Had my first long range towing job this weekend with my Ex. I went out empty and back with a 3400 lb car in the trailer. So about 7000 lbs total. I installed a rear sway bar before leaving, fueled up and away I went.

I went to PA and back, about 1000 or so miles. My towing mode was leave it in OD and keep throttle position constant going up hills. If enough speed is lost, the truck will downshift itself. Worked great. Got there, loaded the car, slept and left in the morning.

On the way home, in about the last quarter of the trip, something strange happened. Stopped for a stretch and some gas and when we left, it took a while to shift out of first gear and the OD "off" light started blinking. Back in town, I had to now lift to get it to shift into second gear. The rest of the shifts were fine and the trans seem to work fine. Once home, I let it idle while unhooking and then opened the hood and put a fan on it, engine off of course.

History: Purchased vehicle with 168K and the PO stated that he never touched the trans. I could tell he never towed with it either. Grocery getter mostly.

On the way to the house, I almost always had to lift to get the 1-2 shift and the OD light was still blinking. Again, the rest of the shifts and the trans in general seemed to be working fine.

On another note, the truck handled perfectly. No wandering, smooth ride and there was no tail wagging the dog. I have a 24' enclosed tag.

Im calling my trans guy tomorrow and I have a feeling I know what hes going to tell me. Any advanced advice would be appreciated.

A link for "Jeffs Trans Fund" is on the way.

 

Hopefully your trans guy can pull that trans code for you (OD flashing). If not, take it to a ford dealer and have that trans code pulled before you start dumping cash into the tranny. Most code readers WON'T pull the trans codes...

 

Mark K will have to chime in to confirm, but it sounds like you have one of the '01's that came with the Mechanical Diode and it went out on you.

Stewart

 

Yup, thats what my trans guy said. Just talked to him. $1850 gets me a new convertor and a rebuild with all the latest updates. Several were mentioned. I also mentioned my dually and he said it would have the same ability and durability.

He said I could probably nurse it for a while. Thats good because I wont have another car to drive for about a month. Theres other issues but those can be worked out.

Cant wait until its done. Love having a bullet proof trans in something I tow with.

 

Jeez, this trip also took out my vacuum pump. Only have defrost and the 4x4 wouldnt switch. Have a new one tomorrow, 135 clams at the dealer. Was going to buy at Napa but read a lot about very loud aftermarket pumps. I like OEM anyway, tested tough!!

 

Did you test the pump? Or did you just break a vacuum line somewhere?

 

Checked all the lines. In fact, removed the 4x4 lines. My truck has manual hubs.

I pulled the pump and put power to it....nothing. Checked power to the pins, bingo. Opened it up and there was corrosion and a broken wire. It was separated from inside the motor.

Im going to install it in the parking lot. Have the tools in the truck and cleaned up the bracket already. Should take all of 5 minutes.

 

The new ford pump came with the bracket. Installed in 2 minutes and pumped up fairly quick. Now the AC blows at me instead of the windshield.

Now if the trans was that easy.....and cheap.