‘Ford Trucks’ Forum Offers Advice on Resolving Tranny Trouble

By Scott Huntington - January 20, 2020

Ford truck

FTE member’s F-250 leaves him stranded. So, he gathers advice from the forums to make sure it never happens again.

When you’re driving down the road, whether you’re heading to work, to school or just to the corner store, the last thing you want to worry about is your transmission throwing a tantrum and leaving you stranded on the side of the road. That’s exactly what Ford Trucks forum user “Diesel Submariner” had to handle with his 2005 Ford F-250 Super Duty as he made his way home one evening.

What was wrong with his transmission, and what are some easy troubleshooting things you can look into if you’re experiencing similar problems?

The Problem

When the OP was driving home one night in October 2019, his F-250 lurched and nearly died twice. He managed to get it to settle down as long as he didn’t drive faster than 60 kph. After that, he didn’t experience any other issues, so he wrote it off as a one-off problem and didn’t think about it until it happened again a couple of days later. The check engine light was throwing one code — P0500 – VSS Fault — but he deleted it and moved on.

Then, a few weeks later, his truck decided to throw a full-blown tantrum — hard shifting both up and down, and almost no response when pressing on the throttle. Pulling over and shutting off the engine for a few minutes seemed to fix the problem. When he got it home, he rechecked the engine codes — P1746 and P1747 for a solenoid A open circuit and short circuit, respectively. Clearing the code and driving made the check engine light turn back on and flash.

OP ordered a new transmission connector and a new solenoid pack, but wanted to see if the collective minds of the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum had any troubleshooting suggestions.

The Troubleshooting

The nice thing about asking a forum is that you get the option to tap into the collective minds of people like yourself, who may even own the same truck. OP ended up with plenty of good suggestions to troubleshoot the problems he was having with his transmission.

One user, ajbrown208, suggested replacing the camshaft positioning sensor. While it might not sound like it would have anything to do with the transmission, his own truck had transmission problems the last time the CPS failed. He said:

“Intermittent problems that show up after the vehicle reaches higher running temps always points me toward electrical components. May not be CPS, but it does sound electrical.”

OP checked the continuity of all the pins in the solenoid pack connector but didn’t find any broken wires. After a series of troubleshooting steps, he concluded that the PCM — the powertrain control module — might be the culprit.

The Solution

A week after his initial post, OP replaced the PCM in his F-250. After putting it through its paces, it appeared that the problem was solved. Other than a few other questions about needing to ground the PCM to the engine bay and the type of springs he had installed on his truck, Diesel Submariner had his solution.

For most people, the powertrain control module isn’t the first or even the last troubleshooting stop when your transmission starts slipping. If it’s not presenting any other symptoms, you can sometimes fix a slipping automatic transmission by introducing an anti-slip additive to your fluid. While it won’t fix a physical problem, such as those caused by worn bands, it can help fix slipping caused by low fluid levels.

Looking Forward

Don’t panic if your transmission starts slipping. Start troubleshooting like OP did, or add a fluid additive to your transmission fluid to prevent it from becoming a big problem. If you address these issues quickly, you hopefully won’t have to worry about expensive fixes like replacing the PCM. However, if we’ve learned anything from OP’s experience, it’s not to rule anything out.

Photos by Ford-Trucks