Hello. I'm trying to get a feel for what's going on in my van before I replace or repair it. It is a 95 E150, 166,000 miles, standard passenger transmission (I can't recall the designation A40D or something like that).

Anyway, just recently I've noticed what feels like vibrations at low speeds, when the van is cold. We thought it was the gravel on our road at first, and for the most part, the low speed rumbling/skipping goes away after it warms up. I thought also it might be a dirty air filter which I will replace shortly, but then I noticed at higher speeds, around 45 on up, the car feels like the transmission is skipping. It is hard to describe, other than you notice a subtle "lurch", mostly when going up grade and the van is under a good deal of stress. Also its a little worse with AC on, but it still does it without AC.

My limited experience with transmission failures is that you usually lose a gear outright (reverse, 3rd, 4th) in most cases. However, I am wondering if anyone ever experienced what I am describing. Can you think of any other causes for this kind of slipping? We have been debating replacing this vehicle soon, and if the tranny is indeed shot, this may be the deciding factor for us, but I do want to make sure it is not something minor first, as the cost of even a new van is pricey. Also, would I expect this to gradually get worse, or should I expect an abrupt failure all at once?

I have been servicing the transmission regularly since we bought it at 87,000 miles, but I know that is no guarantee against eventual failure.

Thanks for any help.

Jim1995E150

 

P.S.

I've talked with both my normal van shop and a speciality transmission shop that I've used over the years, and trust, and both indicate what I'm describing can often be attributed to engine problems. I would be very relieved if indeed it was only bad plugs, bad sensor, clogged fuel filter, etc. rather than a fried transmission.

Anyone run into this scenario?

JimE1995E150

 

Yes, all the time.

You probably have a bad spark plug wire.

 

I second what Casey said - your symptoms sound like exactly what our old E-150 used to do. We also initially blamed the transmission but eventually decided it had to be a misfire. Replaced the spark plug wires - problem solved.

 

It sounds like transmission to me, but I haven't "had the pleasure" of similar sypmtoms. I allowed the tranny oil to get low in a '76 Cadillac, and that ruined the tranny. It would "slip" under load.

The greatest load on your clutch, or tranny, is when you are in high gear, under acceleration...as in going up a hill. Of course, this is the greatest load on the engine, too.

If you have an engine misfire, that should be detectable by analysis, by a garage that has proper ignition analysis equipment. This practice has been going on for decades. So you might want to eliminate such a variable, in your problem, at the start. Intermittent problems, as always, complicate the process. If you can't see 'em, you can't hit 'em. Thus a variable might not be so easily eliminated.

Perhaps your van should be tested on a dynamometer. That way, you can test the vehicle under some semblance of load.

 

friend of mine had bad"trans" problem like you described, turned out to be plugged fuel filter

 

Well, took the van into the shop Monday night. Seems the main culprit was a bad ignition coil, and secondarily the need for a major tune up. They confirmed the coil by doing some sort of mist test where they sprayed the area in the dark and could see all kinds of arcing. They also changed plugs, pcv valve, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, and did a fuel system clean out and throttle body cleaning (manual). All in all about $570. About an even split for parts and labor. Sounds like a lot, but that's less than two payments on a new or even 1 or 2 year old van.

One lesson that I did learn from all this is that sometimes you have to be preemptive with your shop. During the last two years, at my old shop, I had asked them to change both the spark plugs and fuel filter (I keep track of how old they are and when they might need changed). Both times they discouraged me from changing them, recommending I save my money and that they weren't that bad based on the mileage since last change (thus I listened to them). The fuel filter had over 50,000 miles on it and the plugs had at least 30,000 or 40,000. Soon after one of these visits, our fuel pump went (no way to ever know if it was partly due to a bad fuel filter). The point I guess is to try and keep up with regular maintenance, even if discouraged by the shop cause they are too busy or want to save you some money. I feel a little embarassed I had to have a shop tell me I needed a major tune up. However, I suspect just changing the coil would have solved the issue without doing everything else, but might as well get a fresh start.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Jim1995E150
166,500