I recently acquired a thoroughly used 99 Ranger from an auction. It specs out with a 3.0L V6 4X4. Anyone who owns a Ranger around this year is likely to become familiar with the Tranny 4R44e (and all the like minded tranny's -4R55e or 5R55E, etc). I bought this thing knowing it had no reverse figuring a light duty issue.

I am no mechanic but until I know for sure what a cars problem really is, I lie to myself and figure it to be small fish to fry.

I NOW know a WHOLE lot about this tranny and associated issues ( still wont claim to be an expert though.)

First initial research suggested the Reverse band was toast. After watching a video of a guy tearing down my exact transmission, I realized I may have not made a smart purchase. Here is the video:

The reverse band is all the way in the back of the transmission and hard to outright access but along the way I found some trouble shooters.

1. If the vehicle drives in 1st gear and has engine breaking, it is likely not the reverse band.
a. My spirits were raised when I was able to confirm engine breaking in the low gear.

2. If there is no reverse it could be a blown valve body gasket or bad reverse servo piston gasket. I checked out another video and realized it was worth saving money to check into this myself as I could leave the transmission in the truck. Here is that video that shows you how to replace the gaskets out of a 5r55e a VERY SIMILAR transmission:

The gentleman was nice enough to walk you through the entire process.

While you have the Servo Piston open and accessible, you can pull it out and run a second diagnostic on the reverse band by taking a philips screw driver and probing the hole seeking a "springy" action. I actually had a dream about it on my truck and when I woke up and actually tried it, I found that like my dream, the trucks reverse band proved to be intact according to this check!

The dream was inspired by a late night blog read promoting this procedure as I was desperately trying to figure this issue out. I am 99% confident that the reverse issue in my truck is not the reverse band.

Once in there, I was excited and confident that I had a "bad valve body gasket".......NOT THE CASE!

So all gaskets look good, almost too good, as if someone else beat me to it, so I buttoned everything back up except for the Reverse Servo Piston, which nearly fell out on me--perhaps the old infamous O-Ring failure to contend with here? I am hopeful this is leading me in the right direction and I also found a deteriorating Reverse Piston rod where it engages the reverse band in the trans. Here is what that looks like:


Panoramio - Untitled photo
Panoramio - Untitled photo

To sum up:
1. I feel at this point I can rule out the Reverse band being broken, it has passed the initial tests. 99% confident
2. I can rule out all gaskets 100% because upon inspection they look to be in great shape.
3. I cannot rule out the piston rod or O-rings. These may have been overlooked on previous jobs. New piston and the "D-Ring" set ordered! Check.....update to follow.
4. If for some reason the Piston does not solve it then it must be a relay issue and I even noticed a post someone made with fixing a wire somewhere to remedy their issue.

I don't think I will have to resort to number four because My transmission feels like is is trying to shift and after a little thought, a leaky O-ring may make the most sense. I will up date progress later this week when I get my parts in and install them! Best wishes for all of you working on similar issues, hope this helped.

 

Good stuff. Keep is posted on your progress.

 

Good interesting trouble shoot & finding on the piston rod wear.

Some additional thoughts for consideration. One of the tests for a blown valve body gasket is, if we Don't have engine braking, or its weak, in low range. You indicated that you Did have engine braking, so a blown valve body gasket wasn't likely the problem, which you found to be so.

The wear metal off the end of the piston rod had to go somewhere, so after you get it all back together & the pan filled, you might consider disconnecting the tranny fluid return line at the cooler & performing a Full fluid pump out as described in the tranny fluid pump out link at the bottom of this forums "Tech Info" thread EDIT: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-pump-out.html, as most of the old fluid remains in the valve body, torque converter, tranny cooler & lines, so a full fluid pump out will at least flush out the old fluid & maybe some of the metallic debris.

Then since there has been signs of metal part wear on at least the piston rod contact point with the reverse band, while the tranny fluid return line is disconnected for the pump out, maybe consider adding an inline tranny fluid filter, like a Magnefine http://www.magnefine.com/, or the like, to filter out any remaining debris from the piston problem, or previous problems, or repairs by others, that might cause mischief. The Magnefine can be had for about $9 or so & filters to 25u, so it'll likely be able to tidy up any remaining debris that might cause further problems, before the fluid returns to the tranny pan.

More thoughts for consideration, keep us posted on your results.

 

After getting the parts to replace I took the advice of clearing the coolant lines. I ended up disconnecting the lines from atop the transmission itself rather than at the radiator. Everything went back together really well except I forgot to pay attention to the manual valve on the valve body and consequently had to take the pan back off to make the appropriate adjustment.

Had a good mechanic friend come over with an excellent computer to check for codes and the truck does not pull any codes. That was a great thing to find out however, I still do not have reverse.

The parts I replaced needed to be replaced anyhow so I am glad that I at least went that far. My mechanic friend did say that there was a fair amount of "clutch" material in the pan but it was all fine particulate.

Though I have no reverse still, the transmission is at least really trying to engage and in 4 low my friend was able to ease it out of the driveway without giving it any gas so there seems to be a few more possibilities.

1. Check line pressure since reverse is attempting to engage it might have low pressure. Not sure if that is something that is adjustable or not.
2. We wondered if the piston rod is too short and simply not engaging the band.
3. The fine particulates in the pan are from the band slowly wearing from the inside out. It didn't "snap" but no longer has the structure needed to engage reverse.

That said I filled the old tranny fluid into the empty quart bottles and only filled just over 5. Interestingly enough I ended up putting in nearly 10 quarts before I registered normal on the dipper. The capacity is something like 10.3 quarts.

I still have some areas to look into. I appreciate everything that has been said or could be said.

Best wishes and thanks again.

 

Did you ever figure it out? I’m having the exact same issue after replacing my valve body and the gasket

 

This is a little off the main topic,but I have a problem in my 1996 ranger,6cyl 2wd.
Automatic transmission goes into reverse just fine,but when going to drive,it acts like neutral.
If I pull the shift lever all the way down,past 1st,then back up to drive,it works fine.
It drives normally otherwise,no problems.Just his little nag.
Thanks in advance for any and all help on this matter.

 

Welcome to FTE.
This is an old open 9.5 year old thread in which no resolution was posted, so consider opening a New thread so you get answers just for your problem & include a link to this thread if you come to feel it has info useful to your current problem.

All that said & seeing as how this is a 96, its OBD-2 diagnostics, so use, borrow or come by an ELM scan-tool & running FORScan diagnostic freeware on the viewing device of choice as discussed here Low Cost ELM Scantool - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (ford-trucks.com), as this inexpensive but powerful combo can query All of the vehicle computer / controllers for trouble code clues. Post all code Numbers as they can help focus a troubleshoot.

If no code clues, given your posted symptoms of it going into R, but not at the indicated position, check the shifter linkage all the way to the tranny electrical range selector switch (TRS) on the drivers underneath side of the vehicle back about under the drivers seat.
The TRS or its linkage has been reported to loosen, or wear & cause this kind of shifter problem. Some thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

No code thrown.I will check linkage and switch.I am about to replace the filter and fluid,so I will be under the truck anyway.
It is harder for me to do things since my 73rd birthday,but I have always been a do it your-selfer.
Thanks for your reply and valuable time on this matter.This website and contributors are a valuable resource for all Ford owners