Hi all, I am sure that if I take the time to search all the past threads, I would find the answer to my issue. I have a 2005 Ranger XLT 4x2 with 3.0L engine. I got this truck second hand from my father who bought it new. He never had any issues with it, other than taking it for scheduled maintenance. Ever since I have had the truck, it has been a demon vehicle! I have done some major repairs to the vehicle in the past couple of years. First issue was the transmission slipping while driving several years ago, carried it to a (what I now know as a shady) transmission place and had them tell me that it was either a minor or major repair. They came back and said that it was a major repair and needed to be a rebuilt. Carried it back to them twice for the same issue and the last visit, they told me to stop slamming the transmission from reverse to drive (never having done such). I drove it several months with it still acting up, then had a major engine problem. Found a reputable mechanic that would replace the engine, and then him telling me that the transmission was missing parts and not hooked up correctly. He replaced both engine and transmission with remanufactured engine and transmission. Total mileage of vehicle is 178,000, first issue was about 130,000, and its been about 30,000 since the complete replacement. Also, just found out the last mechanic I used has closed his doors and sold off most of his tools.

All was fine with the truck until this morning when I went to go to work. Seemed that reverse was very sluggish when I backed out to the driveway, and then drive wouldn't engage, with only 2nd gear allowing me to drive forward. I have done a little research this time to see if it is something that I may be able to repair, as I am fairly mechanical, just not having the time or tools to do the big jobs. I have determined that it may be a solenoid issue, but looking at the schematic for that transmission, there are 6 total solenoids within that transmission. 1-7G383 EPC solenoid, 1-7G136 TCC solenoid and 4-7G484 solenoids. Question is, which solenoid is the fix, as it would be a repair that I can perform instead of paying out for a transmission place to do the repair. Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum

No, not a solenoid issue, the one-way clutch(sprag) has failed
It engages transmission when you put it in Drive, mechanical, if its bad then no Drive, if you shift manually to 1 or 2 the coast clutch will engage and start you moving forward, and often it will keep moving if you shift to Drive at that time, but not always

So its a full rebuild to get at the sprag, its often not replaced when a shop does a full rebuild, which is why they only warranty their work for 12-18months, because old sprag will fail, just a matter of time and miles
Most shops just do a soft parts rebuild and call it "done", i.e. bands and clutches
Things that should always be replaced, sprags, pump, and OD drum
Then you are good for 250-300k miles

Bummer that you have found some bad shops, they are a small percentage of the shops but are always with us

You might be better off for now with a factory trans, a used one
2005 Ranger 3.0l 2wd can use a 2001-2008 5R44E from a 3.0l 2wd Ranger or Mazda B3000

car-part.com is a good place to look

Then if you want you can rebuild yours at your leisure to learn how they work, and use Ford Parts, like a factory trans has


Engaging Reverse Or Drive on an automatic is a mechanical process, no solenoids involved, the shift arm is moved into R or D position to engage the gears
The solenoids were added to make shifting smoother and to increase MPG by selecting the correct gear for the speed and load on the engine, computer controlled which was much better than the old ball and spring shifting, lol
If a solenoid fails you WILL get a flashing OD light and transmission codes telling you which solenoids have failed
Every key on each solenoid is tested, also all the sensors

You can get a Bluetooth OBD2 reader like BlueDriver, it cost a bit more than regular reader BUT, it can read transmission codes, which cheaper ones can't do

These work on any 1996 and up vehicle, not a Ranger or even Ford thing, if it was sold in the US or Canada from 1996 and up, it must, by law, have OBD2 protocol

 

Thanks Ron,
My first website that I looked at gave me some bad information, as what I was reading, it was saying that it was more than likely a solenoid that was bad. Glad that I found this site and posed my question. With your advice, I do believe that it is time to look for another vehicle, and just sell this one for parts, taking the $$ I would put forth to repair this and put down on another vehicle, that hopefully will not give me any headaches for several years.

 

If and when you decide to sell and replace, please report on the availability and PRICE of vehicles in your neck of the woods.