Any thoughts or advice is, as always, greatly appreciated.

Driving on the highway Sunday, not towing, not being hard or accelerating, the truck felt like I threw it into neutral. I pulled over, looked underneath, saw nothing out of the ordinary. Got back in, it went into drive, started back down the road... I would not shift into overdrive and the shifts from first to third were not as they normally are. There were no load noises or bangs/slams or anything. It did seem to buck a little at the time it would have normally shifted into overdrive. I ended up driving @ 50mph the rest of the way home..... until I exited the highway. It did it several more times before I got home. Each time it seemed that if I kept 'tension' (for lack of a better term) on the trans. it would hold, but as soon as I eased off the gas too quickly it would slip and I'd loose it again. It did that several times until the final time when it would go back and I had a neighbor tow me the last 5 miles. I wanted to get some opinions before towing it to a shop, and am doing a little local research as to a quality trans. shop.

I checked the fluid, it is still 'pink' and doesn't smell burnt.
I had the trans. 'flushed' by a local place with a B&G machine about 30-40K miles ago.

I'm sure there are questions I haven't answered yet, so please ask.

Thanks all

 

Was the OD light flashing? Do you have the capability to pull codes?

 

I didn't notice the OD light flashing, I don't have an AE just a cheap $50 code reader I used to clear CEL on another vehicle.

 

You have an '01 as do I. Depending on MFG date - up to ~ FEB. '01 I think - you likely have the infamous one way "diode" clutch which very problematic. It could very well be something else but what you describe is a common symptom. If you do need a new transmission many here will recommend John Woods or BTS depending on where you live. And available $$$$. Neither are cheap but are worth the money if you tow.

 

Just wondering how many miles do you have on this trans? And , do you have it flushed regularly? I ask, because there was a recent discussion about wither to flush or not. I just rolled over 1M on a tran that I did not flush, changed the filter once. My tranny just quit on me similar to your description. Clutches! Ended up rebuilding mine because of time and place. You may want to check out Ford, they have rebuilds at a fair price plus warranty.

 

The intermediate sprag (one way clutch) that is referred to as a "mechanical diode" - particularly the style used in the early 2001 trucks - will not cause the symptom described. Second gear is the only thing that suffers when the failure occurs....up until metal particles are allowed to roam freely in the internal workings of the transmission.

 

I bought it with 150K, had it flushed with one of those B&G machines at about 160K, it now has 195K. I have never had the filter changed.

 

The intermediate sprag (one way clutch) that is referred to as a "mechanical diode" - particularly the style used in the early 2001 trucks - will not cause the symptom described. Second gear is the only thing that suffers when the failure occurs....up until metal particles are allowed to roam freely in the internal workings of the transmission.
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Thanks for the clarification. Did not intend to confuse!