I may be going to look at a 2001 F250, 4x4 with a V10 engine tomorrow. I think it is a shop truck for a business. The owner said that the mechanics told him that the trans won't shift out of low gear. It is an automatic. Maybe something as simple as a modulator valve (do they still use them)? Any ideas? Thanks, Thunderbolt

 

It should be computer controlled. It has the overdrive lock out button and light on the gear shift. Does the fluid look or smell burnt? Correct level? I would have to just assume your looking at an overhaul going into the deal.

 

It's not a modulator valve. The last one of those was in 1996.

It is a 4R100 transmission. It's completely computer controlled. Before I opened this thread I knew you were going to say it had problems shifting out of first gear. How did I know that? That's a REALLY common 2001 model year problem.

Ford changed the intermediate one way clutch to a new design at the start of the 2001 model year. So many of them failed while still at the assembly plant that the decision was made to replace all of them in all gas engine trucks. Why only gas engines? The guy I worked with, who discovered the failure mode, could break EVERY one he drove, but only above 4500 RPM. The diesels can't spin that fast, so it was decided to leave the new clutch (called a Mechanical Diode) in the diesels. That turned out to be a bad decision.

While we (Automatic Transmission Engineering) were told that all gas engine trucks had their transmissions replaced before leaving the factory I have heard of several that were found later to not have had the replacement. This appears to be one of them.

The mechanical diode needs to be replaced. That requires rebuilding or replacing the transmission.

 

Thanks guys, Sounds like this is going to be a major job and major money. I was only interested because it was a cheap F250 4x4. It was pretty much a pos. I noticed in looking on the web for a rebuild that most places charge $800 for a core. Will they pay that for a core outright? If so, this deal may still work. Thanks again for the replies.

 

Most times you pay for the rebuilt transmission AND the core charge up front. Once the core has been returned to the seller, a refund of the core charge is issued to buyer. It can take a few days up to a few weeks for a refund to be processed. This is assuming that you are doing the work yourself. If a reputable shop is performing the work, then it will be a wash in the paperwork. Be sure to look it over as to not get hosed on numbers!