WTF?? i made my trip to michigan and it only acted up a couple of times. usually when i was driving threw the canyons they call pot holes on the roads in michigan. when the truck got jarred hard the t/c would unlock and lock back up. fipl??? is that a diesel's version of a throttle position sensor? thanks, pete

 

FIPL sensor = Fuel Injector Pump Lever sensor

Its basically a throttle position sensor, but since diesels don't have throttles, they had to make up a different name for it.

Your problem could be a bad contact. The connector on the passenger side (solenoid body) of the transmission is a common problem with the E4OD, and is prone to corrosion over time.

To access the solenoid body connector you will have to remove heat shield and that will expose it. To disconnect it, there is a thumb tab that you have to push in, while pulling up op on the wiring harness, be careful here, the plastic connector is brittle, and using a screw driver will break it.

Once the connector is off, carefully inspect it for signs of corrosion of dirt, if the damage is bad enough, you can get a replacement connector and splice in into the original harness.

 

Yep!

What he said!

While I was rebuilding them at the dealership I'd say that as for converter issues, it was a 98% chance that it was a bad F.I.P.l. that the was the problem, the rest were on the E series van with acid in the wiring under the batteries and a few with crap in the valve body from a totally thrashed trans.

 

If its temperature related it could be electrical, but it could also be hydraulic. Torque converter shudder can be caused by a crack(s) in the lockup piston that relieve fluid pressure and cause the lockup clutch to reattempt lockup. When the fluid is cold, it is thicker and pressure can build more easily, but when the transmission warms up, not only does the viscosity drop, but the crack in the piston will also expand slightly making things even worse.

Valve problems are also aggravated by higher temperature and line pressure. I spent weeks trying to track down a 3-4 shift error that occurred only at operating temperature (would not upshift into 4th after driving a few miles). Turned out to be a nicked 3-4 shift valve, being made of aluminum, it expands when warm and only affected performance at those temperatures.

As for the Baumann TCS, thats what I am running in mine and its great. It is fully programmable, and will not throw any fault codes - EVER, instead a live monitoring is used for troubleshooting. Once it was setup properly, it was plug and play. Excellent product.

 

AH HA! I've been able to find a thread that sheds some light on the mystery that is my truck-- I get error codes for FIPL and for torque converter slip, but the truck still seems to run and shift ok (if a bit down on power going uphill-- ok, a LOT down on power going up the "grapevine" with only a light load, but not to distract from the issue I'm posting for).

So I replaced the FIPL with a new motorcraft part and have set it a couple of times, each time bumping up the voltage at idle and it's now at 1.21 at idle (started at .92 or so).

But the truck has some aftermarket wiring hookups because it was a former city railroad truck-- so it's got a liftgate and some non-functioning red lights beneath it and I plugged in a pig tail for in the tail light circuit for trailer lighting...

When the trailer lights are plugged in, they signals flash a lot faster-- someone said that's because there is a high drain on the circuit so likely a bad ground-- but maybe it's just the trailer lights and not in the truck ?? Could the tail light/signal/brake light wiring be what's causing my FIPL and Converter slip codes?

Hmm, but I've gotten the OD light to flash even when I wasn't towing and before I got that pig tail installed...

Someone suggested that a valve body is commonly known to crack causing TC slipping-- is this valve something that is integral to the torque converter (whole converter needs replacing) or is it a drop-the-pan and replace part sorta thing? Sorry for my ignorance, but I know 0 about automatic transmissions.

 

When the trailer lights are plugged in, they signals flash a lot faster-- someone said that's because there is a high drain on the circuit so likely a bad ground-- but maybe it's just the trailer lights and not in the truck ?? Could the tail light/signal/brake light wiring be what's causing my FIPL and Converter slip codes?

Hmm, but I've gotten the OD light to flash even when I wasn't towing and before I got that pig tail installed...

Someone suggested that a valve body is commonly known to crack causing TC slipping-- is this valve something that is integral to the torque converter (whole converter needs replacing) or is it a drop-the-pan and replace part sorta thing? Sorry for my ignorance, but I know 0 about automatic transmissions.[/quote]



I think you are on the right track with your wiring. A few things to check:

1.0 Do you still have the original torque converter. These were very poor and the lock clutch in them kept slipping. A bad torque converter will continue to throw a Code 62 as well as the code for the VSS sensor as the engine speed and the tranny speed don't agree when the torque converter is slipping.

2.0 You can replace your solenoid pack if you are worried about leaking valves causing slippage. Cost from Ford when I bought it was $500 about 5 years ago. It is the electronics piece that has the wiring harness connector soldered into it. Just drop the pan and unbolt the solenoid body and bolt in the new one. Make sure you only unbolt the bolts that hold the solenoid body in place; if you remove the solenoid body by accident you got a real mess of springs and crap on your hands that would be very difficult to get back in unless you had a tranny manual.

3.0 Try to get your wiring straightened out. This will affect the shifting of the tranny.

Seb...

 

RE: 1.0-- I would almost bet that it's the original torque converter- truck has only 83K miles on it and there's no indication that it would have been swapped.

Any advice from anyone on a source for a cost-effective (ie: best cost /reliability trade off) for something that will see seldom use and will generally be towing 3000-- max 7000lbs. There are (gasp) ebay rebuilt TC for $299-399. Am I just asking for trouble getting one of those?

RE: 2.0-- is that the solenoid pack you are referencing the one that is commonly known to develop cracks that effects torque converter lockup? Or is that problematic valve body the one integral to the torque converter (ie: if I replace the TC that problematic valve body is inside and is replaced as well)? Sorry to sound cheap, but am unemployed and don't want to spend $500 if I may not have to.

RE: Will do-- I'll try to find a Chiltons or Haynes and will chase wires as best as I can.

Many many thanks for the help.

 

Sorry for the rough times you are going thru.

1.0 Maybe you could find a used solenoid body from a wrecker.

2.0 I would stay away from those rebuilt E-bay tranny's they are not worth the money.

3.0 At 83k the torque converter likely is original and probably on its way out. Best way to go is with a heavy duty "RV" grade converter. Last one I bought was again around the $500 mark 5 years ago. Check your tranny oil. Any even small metal built-up on the magnet is likley from your torque converter lock-up clutch. Don't let it go for too long or the metal in the oil will wreck the rest of your tranny.


Good luck.

Seb.

 

The solenoid body doesn't usually go bad but if there are problems one or more solenoids , it would show up on a code scan as a short or open circuit. I wouldn't replace it at this point unless you are sure it's the problem because odds are not very good that it is.

As I mentioned in my previous post above, the piston inside the torque converter that applies the lockup clutch can crack and reduce pressure enough that it will throw a fault code due to slipping torque converter. I've never heard of a valve body cracking...

Faulty trailer wiring or tail light wiring can mess with the transmission though. We had a member here who experienced problems due to bad wiring in a U-haul trailer. His torque converter might have been on it's way out already but that incident forced him to replace it shortly after.

Can you detect the converter locking up when driving normally?

 

valve bodies dont crack , thats one of those urban legends
torque converter is most likely failing
you do not want the fipl voltage too high
it causes late shifts ,harsh shifting,shift hunting ,and torque converter
cycling by sending the processor an incorrect throttle load
this will also cause it too set a fipl code due to voltage being too high
rapid flashing of the turn signals is due to higher amp load on the turn signal flasher
however a bad ground for the trailer can cause feedback to the brake lamp circuit when the running lights are on
check out Precision of New Haven for a reliable and affordable torque converter ask for their RV model for your truck