E350 P0657 code and transmission shift issues

[audisnapr]

Bumping this up to the top. Sounds like I just ran into the same problem. P0657 and p0700 both showing up. Transmission seems to be stuck in 3rd. Can barely get going. Once moving it's OK but won't downshift when I lay into it and is not affected by the shifter.

I know this was ages ago but any chance they showed you exactly where the wires were chaffing?

[Twoxentrix]

May only complicate your situation more, but I had somewhat of a similar problem. Engine would cut out completely for a second or two, then regain itself. The aftermath each time was transmission started to do similar to what you have. Each time I stopped, turned off the engine and restarted everything would resume regular operation. The first couple times this happened with the trans I didn't even know the engine cut out, until I one time I observed my Scangauge rebooting.
Took about 4 visits to the Dealer, unfortunately they were never able to duplicate the problem, but i also never got any codes since the electrical system shut down for the seconds the issue developed. On the 4th visit they finally found the Engine wiring harness on the passenger side unraveled and one of the wires had been dangling intermittently against the exhaust manifold - over time it chaffed enough to make contact.
This may not be your exact issue, but I agree with carringb's earlier response, it could be a lot of different things associated with the engine wiring harness...unfortunately. I've also read that some of the Trans sensors can create similar issues when they go bad. I know how frustrating an electrical issue can be, so rooting they diagnose your problem quickly.

[audisnapr]

Update: First shop I took it to really let me down. They drug their feet for two days and could only tell me that the harness from the top of the bell housing downstream was good and had good continuity but said they couldn't go any further until Thursday. We are on a tight schedule (which they knew about) because we are headed down south for a 5 day camping trip with 3 other families... which is why I took it to the first shop because they said they could look at it on Friday.

Since they couldn't move forward, I found another shop that could tackle it head on. Dropped it off at 11am this morning and they've already confirmed continuity with all wires by 4pm today but are still not getting a signal from the TCM within the PCM. They are suggesting a new PCM is needed. Out of pure desperation to make this camping trip happen after all of the frustration with the first shop, I gave the second shop the OK to proceed. A reman PCM can be at the shop by tomorrow, early afternoon, install, remote program and fingers crossed we'll be back on schedule.

[Twoxentrix]

Unfortunate about your experience with the first shop. If it helps keep your spirits up, in the many many many search results I read concerning irregular transmission operation quite a few also shared a bad PCM turned out to be the culprit...so all things considered its probably as good a place to start as any. Hope this fixes your issue.

[audisnapr]

Reporting back to share the outcome of my situation. It was in fact the PCM. In the end, we were able to leave Wednesday early afternoon, only about 6hrs after our original schedule departure - so that wasn't too bad. It took longer than expected to program the new PCM because apparently FORD mis-typed or misheard the VIN number which ultimately showed up during the road test as new problems so the shop had to figure out what went wrong. Once they realized the error, they were able to reprogram with success. A couple hours of troubleshooting to confirm wire continuity, remove/reinstall the PCM and reman PCM ($895) ran me about $1500 total.