Lost 4th and Reverse Gear in Tranny - Diesel Forum

tzurick · 11-22-2006, 06:06 PM

My buddy got his F-150 stuck in the sand so I hooked up the tow strap, dropped in 4-low and yanked him out. I was also in the sand spinning my wheels as I did so. After that, fourth gear quit working completely and reverse is slipping so bad that I have to use 4 low to back up.

Are the transmissions this weak or did I just get a bad one? My tranny never got hot. The max temp it hit was 170. Would it have been better to use 4 Hi vs 4 Low?

An interesting note is if I run out third to 50 and then shift into overdrive, it will goes into overdrive and I can cruise down the highway with no issues until I hit an incline and it tries to downshift to 4th and just revs. Then, the tow haul light will start flashing and and it will lock into a 4th gear and overdrive quits working. I remember reading on here that our 5-speed autos are actually 6 so there's 2 gears between third and overdrive. I suspect one of these is gone and when it goes into limp mode, the other kicks in. Not sure what this has to do with reverse though.

At least I didn't get stranded. Was able to limp it home with the 10K Toy hauler attached running 2800 RPM's on the highway. Guess it cleaned out the EGR. Truck only has 13K miles.

It's at the dealer now but I'm thinking it will be getting a new transmission.

SMOKESKULL · 11-22-2006, 08:16 PM

Sounds like you smoked the direct clutch pack. Perhaps it was weak already or had a damaged seal that didnt show up untill it got abused.

rvdano · 11-22-2006, 11:12 PM

The tranny has I think 6 solinoids(5 forward 1 reverse)inside that controls the shifting.
I had #`s 3&4 go bad about 2 years ago and ford replaced all.
I was having a shifting issues as well with 3rd-4th, and the procedure was to replace all at the time.

hotpursuit · 11-23-2006, 03:03 AM

this is the WEAK link in these trannies..... even after having suncoast build me a custom tranny and converter i still had a direct clutch problem wich effects the 3 to 4 shift and reverse.... i was told that even with a tuner that ups the line pressure the solenoids drop that pressure to a degree... ATS is working on a new solenoid or another solution to this area of concern...

i doubt if its slipping that bad that they will just do a solenoid.... my bet is u need some clutch's.... maybe ford will put ATS's clutch's in for you instead of factory ones... cant hurt to ask.