92' exploder experiencing unique tranny issues...please help!

[lovinthefords]

My 92' explorer 4x4 has been great to me for the past year I have owned it. It is my belief that the transmission was replaced right before I purchased it about 10,000 miles ago, although no receipts.
The problem started after a trip to the beach which may or may not be related.
While I have the automatic transmission in drive or reverse there is a very loud wine coming from beneath the vehicle, seems to be in the front of the transmission.
Fluid level was fine but very dark. I decided that I would remove the pan and replace the fluid and filter. Along with adding new transmission fluid I added Seafoam additive for transmissions.
After completely this the sound can only be heard when the truck is first started and put into gear. The sound remains constant while I have my foot on the accelerator up to about 35mph. After driving for a short time the sound can almost not be heard at all. Before changing the fluid and filter it was much louder and did not quiet down in this way.
I have continued driving my Explorer, checking the fluid level which remains consistent and hoping that I lose this sound.
In the past couple days I have noticed that shortly into driving my tranny will slip once or twice and then will just drive normal.

PLEASE, PLEASE HELP
Any advice for me on this problem would be so appreciated!
I am willing to try anything, although I do not have the money for a new transmission and unfortunately no facility to install one.

[molehole]

Probably is the pump in the transmission. My Explorer doesn't do it but my 96 Blazer has done it for the last 20k miles or so. The cars runs great it just whines constantly. I had the fluid changed along with the filter and my mechanic says they will do it if they run low on fluid. Mine actually ran low on fluid and I didn't check until the damage was already done. My advice would be to check the fluid to make sure it isn't leaking out anywhere and make sure to check it in Park, on a level surface when the car is fully warmed up. Just because it may have been rebuilt doesn't mean that it is perfect. Many times Transmission shops do terrible work so the trans will fail right after warranty. You may want to go have a professional shop vacuum out all the old fluid because you only get out a 1/3 or so by dropping the pan. The sound will go away when it shifts into overdrive as you are describing. It is really not worth tearing down the transmission to fix it. Good Luck and keep us posted

[lovinthefords]

I have heard some bad things about the power flush overworking the pump that may already be in bad condition, but I would like to find out if there is a safe way to effectively drain the entire system myself? Thanks for your help molehole....

[jsgold]

There was an excellent web site that gave a lot of information on explorers(including flushing) howvever recently went offline for good. After reading that here is what I do. Warm up the truck a few minutes. Drop the pan, change filter. Then refill the pan. unhook the transmission cooler lines from radiator. Using a clamp, attach a rubber hose (forget the size, 3/8 I think) long enough to reach from the line INCOMING to the radiator from the transmission to a 5 gal bucket. Have someone help you with this! get a long funnel and start truck. The pump will send out the old fluid, and the fresh fluid is then sent thru the transmission. Be carefull though as the pump will pick up the fluid out of the pan quickly. When the flow starts to slow down, SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. Then refill again and do this until the fluid coming out is bright red. Run the shifter through 1-2 quick shifts from P-L1.The trick is to try and monitor how much going in and going out. This does not take long to do which is good as you are not getting fluid in the line going BACK to the trans. until you get done. However, according to the site, if you run the engine a few minutes BEFORE doing this, you both warm up the fluid so it flows better, and you lube the part of the transmission that will be doing without for a very few minutes. I have used this on three of our vehicles and my dad's (Ford and GM) and works pretty well. the actual total "run" time should be less than two minutes. Then top off fluids..

[jsgold]

I might add, it is almost impossible to add fluid to the transmission fast enough to keep up with pump, so don't try. Just watch for the fluid to slow down, or measure 3-4 qts then stop motor. the pan only holds a very few qts in the first place. Perhaps there is a better way, but has worked for me.

[RexNfx400]

This is an awesome way

[lovinthefords]

Thanks a lot of all the information on how to do this, I knew there must be a way. Would the pump or the tranny cooler lines influence the level of radiator fluid? I have a fairly new radiator and have noticed the level dropping quicky. I will let you know how everything goes as soon as I try this. Thanks again....Justin