the other thing that is confusing is although it seems most of the sport tracs have the 5r55e the confusion comes from my owners manual and my door sticker... my 2004 explorer sport trac owners guide (that was still in the glove box) on page 221 lists the transmissions and their respective codes... the 5r55e is a j the 5r44e is a D and my sticker on my door post says D under the TR section

 

ok i put it up on ramps last night so the fluid had a chance to settle in the pan without running it just minutes before i dropped the pan. i was sure there was going to be all kinds of peices parts in the pan but was surprise to find only normal goopy black stuff on the magnet and some in the bottom of the pan... a couple small super thin metal flakes that looked like flakes of chrome (like you get off of a cheapo wrench or screwdriver)... i tested all the solonoids and they all check out to specs... i went ahead and pulled the ssc or shift solenoid 2 (the single one directly across the valve body from the row of 4) even though it tested out electrically. i have no way to know if its mechanical operation is ok (i assume something moves inside it?) i also wiggled the spring on the end of its valve down in the valve body with the tip of my multimeter lead and was able to coax the valve out... I cleaned it all up with a lint free cloth and put it back on its spring and slipped it back in its bore it moves pretty freely. i am going to go ahead and replace that solenoid anyway... its the only thing that could cause the second gear to go missing that i can tell the wires in the tranny are all fine no issues there so... in the am my part and my new gaskets and filter will be in. i cut open the old filter and found a little finely ground black material that is not magnetic and it appears to be band or clutch material i dont think its from a gasket. there was also 25 or 30 small flakes of a brass like metal that also are not magnetic in there... that has me a little concerned but other than that i think im in good shape so far!

 

Ok, I agree it doesn't sound gross, so maybe continuing on with a full fluid pumpout by leveling the vehicle, refilling the pan, disconnecting the tranny return line at the cooler & idling it for 15-30 seconds at a time, to pump out 1-2 qts, & not run the pump dry. While its doing that if we slowly shift into each gear, it'll also flush the valve body with new fluid. Stop after 15-30 seconds to verify that amount has been pumped out, top off with a like amount of new fluid & continue that cycle until the full system capacity has been pumped out. Doing it that way will flush the valve body, torque converter, cooler & lines, where most of the old fluid remains & will come about as close to a full fluid flush as we can do. I usually run an extra qt through to allow for mixing in the torque converter. What ever fluid is left over I use for a power steering system flush. Let us know how it goes. My tranny rewards me with a more positive shift feel & no torque converter shudder. I flush mine every 25-30K miles, depending on how much towing I've done.

 

ok if you think that is the best way to do it i will do so i also should mention i disconnected the battery for the full 24 hours too to lose any codes it may have stored and unlearn any learned bad habits! i had planned on buying an extra filter and pan gasket kit and and fluid... doing the pump out putting it back together driving it a bit and if it works like it should ill do the filter and fluid exchange again after a few hundred miles add a remote filter and secondary cooler and a temp gauge just to be safe... the sole purpose we bought this truck was to replace my aging 94 f150 as our boat hauler (we dont haul the boat far we leave the boat and the truck near the lake at a storage place all summer so we can just hop in the car and go!)

 

IMO, taking the time to disconnect the return line at the cooler & do the full fluid pump out is best, as just replacing the filter & refilling the pan with new fluid doesn't get but about 40% of the old fluid out, as most remains in the valve body, torque converter, cooler & lines to contaminate the new pan fluid & that old oxidized fluid will just hasten the demise of the new fluid & its ad pack & kinda defeat our efforts to get all new fluid in there to have its ad pack detergents begin to slowly tidy things up. We don't want to shock the system by loosening deposits too quickly in chunks, as that could cause other woes. We want to dissolve the deposits slowly over time, like they were laid down, so as not to muck something important up & give the tranny filter time to remove them.
If you come to believe you need extra filtering during the clean up time, maybe consider adding an inline filter like the Magnefine. I've been using them in my power steering return line for over 7 years to stop recurring off center shudder, or loss of boost, apparently from particles mucking something up, as I've not had any problems on the Ranger or Taurus since adding them.
More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

had to go to 3 different places the get 10 quarts! just got home with the new solenoid gasket set and 10 quarts of castrol mercon v from 3 different shops i have my kitty litter bucket all marked with 1 quart marks and im ready to go wish me luck! lol

 

Ok, we have our fingers & toes crossed for you.
If you'll park the vehicle level & loosen the tranny return line at the cooler & idle the engine, you can have the tranny pump all but empty the pan before the drop.
Makes the pan less tipsy & we don't have all that fluid sloshing out on the pan drop. Just watch the return line for bubbles in the stream & flow dropping when its about empty & turn the engine off so you don't run the tranny pump dry.
Then raise the vehicle on stands for the pan drop & filter change.
After replacing the tranny filter & pan & refilling the pan with the amount removed on the pan drop, if we continue the pump out with the vehicle level, we can idle the engine to have the tranny pump remove/pump out, two quarts at a time/30 second warm idle run time & cut down on the start/stop/pan refills, to shorten the full pump out time.
If we do it with the vehicle raised on ramps, we can't pump out as much, about one qt, before the tranny pump begins to suck air, as with the front end raised on the ramps/out of level, most of the fluid is toward the rear of the tranny pan.
So, try completing the pump out with the vehicle level, or if you leave it on ramps, or stands, just pump out 1qt at a time so you don't run the tranny pump dry & it'll appreciate that.

 

done just like you said im not sure if someone else had done this or not but there are rubber lines under the tranny cooler in front of the radiator i just took the clamp orr and did it that way.

i took the truck for a ride about 2 miles at first it was great by the time i got back home it was still shifting ok but if i get on it like it you are passing another car it acts like it goes into nuetral let off the gas and give it 5 seconds and it goes back into gear and continues on. but i do now have second gear at least!

 

Ok. sounds like things are trending positive. Give the new tranny fluid detergents some time to slowly do their thing before driving too aggressively.

 

ok so just kind of drive around nice and easy for a while and see... gotcha! let me log a few miles on it tomorrow and report back!

thanks for everything pawpaw to me it was a victory when i got it back together and it wasnt worse!

 

On the next drive cycle, make it long enough to Fully warm up the tranny fluid, (say 10 miles out & back), then park level, slowly shift into All gears including R, ending in P & then check the dip stick tranny fluid level & adjust accordingly so its within the cross hatch, or min/max holes, or marks. If too low, or high it could have caused your high rpm down shift problem, by sucking in air if low, or pulling in aerated fluid if over filled, either way the tranny won't like processing aerated fluid.

 

ok i did 20 miles... nice and easy. it only messed up one time i let off the gas because the car in front of me was turning into a driveway they made their turn and i stepped on the gas to go and it was as if it was in neutral. i revved it a couple times but nothing... i let off the gas completely counted to 5 then stepped on it and everything was back to normal. when i got back home i check the fluid it is exactly to the top of the cross hatches and still is nice and pink (i used a white rag to see the fluid better this time)

 

Having the transmission act like it dropped into neutral, is a symptom of too little fluid, as though the pump sucked air. I know you said the fluid was on the cross hatches. I'm wondering if something is squirting fluid on your stick and the real level is low. I had a gasket on the front of the valve body blow out and squirt the dip stick, making the level seem high when it was actually low. I believe you can check the fluid without the engine running if you stop the engine and immediately pull and wipe the stick and check the level. There won't be time for fluid to drain back and change the level, and there will not be any squirting from a ruptured gasket. It is sort of a long shot but it is easy. If the level is low, add fluid until the level is correct after the engine has just been shut off.

 

I have a 1997 Mazda B4000 that had been shifting rough in 1st and 2nd. Long story short, check the oil and it was black. Replaced the oil and the filter and refilled. Rough thud of a shift was still happening. Threw a code of p1744. Have been asking a friend about it and trying to research about it when today I was driving home and the OD light started flashing. Got to where I was going then headed back home and it started slipping. Engine would rev but hardly anything would transfer to forward motion. I could get about 20 mph on the side of highway with about 3500 rpm but nothing more. Checked tranny fluid and it was black again from only a few hundred miles, maybe. Had to tow it home today. Is there something I might be overlooking or is it going to need a rebuild? If so, has anyone ever done one and is there any advice to doing it? Haven't ever done one before but not afraid to jump in and try. Thoughts/Advice? Has about 168k miles on it.

 

Hello I am new to the ford ranger scene and just recently traded for a 1999 ranger 3.0, it doesn't seem to go into od. Transmission was rebuilt by local shop 25000 miles ago, found paperwork in dash. Od on/off light doesn't blink, all other gears shift great, no leaks. All electrical connections are clean and tight on transmission. Truck just rolled 200000 miles but like I said paperwork in dash says trans was rebuilt at 175000 by a local reputable shop. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.