Hi all, I took the plunge and installed a Transgo shift kit on my 5R44E transmission on my 2002 Ranger. After the shift kit was installed, I tried putting the truck in reverse and backing out of the garage. To my surprise, the truck started rolling forward. I tried Neutral, Drive, 2nd, and 1st as well and the truck moves forward in all of them. Very odd. I believe I followed the install instructions pretty carefully, but they were pretty odd. One of the instructions involved drilling a hole through a valve body passage "wall". While I was in there, I also replaced the EPC solenoid and put a new filter in it.

Any ideas on where I went wrong with my shift kit install? This was my first shift kit install, so it's definitely possible I messed up on something. I guess I'll drop the pan again, pull the valve body out, and take a look.

 

All automatics run on ATF fluid pressure, this holds the bands(brakes) and engages and disengages the clutch packs

Main pump(front pump) generates this pressure, its connected directly to the engine via torque converters outside case
This pressure is routed thru the Valve Body which sends it to the correct bands and clutches for the selected "gears"

125psi is needed for Forward gears
175psi for Reverse, which is why automatics often lose Reverse first when there is a pressure problem

You have a pressure problem most likely, a lack of pressure
New EPC(electronic pressure control) solenoid may not be working or you have leaks in Valve body, lowering the pressure

 

I can see the new EPC solenoid potentially not working, but does it explain the truck rolling forward in reverse and neutral?

 

Low pressure explains the truck rolling forward in any "gear", pressure is the issue, lack of it

 

A little embarrassing to admit, but the problem turned out to be the manual valve not being properly positioned within shift linkage, so I had no shifting whatsoever. I just loosened up the valve body a little bit and indexed the shift linkage to the manual valve properly. Problem solved. I now have all gears and shifting is much improved.

However, when shifted from park into reverse or drive, there is still about a 2 second delay before it engages and when it does engage it is very harsh. My gut feel is that it is harsh enough to destroy the transmission over enough cycles. Any idea what is causing the harsh engagement? Possibly a sticky valve that the EPS continues to boost pressure for and then when the valve finally moves, it shifts into gear very hard? Any other potential ideas on what to go after in terms of repairs or troubleshooting? Thanks!

 

Good working finding the problem

Yes, EPC(electronic pressure control) solenoid would be first choice

Transmission needs about 125psi to engage forward and 175psi to engage reverse, which is why automatics often lose reverse first when there is a pressure problem

So pressure is taking longer to ramp up

 

I replaced the EPC solenoid as part of my shift kit installation. Also changed fluid and filter. Prior to the shift kit install and EPC solenoid replacement, the truck still had harsh and delayed engagement into drive and reverse. The delay used to be 4-5 seconds, so there's been some improvement there. Anyway, since the EPC solenoid was replaced with a brand new OEM part and the same symptoms were there prior to replacing the EPC solenoid, it's logically very unlikely that the EPC solenoid is the cause of the harsh & delayed engagement. Sure it's possible, but it's unlikely.

My wild guess is that it's a sticky valve in the valve body. To troubleshoot further, I may have to invest in a 400 psig pressure gauge and watch the gauge as the truck is shifted into various gears. Any other practical ideas? I guess one legitimate option is to just ignore the issue and drive the **** out of it. If it's a big issue, eventually the transmission will fail and I can do a full rebuild on it. If it's not, it will drive for a long time this way.

 

Posted in wrong thread

 

Anybody have any coherent thoughts or recommendations at all? Bueller?