Conversation Between Mark Kovalsky and igoslow

Thanks for the confirmation Mark. 11/00 is the manufacturer date on the the decal inside the driver's door sill. At least now I know not to go spending time/money chasing solenoids or sensors. I have a great deal of faith in the 4R100 and have had several that were dealt quite a bit of abuse without complaint. This is my first. I suppose I also need to find a cooler now. Thanks again.

With a November, 2000 build date you have a 2001 model, not a 2000. That is a Mechanical Diode problem.

Your first note said it was a 2000 model.

Mark

07/09/01
TRANSMISSION - 4R100 - DELAYED OR NO 2ND
GEAR - DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES P0781, P0755
AND/OR P0756 - VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 4R100
TRANSMISSION WITH TRANSMISSION BUILD DATES
BETWEEN 7/27/2000 AND 3/23/2001 ONLY

FORD:
2001 E SERIES, EXCURSION, EXPEDITION, F-150, SUPER DUTY F SERIES, SUPER DUTY F-53 STRIPPED CHAS.
Some 2001 vehicles equipped with 4R100 transmission, having a transmission build date between 7/27/2000 and 3/23/2001, may exhibit an intermittent, delayed or no second gear condition. Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC's) that may be set with this concern are P0781 (1-2 shift error), P0755 (shift solenoid B malfunction) and P0756 (shift solenoid B performance). This may be caused by the Intermediate One Way Clutch (mechanical diode style) not operating properly.

Mark,
I had similar thoughts wrt 1-2 shifts. Unfortunately there's no interstate that runs straight up to BTS, so I'll probably remove & replace in the driveway (not looking forward to that). Or maybe just local (bts is $$$). I was referring to the failure prone mechanical diode. Now I'm about as ignorant as one can get when it comes to the inner workings of an automatic tranny, but I had always seen/heard (powerstroke/f150/nloc/LR/etc..) that Ford's 4R100 problems were produced between July 2000 - Mar 2001. With a Nov. 2000 build date, that puts me right smack in the middle. I've pasted the TSB below. If not the md, do you have any other suspicions? Thanks again for responding Mark!

Continued, it sent before I was done!

If you start in 2 it won't have to make any 1-2 shifts.

Mark

I'm certain that the md (do you mean Mechanical Diode?) has NOT failed. No 2000 model truck had a Mechanical Diode, that started with the first 2001.

If your drive includes a lot of 1-2 shifts you may have a problem. If it's all highway it
will probably make it. You could always start in 2, then it won't have to

Mark,
New to fte but not to Fords. I have a 2000 e-450 super duty (tranny bd of 0L08) and am pretty sure the md has failed (87k on a cut-away with gvw of ~ 14,000 lb) as it has just started to fail 1st-2nd shifts without a great deal of coaxing. Fluid level good, color nice & bright, no burnt smell, flushed last in 2015. My question is...BTS is about 200 miles away from me what are you thoughts on driving that far? Thanks in advance!