2004 Transmission issue
 

Hi, I am hoping someone here can help me with this strange problem that I am having mith my 4R100 tranny. Last week as I was lining up the Ex to my TT my Ex decided it would not go into gear. The shifter moves extremely free, with no resistance.
It all started when I backed up under the TT , put the Ex in park in order to see how I was lined up. I needed to come forward a few inches so I got back into the Ex and shifted into drive, the shifted moved real freely but the Ex did not move. I crawled under the Ex and had my son move the shifter ( I had the emergency brake set and the wheels chocked). I noticed a bracket, for lack of a better word , moving as he moved the shifter.
Once the flat bed came I had to crawl back under and move a rod( the shifter linkage??) in order to be able to roll the Ex out into the street.
Yesterday the Ford dealer calls me ( I have a Premium Ford ESP plan) and says the nubs, or tabs or bosses , whatever they are called have eroded due to possible road salt and the bracket where the MLP sensor attachedes to the outside of the tranny has nowhere to be reattached.
Being the tranny is aluminum and the ESP does not cover corroison my only options are to buy a new tranny casing and have my old tranny componets swapped into it, estimate is $2800 or to have the bracket welded to the tranny or to find a shop that would fabricate a bracket and somehow use existing bolts on the tranny to mount the new fabricated bracket.
Since the vehicle will need to be towed I am trying to decide the best course of action before I spend money having the Ex brought to a shop.
The Ex has only 82k on it, I purchased it in 2009 with 49k on it. I mainly use it to tow our 9,000lb TT
Please fire away with ideas, opinions , or any other info that I may find helpful please. Thanks, Joe:-huh

Some pics would help us gauge the severity of the issue but my first thought would be to have someone fabricate a new bracket and fasten it to the existing bolts somehow...

I would find a skilled fabricator and make a bracket using existing features. Maybe a few trans pan bolts, other bosses in the area......or, a skilled tig welder could weld something on some local stiffening ribs. Not on the main case mind you, on external ribs. I would spend a few bucks before taking it to have the trans R&R'd.

Try a muffler shop. They are used to fabricating parts to secure mufflers and piping and they can be quite creative, maybe with the bracket you need fabricated. Good luck.

I have stopped by several body shops and they all want to see the vehicle before they can commit, makes sense. My issue is I will have to flat bed it to each of their locations. I was hoping someone here may of also experienced what i am going through.
Tomorrow a local RV repair body shop will pick it up from the dealer and hopefully they will be able to get me up and running.
BTW I also contactd Troy, the Ford ESP Guy here on the forum, and he explained to me that corrosion is not covered , so at least I know my dealer is truethful.

Take some good photos of the damaged area rather than toting the vehicle around.


There are epoxies now that are stronger than metal.

Same thing just happened to me. Upon restarting my 2000 the gear shift selector went limp, the linkage broken. Where the shift linkage attaches to the transmission bell housing via a bracket has broken off thus the end point of the linkage at the transmission is now free floating. The bracket that sheared from the bell housing of the transmission is part of the bell housing casting. Welding, new housing, or fabricate a different bracket are the choices.

How did you get going again?