Hello all,
A few weeks ago I replaced my thermostat housing and that was rough, this week my transmission went out. I drove out of my work's entrance onto the road, sped up quickly to match traffic, felt a clunk, and then accelerating didn't move me along. I turned on my hazards, and when I turned them off they stayed on and my "O/D OFF" light was blinking, and the button wouldn't turn it off. D and R don't work, my engine revs but I don't go anywhere, but if I start in 2 or 1 I can get going, but only up to those gears. From some research, I've figured the issue to be the overdrive sprag, which according to a local tranny shop, destroys the rest of the transmission when it fails, can anyone attest to this?
I called around, and a junkyard has the same tranny from a truck with 126k miles(mine has ~200k) for $300, which isn't a bad price at all. I figured it would be easier and cheaper to find a used transmission and replace the whole thing. Does anyone have any advice on my plan, or any tips to what I should do next, any and all help is appreciated.
I have a 2003 Ranger Edge, 4.0L v6 4WD with a 5r55e 5spd auto transmission.
I will plug it in on Monday to see if it throws any codes that could help me narrow down the problem.

 

Yes, if you heard a clunk then tranny needs to be pulled out and rebuilt or swapped out.

You should also put in a new torque converter, because old one will be full of metal filings from broken part.
Also clean out trans cooler lines and cooler.
If in doubt about problem drain tranny fluid and check it for debris, also color and smell

The 5R55E was only used on 4.0l engines, 5R44E was for 3.0l and 4cyl engines, different gear ratios

This line of transmissions started off in the early 1980's with the A4LD, in 1995 same transmission was renamed the 4R55E because it had more shift solenoids added, these were both 4 speeds, and in later 1990's Ford added new Shifting Software to computer that allowed OD to be turned on instead of shifting to 2nd gear, this made same 4 speed trans a 5 speed, so renamed 5R55E.
5R55E added a faux 2nd gear, which made for a smoother shift when starting off.

Contrary to popular belief, lol, these are good transmission as far as automatics go, for the number of them on the road there are very few design faults.
All automatics run on pressure so all are subject to failing internal seals and gaskets.
And thats the same as a clutch wearing out on a manual trans, just wear and tear.

Your issue is unusual, internal part breaking happens just not common.

Heat is what shortens an automatics life, 2nd trans cooler is not optional in my opinion, $60 cooler will add many many more miles to an automatics life span

 

Thank you for the info! Is the torque converter part of the transmission? Will I get one with the tranny I just bought? Should I still replace it?
The trans cooler is up by the radiator, correct? Is trans cooler and oil cooler the same thing?
There's no need to replace the u-joints, right?

 

Torque convert is "like" the clutch on a manual trans, and in the same place, it is between the engine and the transmission, so not part of either but connects the two together.
Torque converter allows you to stop while still "in gear" without engine stalling, and then go when you press down on the gas pedal.

ATF(automatic transmission fluid) circulates thru the transmission and torque converter and is then cooled by the trans cooler in the radiator.
So all 3 share/circulate this ATF, if a metal part inside the transmission failed and caused metal fillings to get into the ATF then all 3 would have these metal pieces inside.
If you just changed the transmission then the ATF with these metal pieces in it would go into the "new" transmission, causing damage.

Stock trans cooler is inside radiator, it is a separate tube inside the radiator with two external connectors that go to transmission.
usually located at the bottom or side of radiator.

Check u-joints for play, but no they should not be damaged by this type of transmission issue

 

In the event that the "new" transmission comes with the torque converter, is there a way to flush the atf line without replacing the cooler/line, or would it just be best to replace everything?

 

Yes, just get a longer rubber hose that slides over one end of the line that connects to transmission, put a clamp on it.
Raise the other end and pour(funnel) ATF into it, have a pan/bucket under the other hoses end to catch the old fluid

When you think enough has gone thru blow into the hose, rest will come out.

There is no IN or OUT on trans cooler, there are no valves or other restrictions, it is basically just a long hose


You want a new torque converter, not a used one

 

The cheapest torque converter I can find is $150 from Rockauto, I'll order one of those. I will flush the cooler like you described as well. This will be this weekend's project. Thank you for all of your help, I'll update this thread as I get through it.

 

If you have never changed an automatic before there is one thing that is very very IMPORTANT!!!!!

The torque converter MUST BE installed onto the transmission BEFORE transmission is mounted to the engine, BEFORE!

Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7klzEV0kng

The torque converter needs to be lined up with the pump inside the transmission and the output shaft inside the transmission.

Failure to do this will break the pump and trans will be useless, no gears at all

Torque converter should sit completely inside the bellhousing when seated all the way.
Just keep turning and pushing in on it to be sure.

Oil the seal surface, and pour some AFT into the torque converter as well it is shipped dry

 

Got everything out last weekend, only took so long because all of the bolts were rusted on. Some minor setbacks include a bracket falling apart on my exhaust, so I got some piping to repair that. I also accidentally ripped apart my front driveshaft. The end in the transfer case was rusted solid, so when I pulled the shaft out, the CV end came apart, exposing the bearings. My 4WD doesn't work as is(bearing in front diff) so this isn't a huge issue, I'll look at that after the tranny is back in. Tomorrow I am picking up the transmission jack again(rental), and if all goes well we'll get everything back in this weekend.

 

What a weekend. To make things short, here's what we did: put in the transmission, put everything back together, added 4 qts of fluid, went to start it, wouldn't start. We figured that after several tries of starting it, we had flooded the engine. We then tried starting it while pushing down on the gas. It sounded like an airplane but it started up. We need to hold the gas down otherwise it will idle too low and die. We figured this was because since the battery was unplugged for a week, the computer wasn't communicating with the truck properly. We can change gears(which all work) and drive it, but we cannot let off the gas, or else the rpms will fall to the pin and the truck will die. We think replacing the O2 sensors could help, we kind of banged them around when we took the exhaust apart. Does anyone have any advice for this?

 

Did you put the O2 sensors back in the correct connectors, there is a left and right so they can be reversed, happen to me after new clutch was installed, but only noticed it after warm up not on cold start.

O2 sensors are not used at all on cold start, takes about 4 minutes for them to start working, so computer ignores them until then.
So not O2s

Makes sure IAC Valve is connected, it sets idle RPMs
Yes test battery voltage engine off and engine on
12.3 to 12.8 engine off
Over 14volts engine on, under 15volts

Low volts engine on means alternator is not working and battery can't maintain voltage

Large vacuum leak, power brake hose or PCV hose

 

We never took the O2s out, just unplugged them and removed them still screwed into the exhaust pieces. I'm pretty sure they're back in the right connectors, there are two up front and then another near the cat(or is this not an O2 sensor?). We didn't touch the iac, I found after some research that cleaning it may help, but if it wasn't an issue before the tranny swap, how could it be now? We did remove the front intake hose to get access to the crank bolt. The battery died a few times, we used a charger to jump it. We'll check the leads and see what the voltage is at.

 

When we got the truck running by holding down the accelerator, we figured we may have damaged the O2s, so we replaced them anyway. Those, the pcv valve, the throttle position sensor, and I cleaned the idle air intake. We started it, it idled perfectly, problem solved.

 

Good work

Thanks for the update

 

Over 3000 miles on the transmission after putting it in, all is well.

 

Nice