I have an 02 F150 4X4 with 82,000 mi, I changed the trans fluid at 60,000 when I bought it and it had not been changed before. It always has shifted fine until the other day when overdrive went out and wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear. The OD light was blinking so I had a tranny place check for codes and he said the codes were clutches slipping and something about the converter, i don't recall exactly what. So I came home dropped the pan, filtered the fluid through a paint strainer and to my suprise there wasn't a single piece of metal! Just the usual fine stuff on the magnet.

So my question is, was the tranny guy pulling my leg, or do you really think my trans is junk? Every one that I've had gone bad has had metal in the pan.
That's what got me thinking otherwise.

Oh, and the fluid wasn't red and bright but it wasn't really burnt either, and I never drained the converter @ 60K because it doesn't have a plug.
Please let me know what you think...Thanks

 

If there is no metal in the pan that is a good sign, unless the shop dropped the pan and cleaned it. I would check and see if they did. It sounds like you may have a shift solenoid or a TCC lockup solenoid bad. The converter may also be failing, hopefully this is not the case and if the pan was clean that's good.

 

i agree, i think i would be looking more at an electrical problem. i have no personal experience on the transmisison problems, but i think the TCC as been discussed as causing problems like you mention.

 

The shop has never dropped the pan ever, so what I see is what it is. I was thinking of maybe cutting open the filter and seeing if there's any shavings in there. You'd think there would be something after driving 25-30 miles with it stuck in 2nd gear if the trans were junk?

 

The 4R70W is a nice transmission, but it has some weak points. I had a transaction kit installed and it runs great. It's the same kit used by many cop crown vics.

Check out http://www.transmissioncenter.net/aode.htm

 

Years ago I had a smilar problem with a 69 Mercury Cougar that had the FMX automatic transmission. A vacuum hose going to the transmission had fallen off. Connected the loose vacuum hose and the transmission shifted gears fine.

Hopefully, it's something simple that's causing the problem.

Rob

 

Lots of transmission shops seem to have problems trying to diagnose newer electronic controlled transmissions.
If it was mine I'd take it to your dealer and have it diagnosed properly. If you're concerned about the cost you can tell them that if they haven't got it solved after, say, 2 hours then to stop and call you and you'll decide if you want them to go any further. Your dealer can check for codes with their scan tool, monitor the sensors and solenoids etc.
Without it being diagnosed properly you'll probably end up throwing lots of parts at it, maybe without much success.

 

I think I'll put the pan on and bring it to my dealer and get the codes scanned like you said...I'll keep you posted.

 

Wise decision. Keep us posted, okay? I've got the same tranny so I'm keeping a close eye on this one.

Thanks and good luck!

 

Not to get off the subject, but first off the dealers uses the same scan tools as the tranny shops, second they charge twice as much an hour, and third they will most likely charge you for any time spent on the vehicle. On a daily basis we have dealers calling us and asking questions because they can't figure problems out.

 

I work at a dealer so I'm biased
Most dealers have different Ford only scan tools and transmission testers that seem to be capable of doing more than Snap-On etc testers.
We have techs that are factory trained just to work on Ford transmissions, not on anything that comes in the door.
Our labor rate is higher than most of the shops around here but not double.
In most shops, dealer or not, it seems that diagnosis is by the hour, fixing it is by the flat rate manual.
We get transmission shops bringing their problem jobs to us regularly so I guess it all depends on where you are and what the local garages are like.
Your mileage may vary

 

I understand your point of view. It seems in my area that the dealers don't see to have a tranny guy on staff anymore and they call us with questions. We belong to ATSG, auto trans. sevice group, this has been a valuable tool. They have trans. seminars yearly. I hope that I did not come off wrong, but I just wanted to stick up for us small guys.

 

What kind of transmission fluid did you use?

 

I used Mercon V, which it called for. It sounds like the trans needs a rebuild, so I pulled it yesterday and should have it back on Monday. I'll let you know what all was bad.

 

Just a suggestion, but I would flush the tranny cooler.