I've not seen or heard that our 5 speed autos have a skip shift feature?
What years do they do this?

Anyway.. I local friend w/a 04 FX4 told me this. So yesterday I went and hooked up the autotap. Sure enough it goes from 1st to third at anything below 50%-ish throttle.

Also, you know how most fords have always had the feature of putting it in 2nd for snow / ice take offs. Well on my 06 you put it in 2nd and it's actually in 3rd the whole time. Driving 40ish.. pull it down into "2nd" and it's in third and will stay there no matter what.

Just found this interesting and wanted to post.

Rich

 

Correct, Ranger 5-speeds can skip second on light throttle and manual "2" commands 3rd gear. As far as I know, it's been that way since the 5R55E and 5R44E were introduced.

 

Whats the reason for that? Does it use the actual 2nd gear when under a load/towing or something?

 

The current 5RxxE 5-speed auto is just a newer version of the earlier 4RxxE 4-speed using relatively minor mechanical upgrades and more sophisticated software controls. 2nd gear in the new trans is a combination of 1st and overdrive which notches it in between the old first and second (now first and third).

At larger Throttle Position, like heavy acceleration or towing, the transmission uses the close ratio 2nd gear for improved performance. At lighter throttle it is unnecessary and it is skipped.

Why not just let it shift through all the gears, even at low TP? I don't have any definite info on that but I do know that the 1-2 and 2-3 gear shifts in the 5-speed are much more difficult to calibrate. Those gear changes require the coordinated shifting of both the 3-speed Simpson gearset and the overdrive gearset. So, shift harshness could be one reason to avoid those and use the smoother 1-3 shift for casual acceleration. A reduction in shift busyness could be another reason to skip it under light throttle..


Comparison of 4RxxE 4-speed and 5RxxE 5-speed (current Ranger):

4RxxE

1st 2.47
2nd 1.47
3rd 1.00
4th 0.75 (1.00 x 0.75)
5th ---


5RxxE

1st 2.47
2nd 1.85 (2.47 x 0.75)
3rd 1.47
4th 1.00
5th 0.75 (1.00 x 0.75)

1st = Simpson 1st
2nd = Simpson 1st w/OD
3rd = Simpson 2nd
4th = Simpson 3rd
5th = Simpson 3rd w/OD

 

Thanks rwenzing, I missed that reply in the other post.

Rich