Okay. Hello guys, I've been seeking this page out since I was 14 from having issues with my rangerS. Over the years I've had a 96 and now a 2001 3.0 automatic. Well I'm having some issues, shocker. My truck has been off the road for a little over a year because I was repainting her. Well I got the ranger all back together and on the road. Did the oil change, checked the trans fluids. All is well. It seems That my truck is leaking trans fluid as well. I see the puddles from time to time as well as a small oil leak from a broken bolt... now to get down to it. She's having some "shifting" issues. I noticed first in reverse. It takes It a Moment to actually engage reverse. When I put it in Reverse I hold it for About 10-15 seconds before I feel it knock Into it. Literally. Knocks into reverse. Does a little jump. Sometimes worst then other times. When I'm driving at about 60. It seems As if it loses power in 5th gear and goes to 4th just to swiftly end back up into 5th gear. I can feel it on The pedal pretty much the whole time I'm driving at that speed. Although I'm not speeding up or slowing down. I tested it using cruise control and it still does the same thing. That's one thing, the other. Is when I'm stopped at a light and when I get to moving again, having problems getting into second (but not all the time. Sometimes it's 3rd gear) so the engine just revs and doesn't go anywhere(fortunate for me. My rpm gauge isn't working..) so I let off the gas and let it shift to the next gear. It does, thankfully. But it seems To be getting worst. My initial thought would be to change the trans fluid. My mom told me " It did have that random leak where it would dump everything which is odd" from way back. I'm not really sure what she meant by dump everything..


my next thought is that it could Be losing pressure. Since reverse needs a higher psi then drive does. And that's what seems to be worst. So could it be the seals and gaskets in the valve body? Could it be Something else. Thank you for taking the time to help out

 

Welcome to the forum

2001 will use a 5R44E , 1996 was a 4R44E, but they are the same inside, in 2001 5R got an added sensor on the outside, ISS

Yes, all automatics work on fluid pressure, and yes Reverse requires 160+ psi to engage, Forward 125psi

And yes the Valve Body routes the fluid pressure to the clutches and bands(brakes) to make "gear" selections

In the old days, pre-solenoid, ball and spring valves, and vacuum valves in the Vale Body were used to select gear changes "automatically"
In the mid/late 1980's when engine computers were being used for fuel injection, electric solenoids were starting to be added to Valve Bodies to take the place of ***** and springs and vacuum valves, so the computer could "automatically" select gear changes

The electric solenoids are much more reliable than the old ***** and springs, but people seem to forget that part, lol
All automatics start to have issues as miles get higher, and because there are so many interdependent systems they have always been hard to diagnose specifically to a single part
So there will never be a "it does this" symptoms list, so "it must be this" is the problem, solution..............its always a best guess

There are two major systems at working in any automatic, the pressure system, and then the rotating mass system(clutches and bands)
The clutches and bands(brakes) use friction materials like a clutch in a manual trans and brakes on the wheels, so they do wear out, usually 250-300k miles for that, but.............
If the pressure system gets weak(low pressure) then that causes faster wear on the clutches and bands because they slip, like "riding the brakes" will wear out your brakes faster


So to answer your question, yes you could change the Valve Body with solenoids and separator plate gasket, and transmission should get full pressure back, the Pump could be failing but that's a long shot and would require a full rebuild
Doing the Valve Body is not a waste of money because if you do need a full rebuild then new Valve Body is needed regardless

You could add some "trans fix" fluid, this swells rubber and gasket material to slow any small pressure leaks in Valve Body, doesn't hurt anything BUT............if clutches and bands are slipping the longer they slip the faster they wear out

 

Wow, thank you for that. I'm gonna try the transfix. I know the trans was replaced at some point but I'm not sure when. Or how many miles it had On it. My truck has 340k. So i imagine it has close to 200 if not more k miles. Probably going to just rebuild the trans if fluids don't help, that way I know my money is well spent on a good running truck and I'll get down to the nuts and bolts on how transmissions work

 

Good stuff

When rebuilding any automatic do NOT do just a "soft parts" fix, this is why automatics get a bad reputation, because trans shops do this all the time
Soft parts are clutches and bands, if that's all you replace you will be guarantied to have a trans failure in 12 months or so, just past warranty, lol

You always need to replace the Pump(use Ford brand) and one-way clutches(sprags), and in the 4R/5R its good to replace the OD drum, this and new valve body should get another 250K miles at least

Shift kits are also popular on the 4R/5R models, and not expensive when doing Valve Body