I've never been further into an automatic transmission than the filter and front/rear seals. I suspect that the feed bolts in my Excursion's transmission may be loose because Mark Kovalsky told me that could cause my slow 2-3 shift and occasionally not going into reverse. I'm choosing to pretend, at this point, that he didn't also say it could be a dying direct clutch I'm planning to dig into it this Sunday. Any advice? Any "whatever you do, don't loosen this or move that"? I know there are check ***** in the valve body and I remember seeing a diagram somewhere marking their locations. Do these tend to fall out when you remove the valve body?

Plan is to torque the feed bolts to the spec that I haven't looked up yet, reassemble with a fresh filter, and add enough fluid to make up for what was lost in the disassembly. Then, if it solves the problem, do a complete flush and fluid replacement the next weekend. If not, I guess I'll look for a transmission. Any advice from those who have been there/done that would be welcome.

I have no idea what kind of fluid is in this transmission but my understanding is that, regardless of what's in there, I can top it off with Mercon V and it'll be fine. If the fix works, I'll probably flush/fill with synthetic.

I'm hauling the wife, six kids, two dogs, and an 11k trailer to Daytona Beach for a gymnastics competition in late April which is why I'm kinda in a rush to get the transmission issues solved. The only thing worse than sitting on the side of the road with a dead transmission is sitting there with your wife, six kids, and two dogs.

 

When I dropped the pan on mine shortly after buying it, one of my valve body bolts was stuck to the magnet. It does happen. Also, if a previous owner has been in there, it is possible they did not torque the bolts properly, and they could fall out or loosen over time.

The check ***** will not fall out unless you take the valve body off AND turn it over. Even if they fall out, there are YouTube videos that show where they go. Looking at the valve body, it is kind of obvious where they go for those that have been into one before. There are round/oval pockets at the ends of certain "snail trails" where they go.

Biggest thing: look for metal shavings in the pan and on the magnet. If you see a glitter party, rebuild or buy rebuilt.

 

 

Tore into the tranny yesterday and managed not to dump all the check *****. Feed bolts were not loose but I don't think they were at spec either. 12 ft/lbs was right at the lower end of the range on my torque wrench and it was a little hard to tell when it clicked. I suspect they're slightly tighter than spec now. The magnet had the expected buildup of black sludge...less than I've seen in some other transmissions. No shavings or "glitter".

I wonder if the delay in the 2-3 shift isn't a delay at all but the converter locking right after the 2-3 shift? I was counting shifts yesterday on the way home and it only "shifts" 4 times. I remember the converter lockup on my 7.3 powered truck was noticeably firmer than the gear changes. This thing shifts to 3rd and then it feels like the converter is locking 1-2 seconds later. Is that normal? My Torque app, when connected to my truck, would report gear position and converter slip. If it'll do that with this gas burner, that'll tell what's happening when I guess.

I thought it might be the tuning so I reverted the ECM back to stock which didn't really change anything.

For whatever it's worth, it still fails to go into reverse every now and then. If I put it in drive and then reverse, it'll go in every time. At this point, I'm leaning toward doing a flush and fill, installing the 6.0 cooler, and just driving it.

 

If you need a trans, check with OldguyFL as he has a 4R100 that was running well when he pulled it and price is reasonable IMHO.

 

 

On ours when towing with cruise on it will down shift to 2nd when going up a hill to bring the speed up, shift to 3rd and a couple of seconds later shift to 4th.
It really needs to stay in 3rd longer because if still going uphill the cycle repeats.
For the reverse issue, have you fiddled with the DTR sensor? When it does not go into reverse are the backup lights off?
The PCM gets gear selected data and the backup lights are controlled by the DTR.

 

Talked to Oldguyfl about the trans he has. May end up doing that later. Experiencing a slight funding problem right now. Darn kids think they should get to eat every day AND wear shoes...cutting into my truck money. It did fine towing on the trip to St Petersburg...I may be seeing problems where there aren't any. The occasional not going into reverse is concerning though.

 

No matter what the DTR does it CANNOT prevent it from going into reverse. Reverse is hydraulically selected, not electronically. If the manual valve is moved to the reverse position it doesn't matter what the DTR does. A better thing to spend time checking is the two bolts that hold the shift bracket to the shift tube. They are located at the bottom of the steering column. If they come loose, you may not be moving the manual valve all the way to the reverse position.


Backup lights, yes, gear selected, no. And the backup light circuit is separate from data that the DTR sends to the PCM.

 

Mark, I've checked the bolts on the steering column and I've torqued the feed bolts and valve body bolts to the published spec. I dug up an old post where you told a guy it might be the seals on the reverse clutch going bad. Do you see that as a likely cause here and is that something that's likely to leave me sitting? Or more likely something that will gradually get worse until reverse no longer works? Or impossible to say?

 

It could be the seals. If it is I expect it will gradually get worse until it just won't work anymore.

 

Have you checked to see if the transmission is throwing any codes? Also is your OD light
(tow) on transmission selector blinking if it is you more than likely have a readable code.

 

I have checked that. No codes. No blinking OD light. Going to rebuild the bypass valve, install a bigger cooler, flush and fill with new fluid, and drive it till it croaks. Or at least until it shows serious symptoms.