I have a '98 4.0 4X4 auto w/129K and the tranny CEL will come on....maybe 4X a day, or maybe once a week or maybe not for a couple of weeks. If I turn off the engine and restart it, the CEL goes out. Each time it comes on the tranny goes into "Limp Mode" I have become so proficient at this I don't even stop, I just kick it into "N", restart the engine, drop it into drive and continue on. I have driven around in O/D and out of O/D and the same thing happens.

I took it to t tranny shop, they read the codes and diagnosed that I had a malfunctioning solenoid in the valve body. That solenoid changed (& fluid) and all was well for a couple of day and guess what? yep...CEL came back on.

Took it back to the shop and was told that the only other thing that could cause this was a bad torque converter that was doing an intermittent lock. ORRRRR.......in some cases it could be a bad computer but there is no way to test and find out which is which. I sure don't want to get into just throwing new parts at the problem in hopes of hitting a bulls eye. This can get real expensive.

I have read all of the threads on this forum pertaining to tranny problems and none of them address this very issue.

Any/all thoughts are welcome.

Rog

 

Pull the pan yourself and check the wiring to your solenoid connections. Check the bracket that supports the solenoid. Often times these two things are the cause of intermittent issues like this.

Does the trans exhibit any unusual symptoms like rough shifts when the light is not on, slipping, etc?

 

There is no slippage or rough shifting prior to the CEL. When the tranny goes into "Limp mode" then I get hard shifts.

Rog

 

Post the tranny trouble code Number the shop pulled with their scan tool.

Any set, or pending engine codes found, if so post those trouble code Numbers too.

Did the shop do any line pressure tests????

Has the tranny ever had a filter change & full fluid pumpout???? What condition was the tranny fluid in, color, smell, feel, miles on it & what kind of deposit load was found in the pan????

 

Hey there. Not sure how old your post was, but I was just curious if you ever found the solution to this issue. I have a 2000 explorer AWD and seen to have to do the same thing.

 

It's 13 years old.

The first thing to do to fix this is to read the codes. Download Forscan for free at www.forscan.org. Their page shows how to select an adapter to plug into the OBDII port. I bought mine from Amazon for about $30. Once you have the codes we can help determine what's wrong.