Pulled from one of my old posts:

BlueOvalNews ((BlueOvalNews) Ford Forums, Ford News, Ford Motor Company News, Ford Employee Forum, Ford Reviews, Ford Edge Forum, Ford Flex Forum, Ford Fusion Forum, Ford Sales Figures, Ford Eco Boost Forum, Ford Transit Forum, Ford Transit Connect Forum, Lincoln ) 9/1/00:

"Ford's latest quality sting couldn't have come at a more inopportune time. A flaw in the newly designed 4R100's truck transmission has forced the temporary closure of Ford's highly profitable Michigan truck plant and the decreased production of certain other Ford truck models at other assembly plants. It was earlier reported that a lack of 5.4L V8 engines was the cause of the Michigan plants closure; however, those reports were not correct.

Ford upgraded the 4R100 for 2001 by using a new mechanical diode in the forward clutch area. The new diode was expected to save Ford $4.00 from the cost of each transmission but now the diode is the cause of the transmission's failure. If a diode fails it could damage the transmission and or disable second gear.

The 2001 4R100 transmissions that are being recalled are used in the highly profitable 5.4L V8 powered Expedition,Navigator, Excursion, Econoline van and F-Series truck. They are also used in certain 4.6L powered trucks that are equipped with the California emissions package, and all F150 Lighting models. There are 30 different 4R100 transmission models - none of which are interchangeable. Close to a thousand vehicles with the faulty transmissions have already been sold to the public.

An earlier report by BlueOvalNews.com INCORRECTLY reported that 4R100 transmissions were being diverted from Michigan Truck and Lorain to Kansas City. All production at Kansas City uses the 4R70W transmission which is NOT affected.

The problem was first noticed when some of the Kentucky truck plant's assembled vehicles started experiencing transmission failures before they left the assembly plant. This prompted Ford to issue a stop build and stop ship order at the Sharonville, Ohio plant until the cause of the transmission's failure could be determined. Ford's transmission engineers concluded that the failure was due to an error in the testing procedure and the transmissions would not fail outside of the testing procedure. The testing procedure was modified and Sharonville was asked to continue production and shipment of the transmissions.

Last Thursday Ford's Livonia, Michigan PTOATC discovered that if the engine's RPM went up to 4,600 and then the throttle was released and then applied again under wide open throttle the mechanical diode would fail. Later that night the theory was tested at the Michigan truck plant on seven different Expedition and Navigator models - all experienced transmission failure. On Friday, a second stop build and stop shipment was issued to the Sharonville plant where upon all 4R100 transmissions intended for non-diesel engines was issued. On Saturday, 20 experimental 4R100's were built using an a new mechanical diode design and there have been NO REPORTED FAILURES.

Sharonville is now building the upgraded transmissions which have an orange paint splash on the top of the case (bellhousing) and on the side cover where the Ford script is located.

An estimated 50,000 transmissions were built with the bad diodes. Ford is making every effort to recall each transmission back to Sharonville where upon they will be rebuilt. Reverting back to the 2000 design could force Ford to idle production at several plants for weeks. Sharonville is currently building the 2001 design.

Since the problem only occurs when the engine's RPM range is above 4,600 rpms, transmissions used with diesel engines are not going to be recalled since this is above their operating range.

BlueOvalNews has reported several problems with Ford's ability to design and engineer a durable transmission - but there have been NO instances where the quality of a transmission's assembly have been a major issue."

 

Did he send the letter to the Ford corporate offices? This is costing me about $3500 at the dealer. They are not offering anything.

 

The same thing happened with mine. My gears were also damaged. There was quite a bit of debris. You got of cheap It's costing me almost $3500 for a remanufactured tranny. I will be getting a 3 year unlimited mile warranty from the dealer. I hope this one doesn't blow in 3 1/2 years! I'm trying to find out if there is anyway to recoup some costs. I will be sending a letter to Ford and submitting to BBB, NSTSA, etc.

 

I did read this post about a week ago. It's what really frustrated me. It was obvious that they were aware of this issue. What confuses me is the part where it says "Ford is making every effort to recall each transmission." I can not find where there was ever a recall done. I did find that they issued a TSB but that's not a recall and does afford any reimbursement of costs for trannys that fail out of warranty. I was at 70K.

 

Thanks for posting all the info, reps sent. I learned something today. One thing I did not quite understand was this quote from Ford "Since the problem only occurs when the engine's RPM range is above 4,600 rpms, transmissions used with diesel engines are not going to be recalled since this is above their operating range".
I always thought it was a diesel thing.

 

Add me to the list of a 2001 gasser that had the diode. Mine didn't fail though, other parts failed in the trans a couple years ago at 130k miles, and the diode was replaced at the same time as the rebuild. The full rebuild with upgraded parts ran me $2200. Ford dealerships are notoriously expensive on out-of-warranty work.

 

I've got a 2002 diesel. Is this something I need to look into and be worried about?

 

They were only in the 2001 models for a few months IIRC

Edit: I remembered incorrectly but here was Mark's post about it, https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post9270101

 

That's because people say that anytime the factory gets vehicles back it's a recall. It is not. These transmissions were never recalled for this issue. The plan was to retrofit the trucks with transmissions that did not have a mechanical diode, not install an improved mechanical diode.

The plan was to replace every gas engine transmission since the gas engines could rev to 4600 RPM. Diesels can't, so the decision was made to leave the mechanical diode in the diesel trucks. That's why it became a diesel thing, because supposedly the gas engine trucks didn't have a mechanical diode. This thread has proved that several slipped past the update at the factory.

No, you don't. No truck before or after the 2001 model year had that problem.

 

Has anyone had success in getting Ford to compensate?

 

add me to the list aswell.. i was one of the lucky ones. and it did happen at 5000rpm pulling weight up hill. terrible grinding noises. good thing i was within 20 miles of home after a 300mile trip. took out the intermediate drum and just made a mess.

 

You had a 7.3L at 5000 RPM? I'm impressed!

 

Is there any way to tell if you have one in your truck without pulling the trans ? Because I have a 2001 gasser and would like to know.

 

LOL no sorry another 5.4 gas with the mechanical diode.

 

I know when you are building as many trucks as they did that year that $4 ends up being a lot of money but ouch, when you count how much it ended up costing retrofitting them to the non-diode transmission.