Hey Guys,
I've got a 05 E-150 with the 5.4, 99000 miles, Automatic with OD

Heres my problem
Went to drive it last night and its slipping really bad. Of course it didn't start until I got about 3 miles from the house. From a stop its hard to get going. Its almost like 1 and 2 are gone, press the gas pedal till about 3-4 k then begins to move. Once it gets in 3 or so or on a highway its moving and will get up to speed. I have noticed the OD light on the shifter handle flashing from time to time.
Reverse is working just fine..no issues.

My first step this morning is to naturally check the level of oil. It was serviced a month ago at a local Ford dealer. At the same time the tailshaft housing was replaced since it was cracked.

I have notice that the shifter on the column does seem loose. I have had issues with key removal sometimes and after you wiggle the lever a few times you can get the key out. Any known issues with wear in the linkage?

Anything electrical I should be looking for?

I am equipped to work on cars here, I have got most tools and consider myself a above average DIYer. But not a lot of knowledge on transmissions. I'd prefer to try this myself before taking it to any transmission shop near me. I was taken a few years ago and I won't let it happen again.
Any advice you may have I'd appreciate it.
thanks

 

Have a look at the known obvious concerns first.


Stuff has an amazing capability of getting fixed that way.

 

Two to three seconds of doing that will usually destroy a clutch.

That means one or more codes have been stored in the computer. You need those codes to diagnose this. The places that read codes free can't read these codes.

Crawl under the dash on the driver's side. Look back up the column. There are two #30 Torx bolts that hold the shift bracket to the shift tube. These bolts work loose and cause a loose shift handle.

Maybe. The codes will tell that.

 

Here's where I'm at
Oil level was good. Didn't appear burnt
Code is a PO720.. O.S.S gonna go run and get a sensor
Electrical connections didn't appear corroded but am cleaning them anyways.

I'll check that bracket out..ty

 

Just because a code indicated a sensor does not mean the sensor is at fault.


It means there is a problem in that circuit.

 

I agree. I'm searching for a schematic of that circuit to try and troubleshoot

 

an update

Still haven't found a wiring schematic for the O.S.S. All connections are clean and making good contact.

Replaced the shift solenoids, oil, and filter

Replaced the transmission range sensor. Not a pleasant task. Put the transmission in neutral position, lined up my two fine lines and bolted in place.

Placed the transmission into Park.

Reconnect shift lever cable.

After all this I went to start the van up to see if maybe I had gotten lucky. Van didn't start until I put the lever into R position. Park is now Reverse????
Once I try to go past Drive the lever becomes very stiff and doesn't want to move.
Although at the transmission side I can click right through each gear with the cable disconnected.

Don't have a glue as to why that's screwed up!

Anyways with the shift lever in N it puts the tranny in Drive.. Still didn't want to move forward.

At this point I'm thinking more clutch pack or valve body problem. This is now getting into any area that I'm not real comfortable with. So it looks like its time for me to look at either rebuilding, getting a rebuilt or used trans for it.

 

With the cable disconnected at the tranny you can't even move the shift lever without forcing it to the point where your really fighting with it.

This is no fun in a van. Even with the front cover off, steering column cover off you still can't see a thing. I'm trying to disconnect the cable from the plastic bracket and even that's a nightmare....
Yep...its time to back away and go have a beer......

 

Unfortunetly in a 2005 E 150 Van you can't just simply crawl under the dash and look up. Its impossible.
Instead the only way to get in there to see is by doing this:



Then to top it all off its not even the bracket that is loose. The cable itself is not moving at all thru the sleeve. Its looks like my cable is busted.

 

There is a sleeve that is connected to the transmission and selector.

They get cracked.

Ford parts departments have them on the shelf. Does that tell you anything?

 

Not sure if something big changed in transmissions from 05 to 06, but the slipping you are describing is bad news as far as I know. We've had shift selector lever problems here and there but never anything that caused slip. Just sloppy movement and incorrect PRND21 reading. But you can usually smell "burnt" on the tranny oil dip stick when that happens. I get a junkyard transmission on order asap with any sign of slip, expect another day or two of service before you become sessile.

Our '08 continually threw an OSS code after we put in a junkyard tranny at around 800K, but it caused no performance issues and I choose to ignore it. It seems to have been a non issue, now at 1200k. So not a lot of stock in that.

You can pick up a junk yard tranny for probably just under a grand shipped I'm guessing. They aren't too terribly aren't hard to put in, and might be your best option.

 

Sounds alot like my 06 4R75. Turned a corner and engine freewheeled. Let up on the gas and pressed back down and it worked fine. Fluid down maybe a 1/3 of a quart. Filled it next morning and 150 miles to a job. Only thing I noticed was a small delay for drive to engage. Once I got into city driving (100 miles) on the way back it started to slip. Fluid was not burned and was changed every 50,000, in fact I was going to change it again the weekend that it happened. 207,000 and tranny dead. Rebuilt ($2,600 with 5/75 warranty) and back on the road. I guess they give very little warning when they are going to die.

 

It does...however the 3 Ford dealers near me don't have them in stock. Monday is the earliest.

Getting a new tranny is in the back of my mind. Just don't want to prematurely order. Since I can't get the cable till then we are gonna see what happens if I manually put it in drive at the tranny. If the wheels start to spin then I'll hold off... if not I'll suck it up!..

FYI... this test will be done safely, so don't anyone think I'm jumping under the van and just gonna shift it into gear

 

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This one.

 

Gotcha.

Well, ran thru the gears fine with no resistance on the wheels. Put it back on the ground....nothing.

Got the van back up in the air again and removing the transmission. Found a good used tranny that I can have by next Thursday. Time to get down and dirty.