Transmission problems...

[yvrr]

Back in April, we had the transmission in our 2001 SMB go out. It took a week of arguing with Ford and slightly over 2 more weeks to get it replaced with a rebuilt transmission under our extended warranty. The first problem was the Service Advisor who called me the second day and informed me that because of the Quigley 4WD conversion, Ford wouldn't cover the transmission. I called Jay Minto who is with Towne Ford (who sells SMB West all of their Ford vans) and he got involved with the local Service Manager and got that issue straightened out. (I learned later that the initial Service Advisor assigned to my problem and who didn't want to deal with the conversion was fired!) So...first lesson: Jay is a great guy and if you run into a dealer who doesn't think that an unmodified Ford part is covered by the warranty because of the van conversion, don't hesitate to call Jay and ask him to get involved.

Once we got the van back, everything seemed fine until a few days into our next trip when I pushed the Overdrive Cancel button on the end of the gear shift before starting down a long grade and nothing happened. I initially thought that an overdrive component of the new transmission failed. I took it in to Ford again and they discovered that the 5-amp fuse had blown. The technician replaced the fuse and searched around for a cause but didn't find anything. I checked the Cancel button when I got the van back and everything seemed fine. (It turned out that I had automatic overdrive available all of the time but just couldn't manually take it out of overdrive.) But, on our next trip, the same thing happened...the fuse blew when I tried to cancel the overdrive.

When we got home, I called the Service Advisor who I was working with who in turn discussed the problem with the Shop Foreman. The Shop Foreman suspected a frayed wire in the gear shift arm based on past experience with similar problems. They ordered the part and installed it earlier this week. They left the old part in the van and you can see one spot on the wire where the insulation been rubbed off, barely exposing the wire. Since the Shop Foreman had run into this problem before with Overdrive Cancel switches on the end of the gear shift arm, I thought that I would provide a "heads up" to everyone.

[FISHBREATH]

Good info.............. Thanks


How many miles were on your transmision at the time of failure????


FB

[yvrr]

Only 69,800 miles. I asked a friend of mine who is a freelance tech editor for RV magazines about it. He passed it along to a transmission expert that he relies on who replied:

"Based on the number of complaints I’ve received from readers over
the years, these transmissions are fairly trouble prone, especially
the converter clutches (the aftermarket makes a lot of H-D
replacements) and the overdrive clutch packs. Burnt fluid and brittle
seals are indications of slippage and excessive heat. You probably do
a lot of mountain driving in the steep Sierra Nevada range. I’m
thinking that the fluid has gotten quite hot a number of times. I
recommend flushing the system and using synthetic fluid, install a
fluid temperature gauge and monitor it carefully, keeping temps below
275 degrees on grades. � K.F. "

My friend went on to say:
"In short, you did nothing wrong, per se, it's more like a problem
with the transmission, in our experience.

As you observed the tranny is designed for use in much larger rigs
with huge trailers tacked behind, resulting in much higher GCWRs, so
overloading isn't a problem.

One thing to consider: As soon as you hit the uphill grades and start
prowling in the mountains, shift out of overdrive. Frequent hunting
back and forth between OD and DIR gears will heat up and damage
transmission parts as fast as overloading it. OD isn't made for the
hills. The little extra fuel you burn is still, at today's rates,
cheaper than another rebuild. I seem to recall that you have somewhat
taller than stock tires, and that effectively reduces your final
drive ratio, and that's also contrary to OD use in hills. If you
install the trans temperature gauge and keep an eye on it in the
mountains, you can probably see temp differences based on what gear
you select. It's a good diagnostic tool.

Your downshifting and use of the transmission to aid maintaining the
vehicle speed on downgrades is fine. Overspeeding the engine is the
chief potential problem here, but as you say, you keep the engine rpm
within reason so that’s not a problem in this case. Move clear down
to 3rd or 2nd on some of those really steep Sierra grades and apply
gentle braking now and then as needed to help maintain a safe road
speed and engine rpm. Your V-10 can also turn a lot faster than you
might think, as these new engines are designed to make power, and
thus operate, at significantly higher RPMs than the older big blocks
of muscle car days."

[FISHBREATH]

More good info.......


I have 145k on my trans.......I feel like it's a ticking time bomb.



FB

[adventureduo]

Great post. Thanks for sharing the inside 411. Anyone install a tranny fluid temp gauge?

[scatter]

The ScanGage shows the trans fluid temp and seems to work fine.

[adventureduo]

I must be blind. I need to cycle through my scangauge... forgot it showed trannytemp

[yvrr]

I just checked the book for our Scan Gauge and transmission temperature isn't a choice. I don't feel comfortable about installing the sender unit for a transmission gauge (even though some units fit into the oil line from the transmission to the radiator so you don't need to drill a hole in the pan) so I want to have that part installed in a good shop. I can do the rest myself. It is on my list of things to do and improvements to make.

[FunHog]

Yvrr,

Sorry to hear about your transmission issues.

A word of warning about the 4R100 transmission. Do not use anything but Mercron ATF in your gear box. Do not ues any synthetic, Mercron V, or dual rated fluid. If you do, you will be replacing your gearbox in short order. I know this from experience as I flushed my transmission and had Amsoil ATF put in and within 5,000 miles it started to act up. I was lucky in that I pulled the Amsoil out, flushed the transmission (again) and put the recommended (according to Ford’s shop manual) Mercron fluid back in.

A transmission gauge is a great idea as the recommended max trans temp for the 4R100 is ~215 deg F.

We have put an additional 30K miles in the Rockies and towing heavy trailers since going back to Mercron. For more information on this issue go the “The Diesel Stop” web page then go to the van section and do a search. You could also talk to Brain at BTS about this transmission. He builds the best Ford transmissions around. I’m saving up for one of his custom gearboxes when ours finally lets go.

Oh, our SMB has 82k of fairly hard miles and the trans is holding up well (knock on wood).

Hope this helps.

John

[John and Dana]

Regarding the Scan Guage. It doesn't come out of the box programed to read trans. temp. but the sensor is already in the van and all you have to do is program the Scan Guage. This is programed using the XGuage feature. I just did mine and the information you need to do it is on the Scan Guage site. http://www.scangauge.com/support/pdfs/XGAUGE.pdf

You may need to review the programing the XGuage features in the Scan Guage instructions. I have a 2008 with the 6.0L PSD and used the 'Ford Can' table, 'Alt Trans Fluid Temperature' data.

Thank you to everyone who has posted, this it is great information. It got me off of my bu** and programed this in my Scan Guage.

John