looked but can't for the life of me find where it would have come from. Is it part of the original Ford filter? Can someone help me out here?
  • jettman1jettman1 Member Posts: 1
    My 2003 F-250 6.o Diesel 5 speed automatic pulls a 30 ft, 8000 lb trailer beautifully except in Arkansas. No kidding! When we get to a stretch of road that has regular intervals of bumps the truck seems to develop a certain harmonic rocking motion which is followed by a sudden and severe surging of the transmission. It is enough to cause a sore neck and great stress. The transmission checks out as ok at the dealership. Any ideas?
  • parkyparky Member Posts: 20
    05 F150 FX4, Anyone experience this when cold(32 degrees or colder)have not had vehicle in warmer conditions yet), the tranny takes 1.2 miles to shift into over drive? Scenario, pull out of commuter lot onto highway with 15% grade, keep RPM's around 2200, and it takes over a mile or 1.2-1.4 miles to shift into O.D. I have also tried on a level highway surface with same results. I normally cruise at around 65mph(1800 RPM's)to 70 mph. I have hit 75mph, and it shifted. However, when I backed it down to 65 the idle shot back up to 2200 RPM's? What gives?
  • KCRamKCRam Member Posts: 3,516
    Most automatic transmissions with computer controls will do this. It's to protect the unit when the fluid is not yet fully warm.

    kcram - Pickups Host
  • parkyparky Member Posts: 20
    Thanks for the feedback.
  • binky1binky1 Member Posts: 1
    :confuse: i have a 89 f250 with the e4od tranny. the old one blew got another from junk yard and was told that the new one is too new due to where the speed sensor is placed, but i already have it in and it wont shift. is there a way to bypass or move the speed sensor so that the tranny will shift?
  • clantzclantz Member Posts: 1
    trans. not going into reverse or drive if it goes into the limp mode it will go into reverse but not drive I have 1st and 2nd gear all the time I have replaced the pcm fix for three days then started again any ides
  • blockheadblockhead Member Posts: 1
    i have a 1994 ford 150 and never had a tranny problem with it i dont ride my truck real hard i change fluid when i am supposed to, the only problem was my engine started knocking one day and instead of haveing the engine rebuilt i had a jasper engine put in and now when you reb up the engine to 1200 rpms the engine shakes bad . it has been back to the ford dealership about 30 and they couldnt fix it so i drove to jasper indiana that is were the engine came from and they couldnt fix it, came home went back again and they put anthor engine in it and it got worse, so i called the presdient of jasper engines and he said to bring it in ,they had it 2 weeks got a call from the presdent of jasper he said the truck was ready drove all the way down there and the truck was in worse shape than it was, i was more or less told to live with it they even put a new tourqe converter and a flywheel and a harmanic balancer in it and it didnt fix it i spent around 3000.00 on top of it trying to fix it even had new injector put in. rule of thumb if engine needs rebuilt always use the same orginal engine that came with the vehicle. i think the only problem was that they could not balance the engine right, you have the engine,tourqe,flywheel and they do not balance with each other , i will never go with jasper engine ,
  • sportsnutimsportsnutim Member Posts: 1
    Boy am I disappointed and I have always been a Ford guy. I only have 125000 miles on my truck and I tow very little with it and it kicked the bucket: if my wife didn't need a new car I would consider going to a Dodge 4x4 diesel with a manual transmission. :mad:
  • wpalkowskiwpalkowski Member Posts: 493
    Sorry about your tranny. When you get it fixed, have them put in a transmission temperature gauge. Then never let it go above 200 degrees F for more than a couple of minutes. If it ever does, change the fluid because it degrades with heat, and loses it friction additives and chews up the tranny in a relatively short amount of time.

    If you're gonna keep the truck for a long time, you might wanna put in a supplemental tranny cooler/fan too.
  • mschmalmschmal Member Posts: 1,757
    the aux trans oil cooler is standard on 05 and newer Super Dutys.

    Mark.
  • pilarymyrapilarymyra Member Posts: 1
    i want to know if the automatic transmission with od, of a 2000 ford f150,v8,4.6,4x2, fits to a 2001 ford f150 v8,5.4,4x2 with automatic transmission with od also
  • cowboy9cowboy9 Member Posts: 161
    Hey there, sorry to hear about the problem as I go through everytime I get a Automatic, lol. Good news is that we build Diesel Tranny's just the same reason, lol. Not sure where you are or if you have replaced it, if you have not and as long as your tranny can be rebuilt we can get you a Stage 3 ( So Called ) with a the Highest Converter possiable in it for 3000K plus shipping. We are setting up shipping now with hopes of shipping them for 150.00 each way. Tranny should out last the motor and the truck as long as you change the oil every 25K miles. If you want more info or anyone else in here just contact me.

    Tony Prater
  • kingkayakingkaya Member Posts: 1
  • firstfordf100firstfordf100 Member Posts: 1
    I recently bought my first Ford. It's a 1981 F-100 I got it knowing it needed the engine replaced. Well with that all done now the Trannie is giving me a headache.It seems to go in reverse just fine but when you put it in drive it seems to not want to go , it takes off like you have the clutch in taking off from 4th gear. And this is an automatic. After you get up to about 30 It seems ok , but it takes about a minute or two to get there. Any advise on what it could be is appreciated.
  • bull3bull3 Member Posts: 3
    I have a 1994 f-150 pickup with an inline 6-cyl., 5-speed tranny, with 2-wd. you have to push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor to get the truck into gear. I've checked the clutch master cyl. and it is full. Is there any adjustment on the inside of the bell housing? or do I have to completely replace the clutch assembly?
  • cowboy9cowboy9 Member Posts: 161
    It's either your Slave Sleeve that is out, but it usually will go to the floor and will not return if it's out or the Clutch is pretty gone. Pretty easy to figure out which one it is.

    Tony, If you contact me outta here I can help you more, tony5833 at yahoo.
  • cptchetcocptchetco Member Posts: 32
    Yes! The mainshaft has locked up, and no longer allows the shaft ends to turn at different speeds. 4th is direct drive, so that is the only gear that will work. Almost always a result of low or incorrect transmission lubricant.

    Some of the mass "Oil Change Shops" like quick lube and etc. advertise they check all these vital fluids each time you have the oil changed.....No they don't always. Best to be there when the vehicle is serviced, and make sure they actually check it and know which fluid is right for your tranny. Dealer is more expensive, but does know how to do it right.
  • cptchetcocptchetco Member Posts: 32
    They only whine when lubricant is low or their is a knick or something similar on a tooth, or a bearing is going bad, usually from low lubricant. The reason they do not whine in 4th, is that is direct drive, and their is no differential between the ends of the mainshaft (both ends turning at same speed.
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