Hello All-
I need to tap into the collective knowledge of this forum to figure out what happened to my transmission. After 3 minutes of driving from work, the transmission completely disengaged itself from the equation. I was able to coast to a stop. The engine ran fine, but no forward motion when in gear. Turned eveything off and then back on. Then when lightly tapping the throttle to see if it was a temporary thing, it made a severe metallic noise and then I shut it off for good!

About a month and a half ago I had the dealer change my computer for the tire size (35's) but never any problem. It actually shifted better. Also, I noticed a day or two before the meltdown that the computer must have reset itself because the belt minder was making its racket. I had turned it off 8 months ago and it had never come on since. Also, the temp guage has never even been close to hot so this should not be a factor- Sorry for the longer post but any suggestions/ recommendations for what happened and also for working this out with the dealer is appreciated! The dealer made a comment about the tire size possibly being a reason but come on, these are supposed to be designed to pull a house down! a 35" tire is nothing for these trucks! By the way, 2002, V10, Auto, CC, Long Bed, 35's, 4" lift- 23,600 miles.

Thanks again!

 

23k miles sounds like warratnty work to me !!!
The larger tires are NOT even a factor -
did you keep the receipts from the maintenance work?
Make copies, keep the originals ,
NOT in the car - don't ask me why I made that statement :-(

And 'discuss' it with them....
good luck with it!

 

Well here's the latest-
Service guy said that Ford will just replace the tranny. He said that there was too much metal shavings in the pan to even bother looking for the problem, he just ordered another. The only catch is that it is a rebuilt (by Ford) and the warranty will not be extended for this rebuilt one. He said that unless it had happened in the first 12 months, they never put in a new one, they are all rebuilt. This applies to engines, tranny's, etc.. I still have 13K to try to kill this tranny I guess! Still have no idea what went wrong. I just wish I knew for a fact that recalibrating the speedo/ tire size in the computer was not related to this failure of the tranny--

Thanks for the reply JD- I do not have a receipt of the recalibration work- sure wish I something now!

Also- I have to give this one service guy a lot of credit- His manager is just awful to deal with, but he has been very responsive and cool about everything and I think he is telling it like it is!?! I am trusting so anyway--

 

Don't worry about a rebuild. I think they're put together better than factory. It is a standard procedure for Ford to do this.

You're lucky they aren't using the "oversized tire" excuse and voiding your warranty. Some dealers would, and then it would be up to you to fight 'em.
Count your blessings and move on

 

Am I mising something bud?
How can they NOT give you a warranty on the rebuilt tranny?

You might look into purchasing an extended warranty then...
do a search on the internet and there's LOT's of Ford dealers selling them over the net...

good luck!

 

If they don't flush all the lines going to the cooler
and install a spin on filter.you won't have to worry about killing the rebuilt ,it will destroy itself pretty darn quick on its own.

Just my $.02

Rich

 

Good luck! Our 4R100 tranny took a dump at 17.4K miles. Ford would not replace it w/ a rebuilt or a new tranny. The service manager said:"our repair will be better than a new transmission". Since he took five days to tell us that the problem with our transmission was that it was "broken", we had no reason to believe anything coming out of his mouth. We bit the bullet, and bought the F**d extended warrantee. The dealer would only guarantee his work for 12 Mos,/12Kmiles. I pointed out to him that this was less than the original F**d warrantee,and his response was:"That's all the coverage you get on warrantee repairs". Sofar, we're at 26K miles, and our level of trust in F**d continues to be ZERO, but the tranny hasn't smoked itself yet. Just remember, service managers are all ex-used car salesmen, ex-insurance salesmen, and ex-politicians. The ones who can't lie well enough have gone on to other lines of work. The warrantee work was done at the dealer in Bakersfield, CA. YMMV .

 

Reply to transmission melt down
Twenty miles south of steamboat spring colorado my trans went out on my 1999 super duty ford .i had it towed to the ford dealer in steamboat springs .the service manager (mark wick) put a new rebuilt trans in and had me on the road in about three days.very quick for a stranger.also he told me i had a three year or thirty six thousand miles which ever come first warranty on my transmissiom.so for it,s working fine.

 

I have a 2001 F250 2wd 5.4. I had 35994 miles on it when I pulled into the dealership. No extended warranty. I might be looking. Mine was slipping at 50-55 MPH in overdrive only. They told me today that they were going to replace it tomorrow with a rebuilt ford tranny. It will come with a 12/12 warranty. I only pull a jetski (650lbs).
All I can say is someone must be on my side.

 

Did ya'll get the warranty information in writing that explains it all? I was told that my warranty would only extend to whatever I had remaining on my existing warranty. Which is another 13K or so- I was absolutly blown away with the process though- They worked so fast- I was stuck on the side of the road one evening and diving the same road only two days later!

Anybody bought the extended warranty from Ford after initial purchase but before the 3yr/ 36K warranty is over? Did you buy it from Ford directly? Thanks--

 

You can get it from any Ford dealer...
Search the internet and you'll see that some discount it pretty well!

And PLEASE stay with a factory warranty - too many fly by nights and possible unfit coverage on the others...

 

Well guys, I'm new here and by the way great info. I just bought a 2003 F250 SD SC V10. My firts question is do these trucks have problems with the automatic trannys and what gear do you use when pulling a trailer, mine is an open 16-18' car trailer and a 3100 lbs Mustang. I love this truck, I even purchase a Service contract for 5 yrs 75k just in case. Any info I will appreciate:

Edgar

 

Congrats on the purchase! You'll be happy with it. BTW, welcome to FTE!!!

When towing, disengage OD if you see that the tranny is hunting for gears. You're not dragging around too much weight (assuming your trailer is much lighter than the 'stang), so you should do well. But keep your finger on the truck's pulse when you're hitting the hills, and don't let the tranny get confused. Drop her out of OD going up a grade, and keep the tranny temp down.

A very useful mod that pays off well is an accurate tranny guage. The dummy-guage in the instrument cluster just doesn't cut it. By the time it registers a temp swing, it's too late. An accurate A-Pillar guage is the way to go. Not only does it serve a critical function, but looks cool, too. A lot of guys on this forum who tow regularly consider this an essential mod. Also, break your tranny in without towing anything & change to Mobil1 Synthetic ATF.

Follow the advice above, and you'll do well...

 

Thanks for the reply. I saw the pod gauge, but does anybody sell them for a single gauge, like for the tranny, assuming this is an electrical gauge where to install the temp sensor, make a hole on the pan and put a drain plug and put the temp sensor there? What do you consider break in 100 miles or more, right now it has 72 miles on the clock, again thanks:

Edgar

 

1. You can get a single guage pod. They exist, I've seen them. This site's online store, motorhaven, has them. Unfortunately, it seems the only one they stock is for 1987-1997 trucks. But you can find one if you are willing to search.

2. Where to mount the sensor, I'm not sure on. This is a pretty popular mod, and has been discussed on this forum before. Do a search, and I'm sure you'll find some good directions.

3. Break-in: It's in the manual somewhere... I'd say to put on at least 500 miles before towing. 1,000 if you can do it. Make sure you vary your RPM's during the break-in period. Stay away from cruise control, and mix some around-town driving in during break-in to help.