hello, I have a 1990 ranger with a 2.3 liter engine and an a4ld transmission. I posted a little while ago about my problem. "stalls when put in gear", I know that the problem is not in the engine, but every time I put the truck into gear it stalls "like a manual transmission if you tried to put it into gear without using the clutch. Anyway I was wondering about the torque converter clutch, I read somewhere in my browsing that when it malfunctions you must rebuild the entire transmission, do I? but then I also read that you could just clean out the valve "because they are known to stick" that it may solve my problem. I'm open to anything. On a side note the truck returns no codes and starts and idles just fine. THANK YOU.

 

This may sound crazy but check your fuel delivery system.....is the pump actually working? Is the fuel regulator working? Is your engine getting the fuel it needs?

Once again a tree is perfect.....anything that is made by man can and will crash and burn.....

 

Have you pulled the codes, the ECU might be having a problem controling the idle speed and this should show up in the codes.

 

the engine seems to be fine as far as getting enough fuel you can start it and rev up the r.p.m. just fine the fuel pump and fuel system are good as well, but as soon as you put it in gear it stalls, this includes reverse drive and overdrive even if you hold the brake when you put it in gear.

 

What happens if you push the OD button, to turn the OD OFF, before you put it into gear????

 

And also, what happens if you give it a bit of gas when it's trying to stall while still holding your foot on the brake?

 

There is no OD button on this model it has the P R N D OD 2 1 selection on the shift selector. Also if I aply the gas while putting it into gear it still jerks "clunk" maybee rolls 3 to 5 inches but still kills the engine, I've also tried nutreal droping real hard a few times "same thing" don't want to break it even more though heh heh heh.

 

IMO, your T/C is locked. Why it is locked I'm not sure. I assume by now you've checked for any stored codes, right?

 

yeah, thats what I figured just wanted to hear it from someone else thank's for a second opinion, and yeah no codes

 

I agree with Bill, sounds like the TC solenoid has the converter locked up.

 

Mine did same thing today. Just stalled while driving. Stalled when put in R and drive gears, not neutral. I Towed it home and found this site. Read some other threads and was wandering what you found to be the problem?
Thanks

 

I agree with those above as long as the fluid level is at the correct level. Low fluid levels can cause this also.

 

My 98 Ranger, 4x4, 4.0L, automatic did the exact same thing. When coming to a stop, the truck would shudder and stall, as if you were driving a manual and not very good with the clutch. The problem was with one of the selenoids in the transmission. As I remember, there were about six of them. There were no engine codes at all.

The local Ford dealership could or would not fix the problem. They never really took the time to listen to me as I went over the list of the symptoms. Took it to them several times, they even ended up putting on some sort of recording device to monitor the engine. That never turned up anything what so ever. Ended up going to a small mom & pop tranny shop. They new in an instant what the problem was, and a common problem on other makes of vehicles - don't recall which ones he mentioned at the moment. At the time the truck was still under warrenty and cost about $50 to fix. The actual bill was only about $150 or so. No tranny rebuild, only replacement of the faulty selenoid. I will never return to that Ford dealership if I can help it.

Hope this helps.

 

Just wanted to say thank you for replies... I am going to replace the modulator and the brake booster seal. I will reply back when I replace these parts tomarrow.
Thanks again to FTE and all of you!!! Great site. I go to a similiar looking site in Alaska called Alaska 4x4 network but not as much ford knowledge there.

 

hey red salmon, as long as you have a 2x4 you should have an a4ld trans wich will only have two solinoids the tcc "torque converter clutch" and the 3-4 shift solinoid wich shifts the trans from 3rd to 4th gear" "the tcc locks up the torque converter at high rpm in overdrive. when the tcc fails or gets sticky it locks and does not unlock, keeping your torque converter locked for higher speeds. somtimes you can lift the the back wheels of your truck off the ground and start it, put it in gear and the back wheels will spin, because your in third or forth gear and thats why it stalls when they are still on the ground, it's like puting a manual trans into forth gear leting out the clutch and not giving it any gas "from a dead stop". Anyway if you remove the trans oil pan and the filter you can remove the valve body, once you have the valve body out remove the lockplate it is held in by three screws and there is a seal inbetween the valvebody and the lock plate...you may need a new seal, I also recomend that while you have it all apart to change the filter "they are pretty cheap" also new trans fluid I like valvoline max life high mile. OK now that the lock plate is off there is a small metal plate holding in the tcc solinoid, slide it out and then slide out the tcc put the new one in "should cost less than $30". Be careful when removing the lockplate not to loose any of the check *****, if you do misplace one there is a diagram of where they go at the bottom of this post.I'm not sure what year your truck is so if you reply to this with the year of your truck I have more pics and lots more books. so if you have any questions let me know. hope it works out for you, good luck.

start reading this in the bottom right box


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