What is wrong with ford transmissions

[imorb1994]

Went on a road trip in the wonderful(cough cough) colorado mountains. Left one exit ramp fine and about 15-20 mile later 3rd gear started slipping, slowed down tried 2nd slipping also, after a while of babing the throttle in OD was able to achieve highway speeds drove about 30 mile like this, pulled of to make sure that everything appeared ok fluid, leaks, electrical connections all ok went to leave gas station and no drive at all. Pushed into a parking spot and sat and called around for tow trucks. While waiting was messing around with the car and reverse works fine, doesn't even hesitate. I have 3 ford vehicles all having similar 4r70w/4r75w transmissions and have had problems with all three now. After recieving the $600 tow bill i am left wondering. Is ford worth it still

[Zack]

There were some valve body gasket issues on some transmissions from the factory.

How many miles on the car? Fluid ever been changed?

Wanna sell it cheap? :D

[Aren Jay]

When it works it is great, that is why FORD is First on Race Day.

When it doesn't work, that is why FORD is Found on road dead.


Not sure what is wrong with it, ask the garage forum.

You might want to join an automobile club. Free towing for up to 100 Miles, Mine has this, plus no need to wait for a tow truck very long.

Oh the vulture beat me to it.

[imorb1994]

67k and some change. had the car about a month, not to sure of its past it was a repo from a dealer in houston. And not likely on the sale fell in love with these cars in 02 when the first comercial was on tv.

[imorb1994]

When it works it is great, that is why FORD is First on Race Day.

When it doesn't work, that is why FORD is Found on road dead.


Not sure what is wrong with it, ask the garage forum.

You might want to join an automobile club. Free towing for up to 100 Miles, Mine has this, plus no need to wait for a tow truck very long.

Oh the vulture beat me to it.
would have had to wait another 18 hours to have my AARP motoring club pay for it

[Zack]

If you were close i could have the trans done with labor for $750

[sailsmen]

My wifes E150 had 2 go bad in 50K miles. The original and the rebuild.

No towing and maintained by the book.

I had Dennis Reinhart bullet proof mine and opened it up after 70K and 150 runs and it looked great. Just changed out the clutches.

[DOOM]

01 crown vic interceptor 200,000 miles ORIGINAL trans. :bows:

[jonroe]

I'm confused at the moment on mine.

Last Thursday, with no warning, my trans started acting up on the way home from work. It was fully warmed up at about 175*F. As I drove on the city streets near home (after a good freeway drive with no issues), it slipped between each gear. I put it in 2 and it slipped before grabbing gear 2. I let it sit Friday and checked yesterday morning for the usual things, leaks, connections, fluid look and smell, and fluid level. No issues other than fluid was about 1/4 qt low so I topped it off when it was fully warmed up. Then I drove ALL around on my errands yesterday (30 - 40) miles with NO PROBLEMS. What is going on? Do I sit on pins and needles and wait for the next unannounced failure?

It has been well maintained. I put on the deep pan and a new filter and 6 qts new oil at 25K, changed the 6 qts again at 35K and again at 45K. I have no confidence now.

I know why I hate automatics. I had not had an automatic since 1991 when I bought the MM. The fact that it was an automatic was the biggest negative I had with the car and almost made my bypass it. Now, I may have made a bad decision in going with automatics - NEVER again.

Oh, just for the he11 of it, my left doors got creased in a parking lot on one of those errands yesterday by some SOB. So now I'm dealing with that.

Jon

[MACFORD88]

Expedition 179k Original Transmission.mm 34k Original Transmission:banana2:

[CKMustangCobra]

All the automatics I have owned, needed some work and upgrades...

All the Manuals I have owned, needed synchros and clutches all the time...

I drive my cars and I'm prepared to fix them when needed.

Every car I have ever owned was a Ford Product and all needed trans work, there are also tons of GM and import cars out there that have trans issues on top of other issues that would drive people crazy.

Vehicles require maintnance and some are just plagued.

[RF Overlord]

imorb, you say the car was a repo and you don't have a maintenance history...isn't it possible that the previous owner(s) abused it and that it's not Ford's fault?

The 4R70W in my '94 Thunderbird SuperCoupe (which now belongs to my B-I-L) has 153,000 miles on it. I didn't know as much back then as I do now, and IIRC the fluid was only changed 3 times. I just did a fluid and filter change for him last week and there was NO clutch material in the pan and only minimal metallic sludge on the magnet. The transmission shifts perfectly.

Phoebe now has just under 100,000 miles. I did a fluid and filter change when we brought her home at 87,500 and there was minimal stuff in the pan. She still shifts perfectly.

I don't think there's anything wrong with Ford transmissions.

[jonroe]

The last solid autos I owned (years ago) were the C-6 Ford and the A727 Dodge. The previous auto I owned (in an 82 Olds) was one of the infamous 200 models that was trashed and replaced at 28000 miles. Autos have not been good to me. Whereas, I have owned many manuals and have had little to no trouble. My 90 Ford Probe manual had about 150000 miles without any work done on it.

[RF Overlord]

I don't think there's anything wrong with Ford transmissions.Please allow me to restate that...

I don't think there's anything wrong with the 4R70W transmission.

[imorb1994]

Vehicles require maintnance and some are just plagued.
i must pick the ones that are plagued with a lot of repair/maintenence required

[Shora]

Please allow me to restate that...

I don't think there's anything wrong with the 4R70W transmission.

Good fix.

What transmission was in the 1993 Ford Explorer V6 2X4?

Worse transmission of all time.

[Joe Walsh]

Good fix.

What transmission was in the 1993 Ford Explorer V6 2X4?

Worse transmission of all time.


Probably the same P.O.S. transmission that was in my 1988 Ford Taurus...

I went through four of those.......in 240,000 miles.

That Taurus was bullet proof EXCEPT for that *****ty transmission.

[TheDealer]

Do you really think a guy that let his car get repo'd, took care of it???

[imorb1994]

Do you really think a guy that let his car get repo'd, took care of it???
No i Don't but i didn't realize that the car was a repo until after i recieved it. Wonders of buying a car over the internet i guess.

[ledzilla]

If you like transmission stories, you should see the trans on our '92 Dodge Grand Caravan ES (AWD). It has had a trans replaced TWICE in far less than 100K miles. I think it now has over 100K miles, but it sat doing mostly nothing for quite a while because everyone was afraid it would break down again. And let's not get into the time the engine caught fire at a gas station.

[imorb1994]

had transmission problems in 97 explorer had a new engine installed and the installer damaged the front pump seal and toasted transmission. Had repaired and 11,500 miles later went out again under warranty this time.
trans went out in 95 cvpi at around 145k and was replaced with a reman after the shop rebuilt the orginal 4 times by 160k. this is why i just love these transmissions, i even have a spare just laying under a bench just in case.

[imorb1994]

There were some valve body gasket issues on some transmissions from the factory.
If this happens is there any long term affects?
wonderful dealer is already planing on having to replace the trans.

[imorb1994]

Wonderful Is all i have to say. Less than a thousand miles ago installed a ford reman trans, went for a short drive today to try and impress a friend, nothing drastic. Pull into a parking spot to drop somebody off. And the good part the new transmission wouldn't engage drive. just like last time but this time no reverse also. when ever in drive or reverse there is a ticking noise coming from the bellhousing So i wonder does the valvebody problem still exsist in the reman transsmissions too?

[larryo340]

I had a AOD in my '92 GM sold car to a buddy with 180K original trans, now it has something like 230K still going strong. I did service it including draining the converter every 30,000 miles with Mercon V

I had a 4R70W with 155,000 miles also serviced every 30,000 with draining the converter also.

Both cars not babied, and driven hard.

I think it comes down to maintenance and driving style, you can drive it hard without beating on it.

[Dr Caleb]

Wonderful Is all i have to say. Less than a thousand miles ago installed a ford reman trans, went for a short drive today to try and impress a friend, nothing drastic. Pull into a parking spot to drop somebody off. And the good part the new transmission wouldn't engage drive. just like last time but this time no reverse also. when ever in drive or reverse there is a ticking noise coming from the bellhousing So i wonder does the valvebody problem still exsist in the reman transsmissions too?

There is a TSB for a trans shift linkage adjustment. It may not be the trans, just the shifter linkage.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23613

[imorb1994]

pulled the cooler lines of at front of engine and nothing comes out took lines off at trans and blew them out with very little pressure. Pretty sure i have a pump problem.

[GreekGod]

I had the C6 in my '66 Galaxie go out 5 times. The C6 in my '78 Bronco also died. I think almost all automatics are trouble prone-certainly some more than others.

Unless someone is intentionally abusing them (repeated power braking for long periods of time, towing in O.D., or burning them up stuck in snow or mud, etc.), there isn't really any such thing as driving them hard. Modern electronic controls should control proper shifting.

Hopefully, the 4R70/75W has benefited from modern design, but obviously it also has occasional problems.

[SpruceGreen'03]

My 1995 T-Bird with 4.6 engine went 250,000 miles on it's original - never rebuilt engine AND transmission.

I towed with the car regularly, and J-Modded the tranny at 110,000 miles, and switched over to MerconV at that time.

And to boot, never used an auxilliary cooler.

Hope my CV Sport was built just as well !

[whd507]

while it may not affect our marauders, the biggest problem I've seen with ford transmissions, is the GM fluid. ford caved and went dex/merc in 77 due to transmissions failing within minutes of adding ATF. it was cheaper to switch to the inferior fluid than continue to absorb warranty transmissions.

dodge transmissions as well, put dex/merc in them and it will ruin them as well.

in an electronic transmission that cannot use type F, then I think synthetic fluid is a must.

[Aren Jay]

would have had to wait another 18 hours to have my AARP motoring club pay for it

time to join a better motor club.

I have had transmisison problems, as have a large number of other makers.

My Ford Tranmission was always fixed by the local shop and never seemed too bad until they put summer weight grease on it and it froze in drive on a cold winter day.
(bad day that was)