Well today.....
driving home. About to turn into neighborhood, loose all forward drive. The motor just revs up. Turn into neighborhood and coast almost home. Push rest of way to driveway. Halfway down driveway transmission locks up. Put into park and hear a little grind. Like trying to put a straight drive into gear without mashing the clutch. Turn off truck put in park. Crank up truck no problem but won’t go into gear. Stuck in park. Now have a CEL but no way to read. New transmission or rebuild or could still be the solenoids? Educated guess I need. May strike a match to it. Haven’t ruled that out yet.
Remember I’ve had a p0760 code twice in last month but went away.

 

The "For Sale" sign is a nice touch! I'm not good with autos and actually have my own 98 auto but it sounds like something let go in yours. How does the fluid look and smell?

 

No, won't "just be" a solenoid or Valve Body
One-way clutch most likely, you will need to drop the pan and have a look for metal pieces
If it won't shift then something may be blocking the internal linkage?? wild guess

But from description I am leaning towards rotating part issues, not a pressure issue(valve body/solenoids)

 

Fluid is pretty red/burgundy color. Smells like transmission fluid. No burnt smell.
guess what I really need to know is should I replace all solenoids in valve body and see it that fixes or get rebuild/buy rebuilt and go that way.

 

I just went out to crank up and see what will happen. Goes into gear perfect. Drive around yard no problems. Park in normal spot. So I’m guessing valve body or pump. God I love mechanical equipment.

Ron, I didn’t see your until I posted this. To clarify won’t go into gear, I could move gearshift fine. But nothing would engage in transmission.

 

I don't see rotating parts "coming back" from a failure, so maybe valve body issue but not sure

All automatics run on fluid pressure, provided by the front pump and then routed thru the valve body to the clutches and bands(brakes)
You need 125psi to engage forward gears, but they will stay engaged down to about 75psi I think, although "slipping", 175psi to engage Reverse, which is why Reverse usually fails first when there is a pressure issue
REVing the engine increases Front pump speed/pressure, which is why a transmission may not engage right away when put into gear but will engage if you rev up a bit

The 4R and 5R transmissions(1995-2011 Rangers) do have an EPC(electronic pressure control) solenoid which is not an uncommon issue

Either way, dropping the pan and examining the fluid and any debris would tell you more

 

Last week when got p0760 code I went to the green parts store and ordered that one solenoid. CEL goes off again so I don’t go pick up. This afternoon with all my new problems I go get it, filter, and fluid. Drop the pan, change solenoid, replace filter, and put back together. 18 bolts with a ratchet on my back with no lift was a true test of my patience. Thank goodness for the 31” tires. After adding 3 and half quarts fluid I test drive on my street. Not a long street so went up down few times to get some heat into transmission to check fluid level. Gears changed smooth. Not sure I enough speed to get to overdrive but got to 3rd. Fluid level normal. CEL still on. Could take some time for it reset. I will venture out tomorrow afternoon and do a normal drive. Possibly go to store and let them check codes.
no shavings in pan or on magnet. Was black on very bottom of pan. Like where something would settle. But not grainy. Just different color than red fluid.

didn’t make too big of a mess draining fluid on to the concrete. Think I can still sleep in the house.

 

Now I need advice to get ATF out of my hair....

 

I would definitely take it to get the codes read. Just to be sure nothing new showed up. Hopefully you fixed it with the solenoid.
As for the fluid in hair.... I have actually used the Orange Handcleaner stuff! Then normal shampoo.

 

Road tested today. All seems normal. Drove all gambit of conditions, 55,45,35,20 mph, stop and go, open road. Didn’t get get on interstate. Stopped and got code read. Was the p0760. Had them to reset it. Didn’t come back on. Fingers crossed. Have a good read on fluid also. Had put 3 and half quarts. Will add the last half. Wasn’t quite up to the normal area. Should get there with last half. Will chexk again next drive.

 

Another test drive today. Did some quick starts, mashing gas while doing fifty five like passing a car, couple long hills at slow speed at bottom and accelerating up the hill. No problems. Seems to shift smooth, down shift when supposed to, and levels out with normal driving. Still hoping. But looks good so far.

 

Yes, reads like its working

But can't for the life of me figure out any reason for it NOT to engage like it did, with just a bad solenoid

 

I strongly feel I will revisit this problem again. The true culprit may show up next time.

 

I like to over analyze things and worry too much. Going over things in head I have a question about the fluid. I have read not to overfill trans fluid. Read it will get air mixed in and not work properly. Read can see bubbles on dip stick and that is one clue of overfill. I always check fluids few times a month. Never saw bubbles or anything. But the fluid was always at the top of the crosshatch marking of normal range. Dipsticks aren’t exact I know but can give good indication. Is it possible fluid was slightly over filled and maybe causing a pressure problem? I’m no where close to having a true understanding of the trans. Probably just enough to get me in trouble. After I changed fluid I put in four quarts and lever is just barely onto the crosshatch of normal range. Which I feel is proper. Any opinions

 

How about this. Same thing happened again today. Almost exact same spot. What are symptoms of bad transfer case?

 

And again, after sitting for an hour, it drives perfect. So something with heat I’d say cause of problem. Drove around town a good bit today before problem. Cools down and now all works

 

And problem is no forward or reverse gears?

Transfer case does have a Neutral but its between 4H and 4L so it would be very hard for this to change and come back

4th picture down: https://www.explorerforum.com/forums...-motor.123542/

Neutral is across from 2H(2wd) its not marked but is there none the less

You could try shifting to 4h and then back to 2h when trans isn't working, just to take that off the table

Good read here on the Valve body and solenoids: https://www.sonnax.com/tech_resource...-transmissions

 

Ron,
Is this plausible? Googled my symptoms and found this reply on a different forum.

heres the question;While driving down the highway with cruise on i lost all gears. No noise or warning of any

kind. Won't even engage park. What am I looking at. 2000 ford explorer v6 4x4

when i put shifter into park it grinds and doesnt engage.. vehicle is like in nuetral I ve never been on this site b4 so pardon me for not knowing how well to communicate


Here’s the answer;


The answer is the transfer case. Took it apart and what do you know? Broken tabs on the reduction gear shift fork, broken hub and coil assembly, and broken/seized oil pump. Which came first I do not know, but the reduction gear showed severe overheating and may have seized on to the input shaft when it was hot causing the shift fork to break. It moved freely when cold which might explain why the truck would move for a short while.


link to thread;

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-c128_ds593463

 

That's an odd failure mode, I guess you could drain some fluid out of transfer case and look at it and smell it
But it does fit your symptom

BUT.............it should also roll in Park if its the transfer case slipping, does it?

 

When I would almost roll to a stop, it would stop rolling, like was in gear. Couldn’t rock it back and forth.
I didn’t make it home today. Actually stopped half in road half off. In fromt of friends house. Got a tow strap to pull *** end out of road, busy two lane highway after church.....
while he’s pulling truck in a sideways way, it starts rolling free while in park. Put on a rollback while shifter is in neutral. Rolls up easy. While unloading truck driver says it shouldn’t be rolling backwards cause he had it in park. But when I try to rock back and forth, it won’t roll. Like it needs a certain amount of pressure to roll freely. But under a certain amount of pressure will lock up.
and after sitting for an hour, drives perfect.

 

It it rolls after putting it in Park then yes I would go for transfer case, check fluid for overheating

Also most acting like an AWD transfer case without front axle connected, it would hold in Park unless it was on a hill, then it would roll down the hill while still in Park

 

Will change transfer case oil today. Want to be doubly sure, I will use. DEX/MERC LV.
is that correct? Is a synthetic acceptable?

 

Yes, that fine, but I would check old fluid first, you may want to drop the transfer case if old fluid is burned

 

Changed the fluid in transfer case tonight. There was no smell to old fluid. New has stronger smell than what came out. When took top plug out to check level, it was low. Had stick pinky in pretty to touch fluid. And not real sure I got it in far enough. When I changed the case motor back several months, I did check it and was full to plug. Never see drips on ground or concrete. Maybe low on fluid is culprit? Probably not. But will drive more later in the week.

Do I need to check fluid after a long drive or will full now be full after driving? Took a quart and not quite a half.

 

I forgot to look at the tag, but shouldn’t I have a 1354 transfer case?