I have a 93 F150 4x4 302 AOD. After backing up a long hill in 4wd and trying to pull a Dodge out of a snowbank, I found that after I shifted back into 2wd I barely had any reverse at all. It seemed to go into reverse ok, but was almost like neutral, hardly moved. After it cooled down, it seemed ok and I took it to my mechanic. He said he could tell even cold that it wasn't right. I'm waiting for him to change fluid and filter and see how it is. Has anyone out there had this problem and what was the cause? Thanks for your help.

 

I am not a tranny expert, just pay a lot for rebuilds from time to time.

I have not had this problem myself, but I would guess you probably cooked the clutches, time for a rebuild. If you are really lucky maybe all that happended is that your fluid got cooked and a quick flush will do it, but I wouldn't count on this.

Backing up a hill in 4WD hauling a dead weight like a Dodge truck, probably means at best your tranny was under a fair strain for a long time. It also probably means you were slipping in the mud or dirt and causing the tranny to get a lot of hard jerks, bad for clutches and other parts.

I am guessing and partially from a little experience way back when I was a teenager, that reverse clutches aren't made for extended miles or heavy loads since you hardly ever use then in normal usage. So this is why I think you fried the reverse clutch pack. Just hope none of the bits and pieces and burned fluids caused any other damage.

One of life's learning opportunities. Been there done that too many times.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

 

Thanks for the response, Jim. Your diagnosis sounds about right to me. I didn't back up the hill pulling the Dodge, just to get to it; and it was on just a wet gravel road, so I still don't think that should have been too abusive. I just backed up 1/4 mile. But its definately hurt. I took a long ride in it the other day, and when it got up to temp, it wouldn't back up just like before.

Tim

 

You might drop the pan and drain the torque converter in the hopes that maybe just some junk is floating around but I am afraid you have a problem.

Before you drop the pan, what does your fluid look like? Most fluids should be pink to red. Brown or brownish pink is usually a sign that you cooked something. Also if the fluid smells burnt then that is bad too. If the fluid got too hot at best you cooked some seals which will get brittle and cause intermittent problems. Usually that is just one of the components damaged so most tranny shops will do a rebuild.

If and when you drop the pan you should take a close look at what is in the bottom of the pan. Any metal chunks are bad but not likely. At most you might have one or two smaller than rice sized pieces in there and which are usually not of concern.

If there are a lot of black or metalic flakes, that is bad. Usually the black flakes are clutch material and the metalic ones may be components that were damaged, really bad. Usually a normal tranny will have some pepper size flakes, kind of like some one put a dash of pepper in the oil. Lots of flakes mean the clutches are worn.

There should be a magnet somewhere in the pan to collect metal. Usually it will have a fuzzy silver paste on it, this is normal, If there are lots of chunks or it looks like a Chiapet, that might be bad.

Draining the pan and TC and putting in a new filter has some chance of working but I think less than 50/50. You will probably wind up at a shop in the long run. Someone once told me losing reverse was a sure sign of future death.

Good Luck, been there, done that, didn't like it either.

Jim Henderson