I saw a posting down a few from this one by blue4X4 and his tranny slamming into gear. I have a '92 as well, and mine does the exact same thing he described. There's no telling when it's gonna start slamming it into gear. It just does it.
Does anyone know of a part # for this MLP sensor? I called ford local ford place and the guy only saw what was called a transmission range sensor, for $50.00, that mounts on the side. is this the same part?
thanks for the help.
Dan
'92, 5.0, E4OD

 

Yes, me, I found the part number. It's 7F293, and it'll run about 50 bucks.

 

The mlp sensor is the same as trans range sensor. I have been a ford technician for six years so they are the same.

 

check all your eletrical connections to your trans while you're at it, my 92 was slamming gears and going into neutral with no warning even after I replaced the MLPS. After a friend at the dealership told me to clean all the connections (two at trans, two under master cylinder) trans has worked fine ever since.

 

I'm not sure if somehow these messages automatically repost after a certain amount of time, but I posted this question about 3-4 weeks ago and I've already fixed it, and referred others to the problem.
It was the tranny range sensor and the problem is definitely fixed. thanks for the replies anyway!
Dan Baines

 

By "slamming into gears", are you guys talking about really hard shifting between gears? My bronco is shifting really hard and hits so hard shifting into and out of overdrive that I'm afraid to use it anymore. Is this the same problem you guys were having?
Bronco894x4

 

For my '90 it's F5TZ-7A247-B

 

Bronco894x4,
yes, it's the harsh shifting between gears. For example, before I fixed the problem, my truck might shift smoothly through the gears, then out of the blue just start shifting harshly. The problem was apparent in all the gears, not just between two in particular. Anyway, I did some searching at this sight, and found others that had the same problem (with the E4OD tranny, that is). Then I found a technical safety bulletin that gave the part no. for the sensor that is malfunctioning when this is happening. I don't know what kind of tranny you have on yours, but for mine this was the problem. In fact, I did one of those vehicle history reports, and it mentioned this. If yours is an 89, then it pertains and you might want to check this site out. Of all the work that I've done to the truck, this fix was by far the most "pleasing".
here it is: www.4door.com/tsb.htm

Dan
92 XLT, 5.0, E4OD

 

Thanks Dan,

Mine is an 89 with an E4OD and it is shifting harsh through all gears. Are any special tools required for rigging or alignment of the new sensor or is it a straight forward remove and install?

Thanks
JW
Bronco894x4

 

It's pretty straight forward, and it took me about an hour. The part that took the most time was pulling out each individual wire and putting it back into the new coupling, being careful that you put the wire back into the proper slot on the new coupling. The couplings are slightly different in shape from the old to the new part, and it's easy to understand when you see it all in front of you. the directions are straightforward too, but i can give you some pointers:
1) Shift the truck into neutral then turn it off.
2) If you get under the truck on the driver's side, you can see it on the side of the tranny. Coming out of the tranny is the shifter bar, for lack of better words. The sensor slides over this bar, then the shift lever slides on and is held in place by a nut (the end of the bar is threaded). The shift cable is attached to the end of this shift lever. Also, the end of that same threaded bar is flat on two sides so that you can put a crescent wrench (or a 9 mm wrench works too, I think) over it to keep it from pushing on the cable or the tranny gears when you go to loosen or tighten the nut. I made my mistake here by not doing this, and ended up somehow jamming the shifter cable and had to buy a new cable too (duh!). If you just use a wrench on that bar while you loosen the nut, you'll avoid this. Also, the cable attaches to the shift lever via a ball and socket connection that you can pop off using a flat head screw driver.
3) you can get the wire harness to hang down lower by unplugging another coupling from the other side of the tranny. this makes the time consuming part of replacing those coupling wires/pins easier on ya.
4) Making sure the emergency brake is on, and any other precautions you deem necessary, start the truck, grab the shift lever on the tranny and put it into drive (the over-drive position). turn off the engine and put the column shifter into over-drive, adjust the cable length and snap the little white adjuster into place, and then snap the cable onto the ball of the shift lever. I initially just left everything in neutral when I did this, but the column shifter wasn't quite right, so I went back and made the adjustment while it was in drive. that worked the best.
I know I've rambled on a bit, but that's how I did mine. the part is about 50 bucks from ford.

One more thing: If you have an electrical tester (the sharp little pointed thing with the light on the end), you can use it to slide the sharp end into the coupling while you pull on the wire from the rear. That's the best way I found to remove each of the wires because of how they snap into place inside the coupling.
good luck.
Dan

 

Hey, I forgot an important step (#4). Here's what I just posted, but with that step included. Sorry about that.

It's pretty straight forward, and it took me about an hour. The part that took the most time was pulling out each individual wire and putting it back into the new coupling, being careful that you put the wire back into the proper slot on the new coupling. The couplings are slightly different in shape from the old to the new part, and it's easy to understand when you see it all in front of you. the directions are straightforward too, but i can give you some pointers:
1) Shift the truck into neutral then turn it off (making sure the emergency brake is on).
2) If you get under the truck on the driver's side, you can see it on the side of the tranny. Coming out of the tranny is the shifter bar, for lack of better words. The sensor slides over this bar, then the shift lever slides on and is held in place by a nut (the end of the bar is threaded). The shift cable is attached to the end of this shift lever. Also, the end of that same threaded bar is flat on two sides so that you can put a crescent wrench (or a 9 mm wrench works too, I think) over it to keep it from pushing on the cable or the tranny gears when you go to loosen or tighten the nut. I made my mistake here by not doing this, and ended up somehow jamming the shifter cable and had to buy a new cable too (duh!). If you just use a wrench on that bar while you loosen the nut, you'll avoid this. Also, the cable attaches to the shift lever via a ball and socket connection that you can pop off using a flat head screw driver.
3) you can get the wire harness to hang down lower by unplugging another coupling from the other side of the tranny. this makes the time consuming part of replacing those coupling wires/pins easier on ya.
4) after removing the old sensor and sliding on the new one, tighten the two retaining screws just to where you can move the sensor by hand. You can rotate the sensor perhaps 15 degrees around the bar, and it needs to be in the right place. What I did was to start the truck, grab the shift lever on that bar and shift it into reverse. Then with someone standing behind the truck, I rotated the sensor until they told me that the reverse lights came on. As you rotate the sensor, the reverse lights come on for maybe 4-5 degrees of rotation, then cut off. I just tried to position it to the middle of that area, then tightened the two bolts the rest of the way. This is the important part, but it's easy at the same time.
5) Then Making sure the emergency brake is on, and any other precautions you deem necessary, start the truck, grab the shift lever on the tranny and put it into drive (the over-drive position). turn off the engine and put the column shifter into over-drive, adjust the cable length and snap the little white adjuster into place, and then snap the cable onto the ball of the shift lever. I initially just left everything in neutral when I did this, but the column shifter wasn't quite right, so I went back and made the adjustment while it was in drive. that worked the best.
I know I've rambled on a bit, but that's how I did mine. the part is about 50 bucks from ford.

One more thing: If you have an electrical tester (the sharp little pointed thing with the light on the end), you can use it to slide the sharp end into the coupling while you pull on the wire from the rear. That's the best way I found to remove each of the wires because of how they snap into place inside the coupling.
good luck.
Dan

 

Thanks alot for the info Dan. Great idea using the reverse light as a means for adjustment. I never thought of that. I was doing some research on it and my Haynes or Chiltons manual called for a special tool for adjustment. I like your thinking!

JW
Bronco894x4