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1996 F-350 7.3L PSD transmission Issues / DTC P0500

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Old 07-05-2011, 06:25 PM
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1996 F-350 7.3L PSD transmission Issues / DTC P0500

Board Members,
I have a 1996 F-350, crew cab, long bed, fleetside. It has an E4OD tranny and 7.3L PSD.

Here is the long story, as short as I can make it.

1.) Started driving the truck a month ago, it was shifting as hard as all get out. Checked fuid, added a quart and a half for safety sake. Realized I had a superchip tuner tuned to Tow Safe. Returned code back to stock, truck shifted great, nice and smooth.

2.) Drove the truck for about a week, noticed that as the tranny temp rose the hard teeth shaking shifting would return, primarily between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to third.

3.) Then the binking OD light started and we entered into limp mode, where it would hit 1st and 2nd, but that was it. The teeth shaking shifting was present.

I pulled the DTC's and came up with P0603 and P0500. No other codes (these codes came off the superchip programmer/tuner for 94-03 PSD's).

I will be changing the VSS on the rear diff for the measure of sanity it may provide, any other issues I could be missing?

The tranny was installed 39,000 miles ago, had it flushed and the shop said they found "chunks" (I was not present, so not sure what that means!). I believe the shifting and hard shifting is a function of the solenoid pack, but I am not 100% could this also be a function of the torque converter as well? perhaps the pump?

Suggestions on things to troubleshoot? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Mike
Ohio
 
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Old 07-05-2011, 06:41 PM
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Make sure the VSS has good contact to the differential housing. Clean up the area where it seats. No rust.
 
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Old 07-05-2011, 07:57 PM
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p0500 is the rear diff speed sensor. Replace it, while its out clean all rust and dirt from its mounting surface. If you replace it and clean but still set the code it could have a wiring issue. Look close for broken or chaffed wires.
 
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Old 07-05-2011, 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by mudtug2
I believe the shifting and hard shifting is a function of the solenoid pack, but I am not 100% could this also be a function of the torque converter as well? perhaps the pump?
The hard shifting is a result of the P0500 code. When a code is stored for the transmission system the pressure in the transmission is set high by the PCM to protect the transmission. The solenoids, pump, and PCM are all in on this. Fixing the problem that caused the P0500 will fix the hard shifts.
 
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Old 07-06-2011, 02:36 AM
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Originally Posted by tjbeggs
while its out clean all rust and dirt from its mounting surface.
Quoted to emphasize its importance.
 
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Old 11-24-2019, 01:17 PM
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Ford e350 speedo bouncy no gears above 2nd p0500 code

Hi and please excuse me if I'm in the wrong place/thread I am new to the site and looking for help.

I have a 1996 e350 the speedo bounces I get a error code p0500 and no gears above 2nd its a 40d box
I've cleaned rear diff where vss goes in. I've also replaced vss sensor and I've tried 3. I've cleaned earth points etc and been all over it but for the life I cant work this out can anyone please give any advice.
 
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Old 11-24-2019, 03:23 PM
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Have you read the codes? I predict without knowing what codes are set you will never find the problem.
 
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Old 11-25-2019, 01:08 AM
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Hi yes its p0500 rear abs sensor. I have changed this twice and still no change
 
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Old 11-25-2019, 02:01 PM
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The wiring to the sensor can have a break in it.
Need to pull on the wire and ohm it at same time

Also pull rear diff cover and inspect the tone ring, any rust on it can make erratic reading

There was a post on someone with a loose ground doing similar.
There are grounds behind kick panels in the cab that you can clean
 
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Old 11-25-2019, 05:06 PM
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Originally Posted by knottyrope
The wiring to the sensor can have a break in it.
Need to pull on the wire and ohm it at same time

Also pull rear diff cover and inspect the tone ring, any rust on it can make erratic reading

There was a post on someone with a loose ground doing similar.
There are grounds behind kick panels in the cab that you can clean
Hi and many thanks for your reply i have started cleaning all earth points this weekend just gone. Once I have worked through the earth straps. I will then check all other out as advised by yourself. I think by cleaning some earth points already has improved it so it may be a earth problem.

If you have any tips or any advice please could you pass them on many thanks
 
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Old 11-26-2019, 01:33 PM
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I dont remember exactly where all the ground straps are but these should be present.

Bat to frame x2
Bat to engine x2
cab to frame x2
engine to cab x2
bed to frame


some good info here i collected
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sel-truck.html
 
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Old 11-28-2019, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by knottyrope
I dont remember exactly where all the ground straps are but these should be present.

Bat to frame x2
Bat to engine x2
cab to frame x2
engine to cab x2
bed to frame


some good info here i collected
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sel-truck.html
Hi again and many thanks for taking the time to help me your advice is much appreciated
 
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Old 02-16-2020, 05:11 PM
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So I'm still tracing my po500 code. Bouncy speedo and no gears above 2nd

Tried so far
Drained rear diff inspected and filled with new oil.

Tested Rabs sensor and its within range

Tested wiring from abs to rabs and all good

Checked front abs sensors all good.

Currently have the speedo out so I can check psom wiring

New rabs sensor not motorcraft

When I scan with forscan abs module doesn't show

1996 e350 econoline

Any advice on this would be great many thanks

I'm in the UK so I can't get parts easily
 
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Old 07-18-2021, 03:23 PM
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I have been chasing this problem for so long in my E Superduty 1996.5 Cutaway Shuttle bus and finally think I have solved it! I was getting P0500 VSS code, the OD light would blink, and would go into limp mode, hard shifts. At first I thought the VSS (RABS) sensor since that's where my code lead me. Bought a new VSS, (plastic) learned that its not calibrated right so will cause a similar issue any time I exceed 55. Changed the gasket on the original VSS and reinstalled it. Replaced VSS pigtail. No Help, the whole time I owned this bus it had intermittent hard shifts, I know I was damaging the transmission and it was a computer issue, not a fluid or something mechanical. I finally realized this is because the brake light circuit was controlling the transmission, and the PCM thought I was using the brakes because of an intermittently shorting connection in the brake circuit. This brought me not much closer to finding it. It did make it easy to raise my fist to the sky and curse whatever engineer thought it was a good idea to make a transmission rely on the brake light circuit. Why not use the pedal? In my case the culprit was a broken piece of aluminum which was supposed to connect the cases of my passenger side taillight assembly. This was causing the top most bulb to lack a ground, although it was still illuminated. All of my symptoms of lights not being illuminated at the proper time were happening on the drivers side, so I was mostly inspecting the drivers side connections over and over again. Finally, I checked out the passenger side and found this! Its not a wire at all! Just a corroded piece of aluminum that is no longer attached to serve as a grounding point. I added a wire, screwed in at both ends to this aluminum casing and the one beside it, to complete the ground circuit path. The illuminated filaments on the bulb with the case with a poor ground (top) suddenly reversed which filament illuminates when. All tail lights and side lights are functioning as they should, and I am confident that my brake light grounding issue is now cleared up, since I have gone through this vehicles wiring so many times. I haven't even gone for a test drive yet and already I am looking forward to not more P0500, an issue that I think killed the transmission 10,000 miles ago with the previous owner and that has been a consistent intermittent issue for my whole experience fixing this rig up. Hopefully this finding can help someone else, for I wish this photo had been on a forum when I was searching. Thanks all for the good info [img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]
 
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