hey guys, im gonna post this in a few other places to try to get alot of angles, but i wanted to see if any of you offroad guys have ever heard of it. truck is a 1997 f350 old bodystyle with a 351w. its an autp tranny, i believe it is an E4OD (4 gears + OD, right?) anyway:

i went mudding today in some really watery stuff cause we got alot of rain where im at, and driving home, i noticed the tranny isnt shifting out of 2nd gear. it goes through 1st, into 2nd fine, but after that, it just stays in 2nd. i dont think i blew 3rd because it never even hits third when im mudding. im thinking i just got some of the stupid electronics wet and they need to dry. can anyone give me some leads for troubleshooting? id really appreciate it. thanks!

 

I belive i can help you, beat real hard on it thats how i get my tv to get channel 3 to come in so maybe it will have the same effect on your tranny.

 

check the fluid ?

 

You may have clogged the tranny filter so the fluid can't get where it needs to go to shift.....???

 

I hate to say it but your tranny is probably gone. In my '99 F150 I tugged a buddy out of a snowbank one nite, and on my way home I noticed my truck was a dog (it was hard to tell as the roads were icy an snowy). The next day I took it out for a drive and I was missing 1st gear and overdrive. Seems those trannies weld the clutch packs together if they get hot. I only tugged on my buddy once with a strap and never even worked my truck hard.

But I hope for your sake its something simple.

 

I actually had the same problem bro, I ended having to have the whole transmission internals replaced. Believe it or not, the more water in the mud the worse! What happens is that sandy/muddy water gets into the breather vent on the transmission and then your fluid gets all kinds of messed up. I had to completely gut and rebuild mine.

I hope its a filter though.

Nick

 

Before you start looking for a new tranny, are you getting any other symptoms?

I ask becuase the tranny shifting is controlled by a sensor on the rear diff and another on the side of the tranny case. Generally, the one on the rear goes bad and causes symptoms like this or ABS issues, flashing OD lights on the shifter, and eventually the speedo quits. I would start here. My '96 had the same symptoms except my 1st to 2nd shift was UNBELIEVABLY rough and it would not come out of 2nd. It was only the VSS on the rear diff.

 

thanks for all the help, but actually, the problem went away this morning when i took it to work. it goes through the gears just fine without any problems or noises. i did check the fluid last night when it was happening, and it appeared fine and there was no burning smell. i think ill get it flushed and have the filter replaced anyway just to be safe, it probably needs it anyway. the truck was driving fine on the way home as well. could some of the electronic sensors/plugs have gotten wet and thats what was causing the problem?

 

i would still change the filter and have the tranny serviced...juuuuust in case...wouldn' want anything to go wrong.

 

are you SURE you didnt burn the fluid? it sounds like you got it just right so that the fluid would gum up the valve body and then after it cools enough it works fine again.

most definitely flush it... and add a tranny cooler! you cant have enough tranny coolers for those E4OD's. they are garbage!

-cutts-

 

im flushing it and putting a new filter in monday. i dont know how i could have burned the fluid, because it was in a matter of like 15 minutes, but i guess things work that way sometimes.

 

> i dont know how i could have burned the fluid

You can burn the tranny fluid in 60 seconds if the transmission is near stall level and the temp reaches 250 degrees or more.

Anyway, I think HickoryFord had a good line on it.