i am very new to this so please bear with me. i have a 94 f150 with an e4od tranny.
problem: will not shift out of first gear when put in D, 2, or 1

background: i went hardcore mudding in my truck, and when i pulled out on the hard ball road, my transmission wouldnt shift out of first gear. let it sit on the roadside for two days, i come back and it shifted normal again. my ******* went mudding again and it did the same, but never "fixed itself". so i got a new tranny form a junk yard. put it in a month ago. i vowed i wasnt going mudding anymore. but today i took my truck on a dirt trail that was a little bumpy. used 4x4 once to get over a wee bit hill. i didnt mess around anyother way. my truck didnt touch water. the first time this happened i took it to a tranny shop and had a diagnostic done on it, they say nothing is showing up on codes.

please if anyone can help please do, if you need any info on the truck or symptoms, please ask. i am desperate for answers to this.... WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENS TO 2 DIFFERENT TRANNYS. i will take any info that i can get. i have alot of info formt he last tranny and did alot of "testing with it".

i jsut put this second tranny in and i cleaned everything up and tightened er down. im thinking about dropping my valve body and cleanin it out cuz maybe valves are stickin...sound like a good idea? prolly not but i gotta try something.

i ran a diagnostic at a tranny shop, they said everything checked out ok, they said it was something internal, when it comes time to shift into second, it acts like it does and it makes the physical shift and you can feel; it but it stays in first..i dont get it.

 

The chances of the exact same thing happening are quite high. It sounds to me like it's not the actual tranny having problems.

Mounted on the drivers side of the transmission, behind the shift linkage, is the MLPS (Manual lever position sensor.) This sensor tells the computer what gear you are in, and adjusts the line pressure inside accordingly.

If mud or water gets on the sensor, they have a tendancy to short out. The plug in the top probably leaked water in, causing it to short out.

This sensor, also known as the "Nuetral safety switch" to most auto parts stores, is around 50 bucks. I would replace it and see where you go from there.

 

I am havin the exact same problem, I have a 92' F150 (5.8 V8). I dont go mudding often but i take her off roading on dirt trails and fields etc. quite a bit. I've burned through 3 freakin tranny now and have had my current one rebuilt once. Everytime I stay on the streets its fine, as soon as i get back on the road from the dirt it messes up. I dont know if Fords jus canted handle the offroading or if i just have a p.o.s. (which i dont).

 

Sounds like it's computer related. Maybe someone here knows which computer does the shifting. You can clean out the wire harness and make sure everything has hot connections.

Ryan

 

thank you very much for the info... i will look into it. now my next question would be... the MLPS ... does it have to "sit" properly, or like does it have to be adjusted CW or CCW? or does it simply jsut bolt on and plug in? thanks again... if i take the connector off and clean the hell out of it... is that sufficient...? how can i get a schematic to find out what pins are hot or not? or should i jsut get a new one?
sorry for allt he questions, but you are helping me out so much
thank you again

 

The MLPS will come with striations (marks), that will probably be already aligned. Normally you put the gear selector lever in neutral, install MLPS and make sure the striations are aligned. The down side, is you have to "rewire" for the new switch. That is, remove the pins from the existing MLPS plug, and place them in proper order for the new MLPS plug. This just takes patience, and the ability to remove the pins from the existing plug.

 

hey raliegh... why would i have to rewire it? i mena i can handle it, im and electronics tech by trade...but i dont understand why it wouldnt already be set up for the correct wiring... i dont understand that. i cant swap the MLPS part for part?