Hey all,

I've been having issues with my transmission for a bit and need a little guidance. I have an 01 Excursion with about 390k on it and last year I was doing some recoveries at the beach and was pulling a chain of 2 through some deep sand. Next thing you know my trans dumps all it's fluid. Found out the torque seal popped out. It looked ok, but I went ahead and replaced it anyway. While I was at it, I went ahead and replaced the converter to get rid of the 73 rattle. All was gravy. Purred like a dream.

A few months ago, I was doing an oil change.... Long story short, I ended up emptying the trans. I realized this when I tried to move and it wouldn't go. Yes, I know. I had a serious brainfart lol. I only had the truck running for maybe a few minutes. Anyhoo... Once I realized what happened, I drained all 6.5-7 gallons of engine oil from the motor and put in some Mercon V. After that, it was leaking so bad when driving I had a sheen of fluid on the back of my truck and on the front of anyone behind me. I went ahead and replaced the filter and gasket which hadn't leaked before draining, but apparently was then...

Well, it started leaking again the other day so I dropped the cross member that I did not do before and replaced the gasket again the right way.

Now for the main issue. I've been throwing trans lights when shifting between 2nd and 3rd, but only when I accelerate normally. There's a millisecond of lag. What I have do is when it gets to the point of shifting, I let off, once it shifts I continue on. When going forward, the transition from 2nd to 3rd is the only problem. Acts great otherwise. When in reverse, I have to give it a bit more pedal to get the gear to engage. If I don't it might just sit there.

I thought that maybe when I had it running for the few minutes without fluid, I did something to the solenoid? I thought I might rebuild the trans, but that's a project I won't want to mess with unless I have to.

I've seen issues where faulty solenoids might have transmissions shifting erratically or not at all. Mine is fine, but only when I let off the pedal when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. And the reverse which seems like giving more pedal spools up the fluid to the gears.

Has anyone had this issue or seen it before?

Thanks in advance, Kevin.

 

Hey Kevin. Welcome to FTE.
You drained the transmission instead of the engine? Did you add engine oil to the transmission or double the engine oil? Just wondering how that played out. LOL We’ve all been there!
If the OD light is blinking there’s codes, @Mark Kovalsky has said before you’ll need a special reader for transmission codes. Nice looking rig.

 

Are you certain the problem is the 2-3 shift? The 2001 7.3L/4R100 combo is well known for an issue in the 1-2 shift.

Running without fluid isn't going to hurt any of the solenoids. It would damage the pump, however. That's likely the cause of your problem.

 

Does that mean you can throw a pressure gauge on it somewhere and diagnose it?

 

Yeah, I guess I wasn't very clear on that. What happened was I drained the transmission thinking I was draining the oil pan. Then I put twice as much oil in and NO ATF lol. Basically I ended up having an empty trans and about 6.5-7 gallons of oil in my engine.

When the light started blinking, I read that is where the codes are. If I'm not mistaken it was giving me a code of 12. Since then, I can't seem to get it to do anything other than flash. When giving the code, it should flash for a period then pause. That period is the 1st number. Then flash for another period then pause. After the pause, it will flash steadily. Now there is no pause so I'm not sure what the code is. I don't get a check engine light so I don't get codes there.

Thanks. It's been a great truck til I started having trans issues. Not a motor problem so far.

 

Yeah, it's from 2nd to 3rd. When I get to about 30mph, I let off the pedal like I'm driving a standard for it to shift without throwing a trans light.

The only problem I've ever had shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd was when I replaced the converter. I had to manually shift the gears til I got to the "D"....haha The way I figure it, the converter prolly had to be broken lose. I just got on it for a day or 2 and all was fine after that.

Hmmm.... Now that makes sense. I hadn't thought of that. I REALLY don't feel like cracking that thing open.....lol

 

Does your overdrive light flash

 

Yes, when I don't let off the pedal when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I'll see if I can post a video of it doing it. If I let off between that shift, it's good. It's only when I don't let off.

Plus the reverse needing a little extra help.

 

Yes, when I don't let off the pedal when shifting from 2nd to 3rd. I'll see if I can post a video of it doing it. If I let off between that shift, it's good. It's only when I don't let off.

Plus the reverse needing a little extra help.

 

The trans may be damaged from overheating while towing people. The pump may have been damaged from being run dry. The filter might be leaking and letting air get sucked in.

 

You're mistaken. There is no such code as 12. All of the codes are four digits, with the first place being the letter P, which stands for Powertrain code.

The OD OFF light does not flash the codes. It only flashes on/off when a code is stored and the error is present. You *MUST* use a Ford complaint scan tool or equivalent to read the codes. There is no other way.

Uh....no. The converter doesn't need to be broken loose. The converter isn't involved with shifting, anyways.

There is a pressure test port on the driver's side of the trans, just above the pan, towards the front of the trans. It has a black hex head plug in it from the factory. The thread is a 1/8" NPT. Check the pressures warmed up at idle in each position, PRND21. Then check at stall in RD21. Stall is when you hold the brake with your left foot (HARD!) and hold the go pedal on the floor.
CAUTION: DO NOT HOLD STALL FOR MORE THAN 5 (FIVE) SECONDS AT A TIME!!!! IDLE OR FAST IDLE IN NEUTRAL FOR AT LEAST 30 SECONDS BETWEEN STALL TESTS. FAILURE TO HEED MY WARNING USUALLY RESULTS IN A DESTROYED TORQUE CONVERTER.

 

I know what traditional codes are. I read somewhere that when the OD light starts to flash, it will flash a number of times then pause. That is the 1st digit. It DID do this initially.

Ok



Ok. Kinda coincidence that I had shifting issues when I replaced my converter. I had to manually shift from 1, 2, and D to get it to shift properly for a couple days. I was basically instructed to "hammer down on it". Maybe the internals needed to be broken in since it was brand new, maybe it was something else, I don't know much about transmissions, but it made sense and it did work.

Ok. I'll see what I can do with that. Thank you.

 

Like to see how this comes out, following.

 

What pressure should you read during the test?