First I will start with the background. I have a 92 Explorer that has been good to me, and I love the car so I'm not giving it up. I recently lost the usage of my TACH and my Fuel Gauge after a shop disconnected the AC to fix a problem. The car has been running great until the other day when I started it up and drove about a block and it died. (Not completely, all electrical was still up just no motor) So I thought I might be out of gas. Not the case. I had it taken to a local shop. (Big mistake) I figured the fuel pump might have gone out. They diagnoised and came back stumped saying that they spent 3 hours looking at it and came up with these three possibles. 1. The fuel pump. 2. The ignition. and 3. The cars computer. They said this because when they got it started the 30 Amp fuse that controls these blew. So they spent another day with it and ended up comming up with the idea that its none of those things but its one of the following. 1. The TCC solenoid. 2. The 3rd to 4td OD Solenoid. So they unplugged both and said it runs fine but won't shift to fourth. Now after charging me $300 to do this they tell me they will need to take apart the trans and replace one of the two (if not both) for anywhere between $200 and who knows. Now I'm a simple person, I don't know a ton about cars, but I do know that (now) the shop has a history of "fixing" things by putting a bandaid on it. So here is my question. Would either of the latter two things cause my car to not start? Or to blow that fuse? And if so is this something that they should have been able to diagnoise right away or am I really looking at the huge bill for labor? Any help would be much appreciated. If you need anymore information I will be checking frequently. Thanks a lot.

 

Sounds a little fishy to me. The only thing in the tranny that should disable the starter is the switch that keeps you from starting in gear (the name escapes me at the moment). The valve (3-4 shift valve/OD solenoid) has nothing to do with starting the vehicle. It is not tied into the starting system in any way. I would be leery of this shop. If you get yourself a Haynes manual (about $15) you can go through the troubleshooting section an get an idea of what the problem should be. You can then compare that to what the shop is telling you.

The fuse could be blown any number of methods, including improper jump starting.

The first thing I would look at is the fuel pump relay. It's about $10.

Remember, always replace the cheap stuff first!


BTW: I'll guarantee if they crack the case on your tranny it'll cost way more than $200. I'd charge that much to pull the damn thing.

 

Thanks for the insight...it seems to go along with what I was thinking as well as some of the more "mechanically" prone friends I have. I am going to have a friend of a friend who runs a transmission shop take a gander at it. Hopefully he wont have to drop it, but who knows know. With them telling me that they "unhooked" the 3-4 gear and the TC (torque convertor)...I'm not to happy and am quite scared about the outcome now. I was honestly thinking it was going to be a simple problem like the fuel pump or like you said even the relay. Hopefully my second opinion will come up with something, as I am now limited to city streets. (No highway.) That puts a big hurt on the partying! This is an off the subject thing but the people on FTE are just awesome! You really help alot of people. Thanks. Anyone elses insight is more then welcome.

 

My 94 explorer was having progressively for frequent intermittent starting problems when hot. It would crank and not start or die at idle and not restart. After cycling throught several attempts at starting it would fire up. The dealer service replaced the fuel relay switch and have not had that problem again in last 45 days.

 

There is an electrical connector just above the transmission pan that will disconnect the TCC and 3-4 shift solenoid. These are the only two things electrical in this transmission, A4LD. If there is not a problem with the transmission, I do not recommend that you leave this connector unplugged. A number of transmission problems are easy to work on and understand if you get a manual. If you venture into changing the fluid and filter yourself, www.bulkpart.com is a convienient source. They have the improved filter that replaces the metal screen filter that doesn't filter out anything.

23921 Microfelt filter 4WD long pickup tube $10.35
23922 Microfelt filter 2WD short pickup tube $9.99

23270 filter O ring large $.29
23271 filter O ring small $.48
23141 pan gasket cork $.69

TMA4LD manual $16

The only way for the trans to blow a fuse is if the internal wire harness shorts or one of the solenoids shorts. These are located in the pan. Removing a solenoid requires dropping the valve body. This is something you can do but not without a manual. Personally, I would get far away from these guys.

Another test for the fuel pump is to either remove the fuel pump fuse or relay and use an amp meter to measure motor current. Should be in the 4-5 amp range.