That might have been the beginings of TC shudder since you had low fluid and were towing. Not sure. Normally you feel it when it shifts, when its between two drive gears. That might also be other problems. Do you still feel it? If so, when?

For those that have not experienced TC shudder or the "rumble strip" feel, you will know it when it happens. Usually when it does, the WHOLE truck will shudder on a shift. You will feel it below and above you. You can hear it vibrate across the roof, hear interior parts rub together. You will know that you have TC shudder.

 

BTW, here is the link to replace the wiper motor.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s....php?&t=418830

 

Deffinately my expy does not shake at all when it shifts. You could only hear what sounded like "rumble strips" coming from the rear. It also seemed to very with how fast I was accellerating, the slower or less gas being applied the more of a chance you were going to hear the "rumble strip" sound. Now since I have topped off tranny fluid the sound has all together gone away. I am thinking a trans flush is in need with my expy. Any other ideas?

Shane

 

Well, since it went away with you topping off the tranny, then I would venture to guess it was a tranny issue. You might have experienced the vibration due to high load (towing) and low tranny fluid. Not sure. If its time for a flush then do it. Might be good to due it anyhow to flush out any junk that may be in it from running with low fluid.

 

The sound came back yesturday (only heard it once) but only after driving for a long period of time, there might have been a slight vibration felt. This morning it did not do it at all. I am thinking that it probably needs a flush asap and maybe an aftermarket tranny cooler. Anyone ever put a larger trans cooler on their expy before? How do I do it and where would I mount it?

Shane

 

How many miles on your expy? Do you currently have a cooler on it (tow package)?

 

There is just over 92K on it, I baught it at 85K. It does have the trailer towing package so I would think it has a cooler on it but from what I am told it is not very good.

Shane

 

Your getting to a point where your going to have to some maintenance on the truck. I would suggest you get the tranny flushed or do it yourself, assuming you have 20k or more on the existing fluid. What tranny do you have? I would also suggest that you change the rear end fluid. If its a 4x4, then do the front also. If you tow, then use 75w140 gear lube in the rear with friction modifier if you have limited slip. For the front, not sure what fluid it takes.

As far as the cooler....... I have a 99 w/ 5.4 and tow package, and it tows just fine and I never have a problem with it. But, I also do not tow very much and will go 6-9 months between towing stuff. If you tow all the time, then its possible that a larger cooler will be better for you. One thing to keep in mind is that a larger cooler never hurts. As far as mounting one, I would thing you might be able to use the existing lines? If not, you should be able to remove them and connect to their points on the tranny. If you do add a bigger cooler, then do it at the same time you get the tranny flushed.

 

I think the tranny thats in it is a 4R100 or whatever the designation is. How can I tell if thats what tranny I have? It takes regular Mercron (sp), atleast thats what the dipstick says. I dont tow very often, only done it once so far and I dont own a trailer as of now and dont plan to buy one for some time because I dont have the room right now for one. It has AWD/4X4.

Shane

 

There should be a trans code on the door sticker. Code E = 4R100, Code U = 4R70W. On our model year truck, you really can not use the dip stick to know. Our model year came with both the 4R100 and 4R70W trannys and both used the same fluid at the time. The 4R70W has now been converted to MerconV and it is recommended to do so on the earlier 70W's also. Look at your door code, to see what you have. 4R100 = Mercon ONLY. 4R70W = MerconV.

Since you do not tow often, then a cooler replacement is your call. Do what you feel comfortable with. If you do a tranny flush with a good quality fluid, then you will probably be good. But if you want to change the cooler, or think you might in the future, its best to do it when you have the fluid out of the tranny.

Since you have AWD, I would suggest a differential fluid change on both ends. Front case has both drain and fill plugs. Simple drain and refill will work there.

On the rear, your going to have to remove the cover. This is really easy to do. Just loosen all the bolts, then remove those on the bottom. You may or may not start to get fluid to leak out at that point. Use a putty knife to break the seal around the bottom and let the fluid drain out. Once it becomes a trickle, remove the rest of the bolts and remove and clean cover and flange. Use paper towels to remove the fluid and gunk from the sump area under the gears and clean the case flange. To clean the flanges I used a flexible razor so as not to scratch or gouge the flange face. I then used a rag soaked in cleaner (thinner, brake cleaner, etc.) to wipe the case flange off. After all is clean and dry, add a 1/8" -1/4" bead of black RTV to the case flange. Allow this to set 10-15 min., then install cover hand tight. allow this to set an additional 10-15 min. then tighten to 33-35ftlbs in a cross bolt fashion. Wait then an additional hour or so before adding fluid. Best way to add fluid is to remove the fill plug, then look on top of the case and remove the ABS sensor (10mm). Fill the case through the ABS sensor hole till fluid comes out the fill hole on the side. Once the fluid stops coming out of the side fill hole, button it all up. I then let mine sit for an additional 10 hours of so before driving. To me this allows the RTV to set-up all the way. Obviously doing this at night is the best, since it can set-up while you sleep. If you have to use friction modifier, add it first or add it to the first bottle of gear lube.

Use a synthetic lube on both ends. I used Amsoil, and it cost me around $35 for lube and FM for just the rear. You will need 3qts for the rear (you will only use around 2.5-2.75). Also, if you use FM, do NOT get it on you or any clothing you like. It smells to high hell and is hard to get the stink off. I wore yard clothes and trashed them b/c I spilled some on me when trying to fill from the side fill hole. If you go with a gear lube that has the snout, then you can probably use the side fill hole, Amsoil does not have the snout, so you have to use a funnel or a pump (I have many funnels, no pumps).

 

Thanks for all the great information 01silvergt!!!

Shane

 

I had the same shudder problem I replaced the Transfer Case fluid and it went away.

 

The transfer case fluid may be the culprit. I had a low speed shudder issue with my '99 a few years ago that was ultimately cured with a drain and fill of the transfer case. Although I don't ford rivers with my Expy, water contamination of the fluid was deemed to be the culprit.

 

The radio's have a problem with poor soldering.

You can pull the radio out, then using either a small torx or allen wrench the front cover comes off (there are 4 little screws holding it on).

The fix is to hit the solder points with a soldering gun. There aren't that many of them and it takes about 30 minutes to do if you hit them all. Once your done its like night and day its so bright compared to what it was from the factory.

Otherwise you can do a google on it and there are a ton of places out there that will fix it for you, but it costs about $80+ depending on the person doing the fix.

I had to do mine a few years ago with my first Expedition.