Wow!! today I heard a lot of grinding 1st and 2 gears, I isolated it to the transmission, at first it sounded like a brake rotor that has sat out in the rain, (you know the noise) like rust grinding off, or a drive shaft rub..

I got underneath and watched and listened.. as a friend creaked it forward in D its like a grinding, scraping sound, Its shifts perfectly at speed, and the noises go away as the speed increases.. Its only at very low speed, practically crawling... ! this is all at 0-20-mph

I'm scared to drive it! it sounds horrible!! if I turn and park it will buck, slip and quiver.. but I need it for work. maybe the torque converter? flywheel bolts... Idk I do tow a trailer for pressure washing..
I searched and didn't find much, in fact what I read was the 2011 have better transmissions in them.

only has 46,000 miles on her, and its the 2011 4.6 EFI v8 auto 4 speed trans.


Fluid is fine and clean with no leaks, smell is good.
No CEL
No OD flash

 

The CEL won't light up for transmission issues nor can they be read with the standard handheld scanners. A more sophisticated reader is necessary for diagnosing this issue. I do believe some transmission malfunctions may trigger the OD indicator lamp on the shifter stalk to flash however don't take that as gospel.

Regardless you need to get your van into a qualified transmission service shop ASAP before whatever this is becomes an expensive repair. Procrastinating now could be a very expensive delay.

 

Both the CEL and the OD OFF light can and will light up for transmission issues. A code will be stored to indicate why the light(s) are on.

This issue won't turn on any lights. I think you have a bad u-joint in the driveshaft. There are two ways to determine if the u-joint(s) are bad. The easy way is to remove the driveshaft and check each joint for smooth operation. The hard way is to wait a while, and if it is a bad u-joint the it will fail and the driveshaft will drop out of the truck, sometimes causing catastrophic damage, especially to a trailer.

I don't see how it could be the torque converter, why do you think it is?

 

Ahhh you may be right! I should check the u joints before driving to my dealer apt tomorrow at 9am..
I should be under warranty.. Hopefully..



I read somewhere on here that it could be a faulty Torque converter that how I came up with that conclusion, I have nothing to back that up.. It really sounding internal because I can get under there or on the side and see a lot, I see the exhaust manifold moving but I guess that's normal..

here is the post

 

I don't think its the u Joint from what I see... Although I didn't try your recommendation. I saw no signs of movement, everything looks rock solid from underneath, it may be internal, and it maybe an isolated situation. (not common) I'm pretty upset, I hope I make it to the dealer tomorrow 9am 15 miles... I will update unless some suggests something tonight I can try..

I don't get a vibration or a shutter..

It very odd It totally smooths out, and is perfect 3rd gear and on! 20+mph changes gears perfectly.

were there any problems with these transmissions in 2011? where are the model numbers for the trans? 4R75W ? does the slip joint fix pertain to this?


I have a "99 E150 I bought new, & towed everyday with a 4.2 V6 200K miles & never been in the shop..


where are the model numbers for the trans for my vehicle?
2011 E250 4.6

4R75W
4R75E

AC2Z7000C
AC2Z7000D


<table class="all-component-parts no-image" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr class="part-row alternate " data-reference-code="" data-pgr-idx="1" data-part-num="ac2z-7000-c"><td class="part-number"></td><td class="description"></td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Mark could stored codes be read by the handheld scanners like an Actron CP9580 for example?

 

I have no idea what an Actron can and cannot do.

If you didn't take the driveshaft out you only wasted your time. You can't see a failing u-joint with the driveshaft installed. I hope you don't use the hard way to determine if the u-joint is bad. That's where the u-joint breaks and the driveshaft falls out of the van.

Seems normal for a failing u-joint to me.

 

Be sure to come back and tell us how things go at the dealer, cali108. I'll hang around this thread in case you need my help.

Crystal

 

I dropped it off this morning, I felt a little more comfortable, I was pleasantly surprised, I was expecting an argument. the Porter took the van in and complemented me on how clean my van was in fact it was the cleanest he's ever seen for service. He came back and said do you know threres something wrong with your transmission.. lol I told him that's why its in here.. I guess he thought it was a new vehicle for an oil change or something. Anyhow I'm still under warranty as the writer, told me. Just waiting to here back today.


Shop:
Gary Smith Ford
FWB FL

 

Thank you Crystal, much appreciated...


I will note that... and pass that on, you could be right! it's safely at the dealer now..

Okay so Ford service dept. gets back to me and tells me the Ford mechanic working on my van, that his wife had a baby at 12pm and is at the hospital won't be back till Friday so my E250 sits in the parking lot... Only knowing "its internal" He commented... Why is there only one service mechanic that can pull a transmission?
I told them order me a new Trans!!! and swap them out! "No can do!" He exclaimed... Ford wants to see the problem and either fix or replace... But we won't know till late Friday when he takes it out! and maybe gets to take it apart...
Not to happy..
what can I do?
They won't give me a loaner...
I'm out of luck, and work...

 

We've worn out many u-joints and yes, you can tell that they are going bad without taking them out. You feel a vibration in the seat that is high frequency, too high to be a wheel out of balance. That's because the drive shaft rotates at 3.71x or 4.10x the frequency of the wheels depending on your rear-end ratio. Sometimes you can get under the van and rock the joint to see the motion if the joint is bad enough. Never had one explode catastrophically and I think that you'd notice severe vibration well before that point. It's always the joint next to the pumpkin that goes bad, never the transmission side. We change both when we pull a drive shaft though.

As to what might be up with your transmission, not sure. I do know we had one transmission that was making a rubbing noise at lower speeds. I had it up on jacks and was listening around for the noise as the van idled in gear. I traced it down to the rear half of the transmission. We ended up leaving it alone and it went away over time. But there was no erratic driving characteristics with that one, so maybe not a similar problem.

I have seen transmission codes show up on my scanner after reading OBDII codes. The one that sticks in mind is 0722, output speed sensor. I ignored that one and it's been a good 300,000 miles or more since that issue on our 2008 with no issues.

If it's under warranty, obviously you'll want to chase that down. If they can't diagnose it, they might agree to repair it under warranty even if you run past the mileage limit since you raised the issue before the warranty period. You might ask about that if they can't find a problem.

 

Still at dealer... Nothing new, other than they have to write up a report to see if its going to be rebuilt or replaced. Tired of waiting.. do you know how hard it is to find a rental that can tow... still out of work till this is fixed!

 

That sucks. It wont' look too professional, but you could always rent a Uhaul truck. At work, the flatbed F350 we used as a water truck broke down and I called everywhere for a rental that I could put the water tank on. Couldn't find one. I wound up renting a Uhaul box truck, stuck the water tank inside and hauled water in it. We had to drive it in and out of the woods to the well we were testing. That poor rental got abused.

 

I did try, almost all the rentals were taken over the weekend. Finally I was able to track down the owner of my previous van, and he actually lent it to me.. I was able to work today, but the loaner old 99 E150 collapsed & split a very old & dry vacume line. She was spitting and sputtering... so I replace some of his lines, his van now runs better than when he lent it to me. It's amazing how some humans will help others in need, and when you spend 50k with a company they will do nothing to help you out.







Update on my 2011 E250


they are rebuilding not replacing And guess what parts are on back order.. no estimate time of repair....

 

Wow--you'd think they'd have a reman'd unit laying around---has to be a bit less labor-intensive installing in a bay rather than rebuilding in house?