My 97 F250hd Started Shifting Extremely Hard About A Month Ago. If I Disconnect The Battery It Goes Back To Shifting Normal For About 50 Miles Then Starts Shifting Hard Again. I Took It To A Tranny Shop And Their Computer Told Them A Clutch Was Slipping - They Concluded That The Computer Was Raising The Fluid Pressure To Compensate For The Slipping Clutch. They Suggested A Complete Rebuild (gave Me A Fair Price).

I Decided That There Was No Way A Clutch Was Slipping Since (1) It Drives Fine If The Computer Is Reset (disconnect Ground) And (2) When It Shifts Hard, There Is Definitely No Slipping. So I Took It To Another Tranny Shop. The 2nd Tranny Shop Discovered The Solenoid Pack Was Burnt Out And Replaced It. They Gave Me The Truck Back And It Drove Great For About 50 Miles. It Then Went Back To Shifting Hard Again. The 2nd Shop Is Now Telling Me I Need A Rebuild.

I Am Not Convinced That This Tranny Needs To Be Rebuilt. It Shifts So Nicely When I Reset The Computer. I Was Hoping Someone Has Had Or Knows Someone Who's Had A Similar Experience.

The Od Light Is Not Flashing. I Have All The Gears And In My Opinion There Is No Slipping Going On In This Tranny.

Can Anyone Help? It Would Be Greatly Appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

I think the first shop was right. Can you detect 50 RPM slip? I can't, but the computer can measure it. That's all the slip it takes to set the code.

The most common cause is a bad torque converter. If that clutch slips it will set a code. Once the code is set the computer raises the line pressure to prevent further damage to the trans. You might not need a complete rebuild, but you probably need at least a new torque converter.

 

sorry for hijack

I am assuming the 4R100 would do the same,but reason for inquiry is that my torque would seem to slip when locking
the trans was rebuilt about 7k miles ago with a new torque (dayco I think)
everything stayed the same except for the torque slip
I installed DP Tuner and everything seems good now
is the tuner a band aid or was the problem in PCM

 

I just meet with shop #2, who I've liked from the get go. The guy sold me on the rebuild. I don't know if I could get away with the t-c or not, but I can't justify trying to throw more money at it if I'm not sure I'm going to fix the problem.

I must say that the 2nd shop was very reasonable. I cried about the rebuild price for some time (which was already fair from what I've seen) and I got them to drop down to something that is down right cheap. They are replacing all hard/soft parts and electronice (w/new parts) including all the bulletins and installing a brand new HD t-c and giving me a 2 year warranty.

I'll follow up when the job is done and the truck is going down the road, but right now I would strongly recomend Capitol Transmission on Newfield Ave in Hartford, CT if you need work done.

Thanks for the input on this issue.

Sorry I can't help you with tuner advice. I've got a real good feel for engines, but trannys might as well be brain surgery to me.

Thanks again,
Jeff

 

I got my truck back. I took a while, but it appears that they did a great job. They replaced all the hard and soft parts. I had gotten so used to the hard shifts that it is going to take some getting used to, but I feel the tranny is operating the way it should (feels like driving a caddy to me now).

They also replaced a freeze plug in my block that was leaking and adjusted the shifter cable so the needle actually points to the gear I'm in (this will also take some getting used to). The freeze plug had a minor leak before I brought it to them and I replaced the steering column about a year ago and never did the final adjustment on the cable, so these were not problems they created. The fixed these issues and the price was the same as what we originally agreed to. I don't want to announce to the world the price they gave me because I haggled with them for a while to get it. I wouldn't want someone telling them about the price I got. I'll say that the price was more than fair and a hell of a lot less than the numbers I've seen online and quotes I got from other shops.

It appears that this solved the issues that I was having and I'm extremely happy with the job they did. I will repost if any issues come up.

Thanks for the help