problem began 7000 miles ago with delayed (2-3 seconds) P to D shift. otherwise tranny normal. Took it to Ford dealer, "It's within specks" keep driving. Had dealer change fluid and filter (60,000 mile tranny service)

Towed to south florida and drove around for a couple months then back home, delay stayed the same.

Then last month I towed about 1000 miles or so and delay was increasing to 3 to 5 seconds. Otherwise tranny normal

I was researching replacing the line pressure solenoid. 2 nights ago tranny would not engage in any forward gear, reverse OK. the next morning tranny would engage with 5 or so second delay. once engaged tranny is normal. Verified by road test yesterday (twice). When cold, tranny will shift park to drive with delay.

when hot (150 degrees or higher) tranny will go park to drive with 5 second delay and hard shift. If left in park for 15 minutes or so, when restarted tranny will not engage forward gears until cool down. Anybody have an idea? Should I go ahead and replace the line pressure solenoid or just call it a day and take to tranny shop?

If I take it to shop: since I have a tuner dealer is not gonna warranty rebuild. Would AAMCO or one of the other chains warranty work with a tuner? Or, should I look for a "heavy duty" rebuild and if so who? I'm in ATL and as far as I know we have no well known heavy duty rebuild shops.

I have this same post (more or less) down in the tranny forum. i might need to post in the 6.0 forum, they have a lot of torqueshift experience there.

 

There is a transmission shop in Gainesville that the owner used to work for Ford for many years. He builds heavy-duty trannys for people that tow heavy. I will try to call my FIL and get his name later today after he gets off of work. Lots of people order a Suncoast, Brian's truck shop or one of the better known ones and have a local shop install it. I think I will try the guy in Gainesville if I have problems with mine. This guy comes highly recommended around here, just not sure what type work he does with the newer one. Would never hurt to ask though. I am on duty and will try to get you that info later on today.

 

Thanks, please do. I think I'm gonna need it. I just drained the pan to see how the fluid looks, "dark red", with tiny tiny bits of stuff. I think it's metal as I seemed to be able to pick it up with a magnet. Not sure about that as my old eyes aren't dependable on something that small. Not what I was hoping for. What tees me off is that I took it to the dealer at the first sign of trouble and they said everyghing was fine. Then they changed the filter and did a hot flush. I wonder if they even looked at the fluid. Of course it may have been normal then. I should have trusted my instincts instead of them. ARRAGGHH.

 

The name of the shop is Towe's Diesel in Gainesville, GA. Towes Diesel : Automotive Service and Maintenance in Gainesville, GA
There is a link to his page.
His name is Chad Towe and the number is (770) 536-2000
I haven't alked to him, but he has done 3 of my camping buddy's trucks. They really like him. And all of them live in Winder a 1/4 mile apart. Something must have been in the truck's bath water during that time period
If for some reason, he can't do it, let me know and I will contact the tranny guy here at my local dealer. He has a shop at his home and I know he works on the 5R110 because he has fixed my buddy's dragster hauling duallies on a couple of occasions.
Monty

 

I called this morning but he said he doesn't do trannys. But thanks for trying.

 

OK, I dropped the pan today and the stuff looks pretty good to me. The fluid looks a little darker than I was expecting and there was some residue on the magnet but nothing that screams at me. So, I ordered the parts and will take a crack at installing a line pressure solenoid

I could use some help from someone who has done this. I believe the solenoid I want is the one nearest the dip stick. Front of truck passenger side. I'm aware I have to drop the valve body (I'm told that's a solenoid body on this unit). There is a black gizmo in the way that prevents the line solenoid from backing out. I cannot see how the black gizmo (I'll post a pic) comes out. OK it's the round black thing top of picture center. As you can barely see there is a small tab on the gizmo pointing up in the picture. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Do I just pry that tab up and turn the gizmo? If anyone knows I'd sure like to hear from you before I pry too hard and break something. Thanks BTW, I got this pic on line so disregard the refrence to the Direct solenoid.

 

Stanley, Sending you a PM of the guy I KNOW that works on them. He is a dealer tech for trannys at a local Ford dealer. Will send you name and number, just spoke to him and read him your post, he said he would gladly try to help you out.

 

OK, dropped the pan and was gonna install a new solenoid. But I got to taking a hard look at the filter and was able to find a good number of silver/gray metalic (at least I think they were metalic, they seemed to respond to my magnet when I got it close to them) fibers. They were kind of hard to see at first but when I rubbed the filter surface with an awl I could get them loose. They are so tight in there I wasn't sure they weren't part of the filter. So, I went and looked at a new filter and then I was sure this was debris from something coming apart inside the tranny. So, i aborted the solenoid mission.

Today I took the truck to a tranny tech with a good reputation. he is going to repair it and install some heavy duty parts. I'm not sure which parts yet but I'll let y'all know what we decide and how it comes out.

 

Got my first report from the tranny man today. The residue in the filter was parts from the one way roller clutch, probably caused by an over pressure from the pump. Way over my head but it sounds reasonable. Tech was adamant that the tuners did not cause the problem. He had not torn it completely down yet but seemed very confident that is the problem.

He intends to rebuild with a stouter Torque Converter and larger pan. As to what else I may want we will figure out later. Since my drag racing days are long gone I just want to be able to tow without fear of another failure. So.. that's where we are.

 

Good to hear...Now I have to call him to see if he's ever rebuilt an Allison. Yep, my chubbies tranny went south!

 

Good report on the findings. Although expense you now know where you stand and that you will be good probably for the life of the truck.

 

Yep, expensive. But better it happened now and not in the middle of a trip.

 

Hey Stanley.... sorry to hear about your tranny issues. I have a question though.... Will the newly repaired "heavy duty" trans affect your tune ? Or better said, will the same tune you were using work with your new trans parts ? Or will a larger torque converter & such require a custom tune ?

 

good question, next time I see the builder I'll ask. I wouldn't think it would change anything it just should stay a lot cooler under a heavy load.

 

well the tranny is torn apart and the problem was as he expected. The line pressure (EPC) solenoid failed which led to some extra high pressures which caused the one way roller clutch to start coming apart.

interesting thing is that at the first sight of trouble I took the truck to Gene Evans (now nations) Ford in Union city GA. They have always done a good job for me. The service advisor called and told me the truck was within specs and there was nothing wrong with it. I had them do the 60,000 mile service and took the truck back. That didn't seem right to me so I took it to a Ford after market shop. problem was something came up and I needed the truck so before they had done a complete diagnosis i took the truck back and went on a trip. I more or less accepted Fords answer. Dumb on my part. If there is one thing I know it is that machines do not repair themselves. Also interesting is that I just reviewed the paper work from Gene Evans and there is no mention of the resolution or their diagnosis. Wonder why.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the tech says that had I replaced the line pressure solenoid right away the roller clutch probably would not have failed. So, if you are someone who got to this thread searching for info on the line pressure solenoid, learn from me.