Good morning everyone, Once again I am turning to the knowledge of the forum to hopefully intercept a problem before it gets out of hand. I have been furiously digging through past posts looking for a similar issue to mine but have yet to find anything. So with that said I figured I would get ahead of the game and just ask out right. Here we go...as I was driving into town yesterday I noticed that my truck didn't seem to feel quite right with the way it was shifting. I had two small dressers in the back but other than that no other load. I thought at first that I didn't have it in drive (I have the loose shifter syndrome that I haven't fixed yet) so I put it in neutral and back into drive...not the problem. After a few more minutes the OD Off light began to flash. This happened just before I pulled in to fill up. I shut the truck off and filled up. While doing that I started checking fuses and couldn't find anything in the dash that was blown. When I got back on the road the OD Off light was no longer flashing and hasn't since but it is still not feeling right. Here is what it is doing...shifting seems to be off. As I am driving up a grade (very small ones, this is Kansas) it will not shift into the higher gears so at about 50 mph I'm running 3K rpm. The power to the wheels seems normal it just isn't shifting right. When I get over said hill it still won't shift until I let completely off of the accelerator. Once it gets into OD everything seems fine. It downshifts as it should both coasting and hard acceleration it just doesn't want to up shift. I checked my fluid yesterday right after I got home and it wasn't the slightest bit low. I am getting ready to go back through all of my fuses with a multi-meter here in a few minutes just to make sure. I'm doubting a fuse but I guess you never know. The tranny isn't making any strange noises or vibrations at all. So there it is, can anyone provide some insight on this? I am really sweating it. This is my daily driver. Just in case my sig doesn't show for whatever reason...

Late 99 F-350 CC LB 4x4 7.3L, TS 6 pos (I think) Other than that there are no real mods to the engine.

Oh, and just out of curiosity, will an E40D out of a 95-96 work as a replacement? I am thinking it will bolt up but the electronics won't mesh. It's just a thought because I have one that was recently rebuilt with around 4K on it.

 

I doubt it is a fuse. Why do you think it is?

When the OD light flashed one or more codes were stored. You need those codes to be able to diagnose this. Auto parts stores CANNOT read these codes.

A diesel E4OD will bolt right in. It just won't operate. It is missing two sensors that are needed. In order to install those parts in an E4OD you need to replace the case and the internals.

 

Was it running hotter than normal? I admittedly don't know much about trannys but had a buddy had something similar happen only he was towing a trailer. he got a new tranny and pulled the old one out found the valve body came loose inside and some screws fell into the pan. wasn't pumping enough fluid with the loose bolts. Anyway he put the valve body back on and tightened all the bolts and all was well.

 

The fuse idea was basically just a cover all bases type of thing, start with the easy stuff, and none of my fuses are bad anyway. I didn't figure the tranny swap would work but you never know unless you ask. When the OD light was flashing it was just a constant steady flash that didn't stop until I shut the truck off. I haven't seen it since. Nothing that I could see, temp or pressure wise, was running out of the norm. All I have are the stock gauges right at the moment and I don't have access to a code reader. I haven't been able to convince the wife to let me get either one yet. The only issue it seems to be having is up shifting, it will get there but it isn't doing it like it normally does. That said I am hoping that it might be a bad sensor, I'm just not familiar with the sensors so I don't know where to start. If I'm lucky someone on here will read this and say "hey I remember that, try this" and end up making my world a better place. I know someone knows, maybe if I stick some naked women in this thread I will get some views.

 

OK, I get it, you don't want to read the codes so that we can find out what's wrong.

Lucky for you I AM familiar with all the sensors on the truck. I'll list parts, you'll buy them and see if they fix it. I have no idea what's wrong with your truck, but if I knew what codes were stored I could point you in the right direction. Break out the wallet, without codes this is going to hurt.

Replace the parts listed below. You could try one at a time if you want to see if you can save some money.

Complete engine/transmission wiring harness.
Vehicle speed sensor
Transmission Range sensor
Turbine speed sensor
Output speed sensor
Transmission internal wiring harness
Transmission fluid temp sensor
Electronic pressure solenoid
Torque converter clutch control solenoid
two shift solenoids
Complete transmission

By the time you get through this list you'll probably have it fixed. If not, and you still have money, ask again and I'll try to think of something else.

Or you could save a boatload of cash and take it to a good independent shop or a Ford dealer and get the codes read. Your call.

 

Mark is THE transmission guy. He has forgotten more about them than some of us have ever known. You are going to have to pony up the money to get the codes read. That is what the flashing o/d off light is telling you. Until you do, its just a shot in the dark and he listed all of the possibilities. Once you get the codes read, come back and post them. It could be as simple as a sensor and as bad as a burnt up transmission.

 

It's not that I don't want to read the codes, I just don't have access to a reliable codes expert close by. I would gladly pay to have them read. I live in the country. The only "good independent shop" read codes for me once and he pretty much got nothing right. I ended up replacing a bunch of parts that didn't need to be replace thus didn't fix my problem. I only found this out because a co-worker of mine from out of town brought her husbands code reader to work and he talked me through it over the phone. They live three hours away and I only see her once a month if that. While I more than appreciate the feed back (I could be wrong, I know how online messages can be a little monotone and hard to interpret) it kinda sounded like I was being called lazy and just looking for someone else to do all of the thinking for me. Not the case! I was just looking for a little assistance. It is obvious that you are the "go to transmission guy" and I'm "lucky" that you are but there is certainly no cause to rub it in my face. I guess I'll just pony up the cash and get an AE set-up to figure this out on my own. I have been on this forum off and on for a little while now and this is the first time that this one has taken the tone of the other crappy Ford forums out there. I'll go ahead an apologize now if I interpreted that one wrong.

 

I think what Mark was saying was take the truck to the closest Ford Dealer who can read the actual transmission codes. If that is 3 or 4 hours away and cost you $100 to have it done you are $150 dollars in round trip in gas. If he has the codes then he can tell you more precisely what is wrong and then maybe it's a part you can buy yourself and install it and save a great deal of money. Without the codes you (and he) will just be guessing and that can get really expensive. I don't think he was rubbing anything in your face, he's trying to help but to do that he needs the codes. So bottom line what he meant was find the closest dealer or shop that can read "transmission codes" get that done, post back what those codes are and he will help you from there.

 

What I was saying is that without the codes I can only narrow it down to the list I gave you. I don't know how to fix it without the codes other than just randomly replacing parts. You've got the list. It's up to you to decide if it is more cost effective to find a way to get the codes read properly or to just start changing parts.

 

Mark.... I love the responses!!! I can only imagine how irritated you get when you help "us" figure out what's wrong with our transmissions.

To the op, do as he says and don't take his words to heart.