Hi All!

I found this site through google while searching for info on what the heck is going on in my transmission.

2004 Ranger, 2wd, 2.3l, 4 speed auto, 85,000 miles.

The truck is a company truck, and we just bought it used the other day. This will be my work truck and daily driver.I'm an estimator and drive about 400 miles a week.

Anyway, I've noticed the shifts are a bit hard if I'm giving any amount of throttle. It seems to be normal if i'm real easy on the skinny pedal though. I've read a bit of the big thread on the valve body gasket issues, and that seems to maybe be what could cause this?

I also have a flare between 2 and 3. If i'm driving like normal, it'll flare up a few hundred rpm then slide into 3rd. If I drive and pay attention, i can let off for the shift and it is MOSTLY fine, but still a bit hard. I've read this may or may not be attributed to the valve body gasket?

After driving it around the day my boss bought it, i checked the trans fluid at home, and it was about 1.5-2" above the crosshatched area....that doesnt seem good. I used a pump to siphon out a bunch, and got it down to where it should be. The fluid was DARK, not quite like used motor oil, but still pretty darn brown.

Could this have anything to do with it? It seems probable that maybe the Previous Owner thought it was slipping and threw a bunch of fluid in it...

At the very least it needs a fluid flush, but I'm wondering if I can get some direction here, knowing what we'll be looking at as far as repairs? more concerned with the flare than the hard shifts, but hey, it all needs to be fixed.

I'm mechanically inclined, and have some exerience with transmissions (just attemped to rebuild a TH400...I'd give myself a C-, haha...didnt quite work out) but seeing as this is a fleet vehicle, and NEEDS to be fixed right, it'll be going into a shop.

Thanks much,
Andrew

 

Welcome to FTE.

Sounds like the tranny hasn't been looked after by the previous owner & is in need of a pan drop, filter change & full fluid pumpout.

Here is a recent thread by a member having shifting problems, whos tranny fluid seemed to be in better shape than yours, that may be of interest to you. In it is a link to a "how to" on doing a full tranny fluid pumpout.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...on-issues.html

If you decide to try the SeaFoam Trans Tune & given the description of your fluid, I'd probably first consider dropping the tranny pan to inspect it & the filter for deposits & clean the pan & magnet.
If ok, add half a bottle of Trans Tune & an inexpensive new fluid like Super Tech, to properly refill the pan, then drive it & see if things improve. If the problems gets better, maybe the Trans Tune can tidy them up, so drive it until the problem clears, or doesn't improve any more. Keep an eye on the fluid condition while your driving it during the clean up cycle. Then do another pan drop to change the filter & continue the full tranny fluid pump out with the other half can of TransTune & a quality licensed Mercon-V fluid of your choice.

BTW, did you check the tranny fluid with the engine at idle, tranny fluid fully warmed up after a 20 mile drive, vehicle on level ground & right after it had been shifted into All gears, including "R"?????

Some thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

hello! Thanks for the response, I had seen that thread earlier, and will read through it a little better.

As for checking the fluid, it was on level ground, in neutral, after a good 20something mile drive. I did not sit in that spot and shift it through all gears, but i had pulled into my driveway, backed out and parked it there. After the initial check and after pumping some excess fluid out, I backed it out, drove it forward and checked it again.

The fluid was definitely dark, looked more like motor oil than ATF. Didnt reek like it was burnt though.

Are you suggesting that before even having it looked at to diagnose the 2-3 flare and the hard shifts i simply have it flushed and have the filter changed?

Like i said, if this was my personal vehicle I'd be alot more inclined to roll around under it in my spare time, but since it belongs to the company i work for, i dont forsee that happening. So if it gets a filter/fluid change, it'll likely be done by a shop.

Would it be best to do that before looking for other issues?

 

Edit: OK, sounds like you did the tranny fluid level check close enough that it should have been accurate & yes too much fluid can cause mischief too!!!!

Read through all of the other thread I posted a link to & see if the shift symptoms there sort of sound like what you feel & if so, yes I'd try a pan drop, fliter change & full tranny fluid pumpout, but without the solvent flush part of the tranny service, as many tranny problems are caused by deposits, from neglected, degraded, tranny fluid, clogging or hanging up something important.

If the tranny filter & pan deposit loading doesn't look too bad, then maybe consider a half can of Seafoam TransTune, refill the tranny pan with new fluid & driving it for a while to see if it gets better, then do the full fluid pumpout, as suggested in the other thread.

Also note that a tranny flush quote by most shops Doesn't include a pan drop & filter change!!!!!

So, on a tranny flush service, without First doing a pan drop & cleaning, deposits in the pan are stirred up & have to be strained through the old tranny filter (further clogging it up), in order to remove the old fluid in the pan & what fine deposits pass through the tranny filter. SO, imo the solvent flush service without a pan drop, isn't a good idea for the tranny, especially one with fluid in degraded condition, as you say yours is in.

A pan drop & cleaning & filter change Before the solvent flush, is likely a better idea, as it lets the shop clean up & view the vlave body, filter, pan & magnet deposit load & any large particle debris & type that may be in the pan, but all that costs extra & most folks won't opt for it.

SO, if things don't settle down after a filter change & full fluid pumpout, have a shop scan the tranny computer for trouble codes & go with them on a test drive to demonstrate whats wrong & have them offer up a diagnosis. If you have the same shop that did the pan drop & tranny service, do the computer scan & test drive, they'll likely be able to make a more accurate diagnosis. One could argue that this last step should be done first, before the pan drop filter change & fluid pumpout!!!!

More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

.........................I did a complete flush ala Paw paw at 30k on my 2008 Ranger , 2.3 ! What I've decided to do subsequently is too do @ every 20k miles , drop the pan which will remove ~4 qts. of fluid , add new filter and refill ! This should be more than adequate maintenance too allow the trany too perform for many miles .
.........................When I realized that several trany shops recommended that they normally change fluid at 50k , it became obvious that my scheduled maintenance every 20k was probably overkill so I feel confident my plan will work AOK . , rb

 

Dropped it off at a recomended transmission shop, one I have dealt with in the past.

Upon initial inspection their verdict was "its shot" so i asked them to pull the pan and tell me what they saw.

The did, and said although the fluid was awfully dark, there was no metal or any bad debris in the bottom of the pan. His suggestion at this point was just to service it and see if it gets any better. Not a flush, didnt wanna knock anything loose or change how it was, but a new filter and 4 quarts of new fluid.

Said if it improves, bring it back and he'll do a flush. if it gets worse, bring it back and they'll look into a rebuild. Eeek.

I mentioned the gasket issue and asked if that was a possibility, but he said his builder looked into it, and that there is no TSB and it should not be an issue with a 2004 ranger, that they already started using the bonded gasket and separator plate. Is this true, or do they just want to charge me for a rebuild?

 

no input? Im wondering if this truck would be a candidate for the bad valve body gasket.

They said with the new filter and fluid nothing got better but nothing got worse.

 

If you don't have engine braking in 1'st gear, suspect the valve body gasket.

4qts of new fluid after the pan drop, only removed 40% of the old fluid, so now the 4qts of new fluid is contaminated with the 6qts of old fluid that remained in the valve body, torque converter, cooler & lines, so I'm not surprised they see no change, if dirty fluid, or deposits was the problem.

 

Well at least they didnt notice it get worse, that was their worry, which was the worry of our other mechanic. From what I know, if something has been neglected, it is often harmful to "clean" or "flush" it out.

I'll check on the engine braking when i get the truck back. It'll shift to neutral and just coast in manual 1st if there is an issue, correct?