Folks,<O</O

Can some one here shed some light on an issue that I am having with my 2003 F150 5.4L V8? This is my 3rd F150 from Ford in the last 8 years so I am a repeating customer of Ford. I started seeing my Overdrive light flickering when it should not be, and it does this whether it is in the on position or off position. The OD still works but the light flickers… I noticed that the shifting started to get a little rough so I decided to take it in and get the transmission fluid/filter changed. I was informed by the mechanic that he pulled the following diagnostic codes: P0712 and P1783.

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I was told that the codes and symptoms were indicative that my transmission needs to be replaced which obviously did not make me happy with only 63k miles on the vehicle. The dealer wanted another 1,200.00 to tear apart my transmission so they could fully diagnose the issue and I said no way! That’s just to tear it apart not fix the problem. (I was quoted like $3000.00 for a rebuilt transmission.) I then contacted Fords Corporate Customer Service and explained the situation. The Ford customer service rep and manager then told me they will not consider assisting me until they completely diagnose the issue, meaning I pay the money to have the dealer rip apart my transmission to tell me its bad. Makes absolutely no sense to me as a re-occurring ford customer for almost a decade.<O</O

I spent time on-line researching the codes (P0712 and p1783) and found numerous of posts were Ford owners were having the same issue. Most of them were either told to replace the Sensor/wiring kit for the transmission as that is what the codes refer to as the problem. It appears that when they replaced the sensor, the problem went away and then came back??? Seems to me that this is a defect issue and ALOT of Ford owners are very UN happy about this issue from what I have read all over the internet. Why doesn't Ford address this issue as it seems to be a very wide spread problem in ALOT of different vehicles using this transmission. You would think that FORD would want to assist or Help re-occurring customers when a major issue like this is brought to there attention.

If anyone has any information regarding this issue, I would surely appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your time and comments.

 

Welcome to FTE fshowtr.

How do you use your truck? Do a lot of towing? The DTCs translate as shown below. I expect that this is why the dealer needs to pull it down, to see what has been damaged with the overheated transmission.

P0712 Transmission Fluid Temperature Sensor Open

P1783 Transmission Over-Temperature Condition

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for the feed bacK!
However I only use the truck for normal driving back and forth to work and I don't use it to tow or haul anything. I did look up the codes and I found the same as you had mentioned plus this info below:

P0712 - Voltage drops across TFT sensor exceeds scale set for temperature of 157 degrees C.
Symptoms = Firm shift feel
RESOLUTION = Replace TFT sensor/wiring

P1783 - Transmission fluid temperature exceeded 127 degrees C.
Symptoms = Increease in EPC Pressure
Resolution = Wiring or TFT Sensor clogged cooler
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I had something like this on my 2000 f150.. the internal wire harness needed to be replaced. the part itself was $61. total bill including a rebuilt torque convertor was $568 parts and labor.

 

Thanks for the feed back TEKWS01!
I talked to the mechanic I originally took it to have it serviced and he stated that there was fluid sensor wiring kit and suggested that the solenoid packge be replaced with the senor/wiring. He quoted me just over $535.00. I just hope that replacing this resolves the issue. I have seen some people post on-line that they (The dealer) replaced the sensor and the problem went away but then came back and the dealers had no clue on how to resolve the problem.

 

I Have a 2008 F150 5.4L and have had the same problem since I bought it new. The dealerships never could figure out what was wrong with it either. It gave them the p1783 code twice, once at about 30k miles and again around 50k miles. The fan clutch would always engage and never disengage because the transmission was overheating due to the trans. cooler bypass valve. The valve would stick closed not allowing the fluid to flow to the cooler. I live in Texas. It gets really hot here and the bypass valve is not necessary. My transmission even overheated on a 26 degree morning just on my way to work. I have dealt with this problem for 2.5 years because the dealership couldn't figure it out. My new mechanic bypassed the cooler bypass valve. He took it off and replaced it with two hoses and hose clamps. Now the transmission fluid always flows through the cooler. It runs like a new truck now, like it should have 2.5 years ago. I had the burnt tranny fluid flushed and it has never ran better. Now when the fan clutch engages it kicks back off in less than a minute. I've seen a lot of F150 owners on these forums having the same problem when I was trying to figure it out too. Now I'm very happy it's fixed and had to share how with everyone.

 

The dealership did replace the transmission fluid temp sensor and internal wiring harness but it did not fix the problem.