1994 Ford Explorer, 180,000 miles on truck and about 60,000 on the transmission.

A couple weeks ago i changed the transmission fluid and filter. However, i forgot to put the o-rings on the new filter. When i ran it before i realiized this it would take a really long time to shift from park or reverse into drive and was also slipping out of gear when it was in drive. When i realized my stupid mistake a reinstalled the filter with the o-rings this time. After i did that it hasnt slipped out of gear anymore and doesnt take really long to go into drive but it still takes a longer time than it used to before switching into drive. Also i cant tell for sure but it seems as if when i am driving that the points that it switches gear at are at a little higher speed than before.

I have checked the fluid many times to make sure there was enough but not too much in there. I also took the vacuum hose off of the vacuum modulator on the transmission to see if it had any fluid in it to indicate the modulator was bad but if there was any in there it wasnt enough for me to detect it. It seems to shift very smooth and my mileage is actually better (maybe cause its shifting gears at slightly higher speeds) but its definately not how it should be.

Any ideas cuz this has been bugging me for a couple weeks now?

 

I would take the truck to a Trans shop and have them adjust the bands ASAP. You could have damaged the Trans as it was sucking air and aerating the fluid. As you know the fluid is responsible for other things besides making the truck move. It also cools the Trans, and lubricates it so having the fluid aerated means that it was not cooling and lubricating the Trans as well as it should have been.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I would get it in to a Trans shop ASAP and have them inspect it and if possible adjust the bands. Yes this may cost you some $$ but a new/rebuilt Trans will cost you a whole lot more. With any Trans it is important to get it looked at the first sign of anything. Letting it go especially the early explorer 91-94 Trans will result in a really big repair bill.

Please don’t shoot me I am only the messenger and having recently spent 2k on my last Trans I speak from experience.

Respectfully


Dean

 

how much do you think it will cost to get the bands adjusted?

 

Also i noticed if i rev the engine slightly and then let the gas pedal go it will shift a little faster. I try not to do this though in case it shifts while its revved above idle.

Im not sure exactly what the bands do but to me it seems like some sort of control issue. How does it shift into drive? Does vacuum power shift it or the fluid or a motor or something and does a computer control when it shifts after i move the selector to drive?

I planned on taking it somewhere to get it looked at when i have time but if i can fix it myself i would like to do that. Also once i get back home after this semester i can take it to somebody i trust cuz i dont know any mechanics in town here that wont try to to advantage of me.

 

I believe that all you have to do is take the control servos out but after reading the Tectran Manual I have I don’t see an adjustment for this.

You know the more that I think about it the jumping out of gear was obviously the lack of O rings as well as the really slow engagement. Your change of the filter may be what caused the Trans to have slightly higher shift points. I would at least talk to a Trans shop and ask if after changing the fluid the shift point could be a little higher. If you want I can give you the name of the transmission shop that is local to me and you can give them a call. They should be able to answer your questions. Just don’t tell them that you are not local and if you are all the better

 

The Trasmission is controlled by the computer, however the compuer merely opens needle valves that let fluid into various channels in the transmission, the physical shift is done hydraulically with the transmission fluid. A few things to try before You incur a costly repair bill (however don't drive it too much if these don't fix it).

1. Check transmission fluid level, low fluid can cause delayed shifts

2. Disconnect the battery for 15 minutes, this will reset the computer (and your radio unfortunatly), then the computer will redevelop the shift profile over the next 50-100 miles. It could be that driving without the o-ring caused your computer to get out of whack.

If these don't fix it, you can call a few dealers, One of the dealers here in columbus does tranmission diagnostic for $100. This will at least tell you what is wrong. I have heard some horror stories of transmission shops that tell you it will cost $300 to tell you whats wrong. In the process of finding out what is wrong, they disassemble the Tranny. Then they want $700-$800 just to put it back together if you decide not to have them fix it. Call some dealers find one that will hook it up to the computer and find out whats wrong. No hidden fees. Then you can call for some quotes to fix the problem.



David
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ill try disconnecting the battery. to me it does seem something like that where the control of the transmission is messed up but not the actual transmission itself.

i have checked and rechecked the fluid and either added or drained a little bit of fluid to get it at the perfect level.

also my dad is asking our longtime mechanic back home what he thinks about this so ill let everyone know what he says.

 

I tried disconnecting the battery but it didnt do anything and the fluid levels are ok.

I also called a repair shop here that a friend of the family suggested but all they said was it needs a new transmission. He wouldnt even consider it being something smaller and cheaper when i suggested some of the things that people on this post have suggested. I dont think they want to actually figure out what is wrong they would rather rip it out and put another one in instead.

Also i can't believe that i do need a new transmission. I was talking to my dad today and he said the transmission in there only has about 40-50,000 miles on it and most of the driving i have done on it was on the highway which should be easier on the transmission. He's gonna ask our longtime, trustworthy mechanic at home and see what he thinks it might be. Im going to see if i can find someone here in Champaign-Urbana that will look at it for free or really cheap and that is not just gonna say it needs a new tranny without even looking at it or just wait till i move back home for the summer in a few weeks and get them to look at it there and hope i don't do too much damage to it driving home.

 

I have run into the same thing when calling around about my Transmission, all the shops I called either wanted to completely rebuild it, or replace it. I finally got ahold of a Ford Dealer that would run a computer diagnostic on it, this pointed me in the right direction and told me what I needed done. Call your local ford Dealers and see if any of them are willing to do a transmission Diagnostic.

David
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I talked to the mechanic who put this rebuilt transmission in few years ago. He said it doesnt like anything major otherwise it would be doing much worse things then just taking a while to go into gear. He thinks maybe I just got a bad filter that is restricting flow or the filter is a little loose and he also had a few more ideas that i dont remember right now. He suggested getting the filter/fluid changed again to see if that is it (i called a few places and they all wanted too much to do this. The dealer wanted $160 to change the fluid and filter only and everywhere else either wanted to put a new transmission in or charged too much) and he also told me to put some LucasOil Transmission additive in there until i have a chance to get it changed or bring it home to him (which im probably going to do). Also i noticed that when it was cold out yesterday it switched much faster then last week when it was very hot. That makes me think even more that its something related to the fluid since the fluid would be thicker in the cold. Also i added the additive he said and it seems to have helped a little since that stuff is really, really thick.

Once i get it fixed by him ill post on here what exactly it was to help anybody else this happens to.

 

Changing the fluid and filter is something that the home mechanic can do. I don't know how comfortable you are with working on it, but all you have to do is drop the pan off the bottom of the tranny, and replace the filter, replace the gasket on the pan cover, and then refill. It's Messy, but pretty easy. I just did mine a few months ago. Don't forget to put the blue goo on the gasket to help prevent leaks.

David
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