Going in for Trans replacement today

[garync1]

OK call me crazy but I am tired of having to travel no more than 60 miles from home. Canceled my summer vacation waiting for the my vans trans to die. But it won't.. The issues I have had are first time slipping transmissions had fluid replaced and that stopped.. Towed a light weight trailer and trans got hot and leaked really bad.. Then it stopped. Went on long trips and noticed a few drops of trans fluid which does expand on pavement to make it look like a lot but really it was not. I do know that comes out of the vent tube.. Also for a little over a year now my trans will bump or shudder when in over drive and and going up a slight grade. If I click out of the Overdrive it stops.. I have a trans cooler on it now so my leaking from the vent tube has stopped. So it does help. But this year I am taking me and my 2 kids to Disney for Christmas. Hey it beats shopping and they are excited. So this afternoon I am taking my van in to Ford to have my trans replaced. 3400 bucks and 3 yr 100,000 mile warranty.So I am hoping it works out well.. Funny thing is my trans pulls and shifts fine. But I see shelling out a lot of money for this trip and on the way there poof. The trans will go.. Because time and heat will make a trans go boom if its weak.. I have took this thing to a few transmissions shops and some think its my pump the others thinks its the torque converter clutch. But all say one thing. Bring it in when it gets worse.. Oh well I just want it to be reliable.. I am keeping this van. But i do plan on getting a new car here soon. But I want something for me. If I get what I want it will only hold me and a passenger so I need my van for my kids.. Plus the engine is solid.. I also take care of it.Inside and out still looks almost new.. I just hope i don't have issues with the reman unit..

[garync1]

Hey just wanted to know why I can't edit my post.. I was going to add I have 108,000 miles on my van now with original transmission..

[12Ounce]

That's roughly a $100 per month for secure transportation. Not bad, I'd say.

My Ford reman has approx 40k miles on it now. No complaints ... except that it was a dog of a job to do by myself.

[Andrew1941]

This may not be related at all, but you mentioned having the ocassional bump when on a slight incline. You say it is related to overdrive on or off, but it is possible it is nothing to do with that. The reason I say is because I had what you are describing and it took me a while to figure the bump out. In my case, it was a weak spark plug or wires. I had used Bosch platinum plugs and the tip had been eaten up inside the ceramic tip. When I replaced the plugs & wires with Motorcraft platinum, my problems went away. No more occasional bumps on the incline!

Like I said, it may have nothing to do with it, but if you continue to have issues after the tranny job, keep this in mind because it maybe as simpe as changing the plugs and/or wires.

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by garync1

Hey just wanted to know why I can't edit my post.. I was going to add I have 108,000 miles on my van now with original transmission..

Gary

Are you using FireFox browser? I can't edit or post a quick reply using FF. However, FF is faster than IE.

Dan

[wiswind]

I have over 100K miles on my FORD remanufactured transmission....installed around 2001.

[garync1]

Originally Posted by LeSabre97mint

Gary

Are you using FireFox browser? I can't edit or post a quick reply using FF. However, FF is faster than IE.

Dan

Yes I am using fire fox. Was able to edit up to a little while back. Come to think about it is was one update a while back on the fire fox.. May have had something to do with it..

[garync1]

Originally Posted by Andrew1941

This may not be related at all, but you mentioned having the ocassional bump when on a slight incline. You say it is related to overdrive on or off, but it is possible it is nothing to do with that. The reason I say is because I had what you are describing and it took me a while to figure the bump out. In my case, it was a weak spark plug or wires. I had used Bosch platinum plugs and the tip had been eaten up inside the ceramic tip. When I replaced the plugs & wires with Motorcraft platinum, my problems went away. No more occasional bumps on the incline!

Like I said, it may have nothing to do with it, but if you continue to have issues after the tranny job, keep this in mind because it maybe as simpe as changing the plugs and/or wires.

Thanks for your reply.. I have changed the spark plugs with auto light dp spark plugs also my wires and coil pack. Have done the TSB update on the intake..Plus a new upper intake plenum.. The Auto lights are just like the motorcraft Dp spark plugs and run well. I really did not get the bump until I did my pan drop and cleaned about 2 inches of crud out of the pan and then took to the dealer and had them to replace all the fluid again. So the fluid was the cleanest I ever saw it... I think that may have had a little to do with it.. But everything that is going on with the trans as far as leaks every time I go more than 60miles on hwy and the trailer towing that almost made me go into full rage.. The funny thing is I thought the trans was dead that day but when I unhooked the trailer and let it cool down it never leaked again. After I put the cooler on it also never leaked again.. I did refill a little that was out of the trans and also used I forgot now but was a trans additive called shudder eliminator,forgot the brand name.. It may have helped the fluid running cooler but did not get rid of the bump.. SO I will post back if my bump is not gone.. But I will say I wont worry about the trans anymore and I will feel free to roam again..Tired of being stuck around my state and area because of not feeling my van is reliable..

[garync1]

Got my Transmission replaced. $3,259.29 There is a big difference in the way it runs.. Shifts are perfect through the 3,000 rpm range OD kicks in at about 2,500 rpm at about 50 mph.. That was on a hwy.. But I do still have the bump. The shudder shake is gone so that was the trans. Also drove it today for about 71 miles and parked in the drive way an not one drip at all.. Even though I did have the cooler on it before and it stop dripping.It still on also. So maybe that one does not count.. But I was hearing a ring-ping sound almost like spark knock before and now that is gone. So I guess that was the trans.. Was starting to worry my van was getting a spark knock.. Any way.. I feel my vans reliable now.. So my next step is to figure out the bump.. I guess that is a misfire now.. Thanks Andrew1941 for turning me to a new direction.. What I have now on my van is a GPsoranson coil pack from advanced auto.. auto light dp spark plugs and auto light premium spark plug wires.. I think others on here use those as well with no problems.. Going to start a new post to get this one solved.. Thanks,Gary

[Andrew1941]

garync1

No problem, it is nice to be able to help someone instead of always needing help.

By the way, Autolite is perfectly fine for Fords. I was told that a while back Ford had to diversify for Government monopoly reasons and so they sold the Motorcraft brand to Autolite (or vice versa??) and in the end it was best for them to keep the name everyone was used to and then add the same plugs under their own brand name so it would appear as through there was more competition, but really they are both made the same by the same manufacturer. May not be true, but that is what the Ford parts guy told me.

Any engine lights up yet? How long ago did you do the Maniifold isolator bolt grommet repair? Did you clean the EGR ports when doing that? Have you had any engine codes since the repair to the isolator bolt grommets? If you had or have a P0401, which tends to give a bump like you describe when under light uphill acceleration, this is caused by the DPFE sensor failing. Seems it is common failure after repairing the vacuum leak problems and cleaning the EGR ports. It happened to me a month or two after the repair. The bump started happening more and more frequently over time (started late July and I finally figured it out around September or October?). The DPFE sensor gets crudded up inside or fails for other reasons. It stops sensing the air flow correctly through the EGR valve and so you end up with out enough exhaust or too much eexhaust mixed in with the air entering the engine. The end result is misfire. In my case, the sensor was stuck part way through the range, so it still sent a signal back to the PCM, but it would not change the amount a the engine revved up or down. I have seen more drastic ones where the sensor failed and stopped sending a signal, but it sounds like you might have a stuck DPFE.

If you want to investigate this more and see if makes sense or you just want to test it out, do a search on here. I have posted the explanation for testing a few times. There is also some links I posted that lead to Wikipedia and they give a great description of what the purpose of the EGR system is and how it works, which is how I figured out how to test and what the bump was. Good luck. If you figure it out, post what you find.