I KNOW THIS IS A LONG READ, BUT PLEASE READ IT !

Today I was driving on base (Camp Pendleton) and when I put the truck in reverse, there was about a 2 second pause before it got in gear. Then Later on down the road, it would shift funny- I was gonna pick up my boat from storage, but took it to a tranny shop instead. On the way there, the TC wouldn't lock, and it felt as if it wouldn't shift into 4th. At times it made a funny sound like it was trying to upshift, but wouldn't. I usually do 50 mph at about 1700 rpm, but today I was doing 50 mph at 2200 rpm. The whole time the O/D light never blinked.
SO I got it to the tranny shop, and the guy pulled a 603 code, if memory serves me correct. He said something to the effect that the KAM (keep alive memory) was acting up due to either the battery connections were loose, the PCM connecter was corroded or broken, and was causing the problem. He cleared the code, and it drove fine again.
I drove about 10 miles no issues. I got the boat (7,000 lbs) and drove the long way through base, just in case...I made it another 15 miles, up and down hills no problems. AS SOON as I hit the 5 freeway, it starts acting up again. I made it home doing 50mph at around 2500-3000 rpm. The engine stayed cool, and the tranny stayed below 180, so I hope I didn't blow it up. Any advice anyone? I'm taking it to the stealership tomorrow, and would like to have an idea of what I'm looking at. Thanks!!

 

My 2005 350 Dually 4x4 Acted Simular , It Started By Pausing Before Goingin To Gear When I Was Pulling A Dump Traiter I Went To Back Up And It Felt Like I Was Spinning In Dirt So I Put In 4x4 And Still Did The Same Thing Well After Getting It Dumped The Trans Acted Weird The The Tow Haul Light Started Flashing Then Downshifted Harshly Then Into Neutral Shut Off Truck And Restarted It Seened Ok But No Reverse Only At Idle. The Reverse Snap Ring Comes Off And Can Break The Case I Ran Mine 2mts With No Reverse And Never Broke Case But The Dealer Said I Was Lucky He Had Sel A Lot Of Broken Cases. Suncoast Transmission Has A Better Snap Ring And Presure Release Kit For Aroung 50.00 And Should Fix It. Sorr So Long.

 

Mongo,

Those snap rings are notorious for breaking for no apparent reason. However, because yours went away, I would check all your electrical connections again (it's free so why not?), clear the codes, and see if it goes away again. I hope that it does. These tranmissions are not cheap. If you check everything, and your problem is here to stay, it would seem that something internal (snap ring perhaps) took a dump on you and there's nothing you can do for it except pull it out and put a different one in and that sucks. I hope it turns out ok for you.

 

Hey mongo, Because you have a 7.3, Its not a torqueshift, that is notorious for the snap rings. Thats not to say it couldnt be the problem, but I would take a long look at the main connector on the trans. Because its intermittent, it looks like you are loosing power to the trans. When you loose power, the trans will default to 2nd gear (causing the high rpms and no shifting)

 

It was ok on wed-friday, and sat morning. I took the family on a trip to base (Camp Pendleton) to get some groceries and it started acting retarded again. I'm getting it checked tomorrow. I hate seeing it just sit cause I'm scared to drive it....

 

Yea, my truck did the same thing. It was right before the trans trashed itself. The first gear cluster basically exploded and took everything else with it (it was my fault, to much engine braking). The only things I was able to reuse was the case and some hardware. I'm not saying that's what's happening to yours, but mine was acting funny for a few days and then I lost first and reverse and the truck with in the service mode and kept me out of overdrive. I hope you the best. It cost me three grand and two weeks of down time.

 

I know we are not in Vegas, but if I were a gambling man I'd bet it is the snap ring.

 

Well, I took it to AAMCO yesterday and today the guy told me the shaft bushings were basically wallowed out. He said it's probably just from milage (157k) and from what I've read of the R4100, that's pretty good. It's funny though- when he first talked to me today, he said it's not that bad- so I'm thinking ok, maybe around $1800....whatever- the bushings, ALL electronics (damaged by fine metal shavings) the range sensor (corroded all to hell) and the "heavy duty" triple-disc torque converter all came to just under $3000.....obviously our ideals of what "not that bad" means are pretty different. But this ******* better last another 200,000 miles!! We'll see I guess.

 

I would find another shop for a second opinion and a second price. AAMCO can be really spendy and I'm not commenting on their quality because I don't have any first hand experience, but it it can't be too bad because they have shops just about everytwhere; even a couple in good ole' Alaska. I bet that if you look around a bit that you can find someone that would do it for a good deal less than that.

 

For that much money you can get a BD tranny and swap it yourself!

http://www.dieselperformance.com/for...ssions&tt=ford

 

Heck, too late- they should be done today. Time just is never on my side with anything that ever goes wrong in my life. Even if I was rich (which I'm not driving a 99) I still couldn't buy that commodity.....