Friend's L is down. Tranny probs. ???

[junioRace]

Got this from another forum that she is on. I am gonna do a search here to see what I can come up with, but wondered what it sounds like it could be to you guys. Here's the text of her problem:

After turning into my friend's neighborhood my truck bucked. I thought I'd run over someone's cat or some other small obstacle in the road. Then the truck did it again, it surged and bucked. I had a half tank of gas and no dummy lights were on. Oil pressure was fine. I coast into my friend's driveway.

A few minutes later we're outside testing it. The transmission won't shift out of first even though it tries to. There are also now grinding/knocking/clunking noises coming from what seems like the back part of the engine bay. When the truck is in park or neutral there are no odd sounds, rev the motor and it sounds fine. No detonation, no rod knock etc.

The truck is a 2001, it has approximately 66,500 miles on it. No leaks. The transmission fluid was changed less than a year ago. I haven't done any towing with my truck (not sure what the previous owner did with it).

 

[chrisheltra]

Drop the tranny pan and see if theres any chunks of metal in there.

 

[junioRace]

She's already had it towed to a Ford dealership. She is stuck away from home with a broke truck............bummer.

 

[LightningEd]

Were in Illinois are you or the truck? If your near St. Louis I hope you didnt go to the Belleville Ford Place. I have not had any luck with those guys. Of course if she has an extended maintenance plan, they hopefully will just swap out the tranny.

Like was posted, pull the tranny pan down and see what is inside. That normally will tell the tale.

Drop me a PM if you want a second opinion, I am just full of them. LOL

 

[Silver '01 L]

It's a common problem for a 2001.
Per BlueOvalNews ((BlueOvalNews) Ford News,

"Ford's latest quality sting couldn't have come at a more inopportune time. A flaw in the newly designed 4R100's truck transmission has forced the temporary closure of Ford's highly profitable Michigan truck plant and the decreased production of certain other Ford truck models at other assembly plants. It was earlier reported that a lack of 5.4L V8 engines was the cause of the Michigan plants closure; however, those reports were not correct.

Ford upgraded the 4R100 for 2001 by using a new mechanical diode in the forward clutch area. The new diode was expected to save Ford $4.00 from the cost of each transmission but now the diode is the cause of the transmission's failure. If a diode fails it could damage the transmission and or disable second gear.

The 2001 4R100 transmissions that are being recalled are used in the highly profitable 5.4L V8 powered Expedition,Navigator, Excursion, Econoline van and F-Series truck. They are also used in certain 4.6L powered trucks that are equipped with the California emissions package, and all F150 Lighting models. There are 30 different 4R100 transmission models - none of which are interchangeable. Close to a thousand vehicles with the faulty transmissions have already been sold to the public.

An earlier report by BlueOvalNews.com INCORRECTLY reported that 4R100 transmissions were being diverted from Michigan Truck and Lorain to Kansas City. All production at Kansas City uses the 4R70W transmission which is NOT affected.

The problem was first noticed when some of the Kentucky truck plant's assembled vehicles started experiencing transmission failures before they left the assembly plant. This prompted Ford to issue a stop build and stop ship order at the Sharonville, Ohio plant until the cause of the transmission's failure could be determined. Ford's transmission engineers concluded that the failure was due to an error in the testing procedure and the transmissions would not fail outside of the testing procedure. The testing procedure was modified and Sharonville was asked to continue production and shipment of the transmissions.

Last Thursday Ford's Livonia, Michigan PTOATC discovered that if the engine's RPM went up to 4,600 and then the throttle was released and then applied again under wide open throttle the mechanical diode would fail. Later that night the theory was tested at the Michigan truck plant on seven different Expedition and Navigator models - all experienced transmission failure. On Friday, a second stop build and stop shipment was issued to the Sharonville plant where upon all 4R100 transmissions intended for non-diesel engines was issued. On Saturday, 20 experimental 4R100's were built using an a new mechanical diode design and there have been NO REPORTED FAILURES.

Sharonville is now building the upgraded transmissions which have an orange paint splash on the top of the case (bellhousing) and on the side cover where the Ford script is located.

An estimated 50,000 transmissions were built with the bad diodes. Ford is making every effort to recall each transmission back to Sharonville where upon they will be rebuilt. Reverting back to the 2000 design could force Ford to idle production at several plants for weeks. Sharonville is currently building the 2001 design.

Since the problem only occurs when the engine's RPM range is above 4,600 rpms, transmissions used with diesel engines are not going to be recalled since this is above their operating range.

BlueOvalNews has reported several problems with Ford's ability to design and engineer a durable transmission - but there have been NO instances where the quality of a transmission's assembly have been a major issue."

 

[junioRace]

She's stuck in Charlotte, NC. She lives in SC.

She had just finished up a 200 mile trip and was within a few hundred feet of her friend's house when the truck acted up. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I would expect the worst. Feel bad because she struggles enough as it is..

I was aware of the 2001 tranny problem, but it doesn't quite match the occurrence of the problem. (Although I guess it could have reared its ugly head at any time.)

 

[Bootie]

Let me guess....from the gixxer board? She's had a string of bad luck. Does she have any aftermarket vb?

 

[junioRace]

Let me guess....from the gixxer board? She's had a string of bad luck. Does she have any aftermarket vb?

Yep, Snipe....it's Mel. She's not the original owner of the truck, so I doubt if she knows whether or not it's got a different valve body. It's definitely TOAST. She's trying to figure out where to find the $3g to get it fixed. Here's a pic of some stuff in the pan: