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Just rebuilt....still same problem

2K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  79jasper 
#1 ·
At my wits ends here. I've posted a couple times before rebuild but I'm just going to start fresh here and HOPEFULLY someone can help me.

1997 F350 7.3 E4OD with TS 6 position chip. Truck has had 4 transmissions in last 2 years.

Here is everything I can think of about this truck in the last 4 months. I was driving on freeway pulling 3k boat. I felt a microsecond like stutter while pulling up a hill. When I got home, tranny kept popping into neutral. So at the advice of someone on one of the many forums I scavenged, I replaced the MLPS hoping that was the issue. At the same time, I was trying to reprogam my PSOM because I have 35's and the mph was off. I found out that someone had already used the 5 lives of my psom so I ordered a used one. I also ordered a package of led lights off ebay to replace my cluster lights with. Right now the original PSOM is in there because I changed it back just in case I got a bad used unit.

Around this time is when weird things started happening with the transmission. I was getting high rpm's in 2nd gear and it wouldn't shift into 3rd gear. So after scouring the net, I checked my 3rd brake light and it was out. Replaced it and no change. I have an Edge Insight CTS 2 monitor and what was weird is I could watch the gears change on it but there definitely wasn't any gear changing going on anywhere close to the same time. And, sometimes it would say I was in 3rd, but I doubt it. Another odd thing it was doing in the beginning of the weirdness was it wouldn't go into reverse. It acted like it was still in neutral. After turning the engine off and waiting a few minutes Reverse would work again. That only happened a couple times in the beginning of this but has worked great ever since.

So I start scouring the net some more and trying new things. Finally, I think I wore the clutches out test driving after all my checking.

So I brought it to a shop who tore it down and rebuilt it. He said the direct was toast but everything else in there looked great (it should look good because it only had roughly 2k miles on the new transmission.) So he rebuilt it putting a clutch pack that has like 3 more clutches in it than it had and he put in a triple disc converter from pds (think thats the company) because they were having a half off sale. Anyway, put everything together and the Edge monitor showed it was in park at all times. Replaced the MLPS and it now reads correctly but the truck it is now worse than when I dropped it off. Before I brought it to him the transmission shifted through the gears with slippage in 3rd. No OD compression braking though and would only shift into 4th (at least CTS monitor said 4th) while going down hill. Get on the gas and it definitely didn't act like it was in 4th. Now, it starts in 2nd and won't shift into 3rd. I found a hill and went down it and it does shift through the gears into 4th on the monitor but it definitely is not in 4th and there is still no OD compression braking. I can feel converter locking up around 35mph though in 2nd gear. I can pull selector down to 1st and it actually starts out in 1st and will shift into second when I put it into second. It doesn't get into 3rd even though the monitor says that it is.

Pulled codes and this is what came up:
P0122 "Throttle Position Sensor A Circuit Low Input"
P0123 "Throttle Position Sensor A Circuit high Input"
P0603 Internal Control Module KAM Error
P0344 CAM position sensor circuit intermittent
P0221 Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor Switch B Perform
P0708 Transmission Range Sensor Circuit High Input
P00B9 Low Pressure Fuel System Pressure - Too Low, Low Ambient Temperature
P007C Charge Air Cooler Temperature Sensor Circuit (Bank 1)


So after 3 weeks at shop, he finally tells me he's clueless and to come get my truck. So I just got it and did some more scouring. I switched the relays under the hood and checked the 2 fuses inside the cab (8 and 15 I think) and also the diode at space 12 and fuse at 22 under the hood. Unfortunately no change though.

I just made an appt with the local stealership who charges $50 an hour diagnosis but damn would I love for someone to have the smoking gun before my appt Friday! Does anyone think I should pull my TS chip out? I don't want to waste time if that cannot be an issue but have no problem diving in if someone really things a chip can cause these symptoms.

Would LOVE any and all help!
 
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#2 ·
Pulling the chip would have been the first thing I would have done. You've got to get it functioning correctly with a factory PCM (no chip) before having the chip throw even more variables into the equation. Just my thought. Cheers!
 
#5 · (Edited)
so now I'm dropping some serious money to get this figured out because hunting season starts next weekend!!! And no one can figure it out. Here is where I'm at.

I broke down and brought it to the stealership because rumor had it their tranny guy was an E4OD guru. He verified no transmission codes and it starts in 2nd and will not shift at all to 3rd. It will go into 1st and then shift appropriately into 2nd and torque converter locks in 2nd and 35 mph. He dropped the pan, changed the solenoid pack out with a known good pack. Dropped accumulator body and replaced the small filter assembly that had gotten smashed at some point. Reflashed the PCM per the TSB for delayed or no 2/3 shift. He said he suspects the direct clutches and wanted to drop the tranny and go through it but that is where I drew the line - not at their prices. One thing I'm not sure if it matters is the guy who rebuilt it put in extra frictions into the direct....I think I remember him saying he added two additional making it have 7 total. Not sure if that would cause this or not. Everyone seems to think it is electrical because this is exactly what it was doing before the rebuild. And, the mechanic who rebuilt it air tested it right in front of me and they didn't hiss....not that I'm a mechanic and know what a "good" clutch sounds like but he explained it as best he could.

Apparently PCM's for these are far and few between because they are supposedly known to go bad. So, I don't want to throw money at it unless I have to. I was thinking since it shifts normally from 1-2 it is at least getting something from the PCM. My only other thought on the pcm is wondering if the chip came loose and somehow touched two contacts at the same time. I'm going to pull the PCM and open it up and just have a look see to see if there is anything obvious.

I read a thread somewhere about the possibility of the alternator going bad and sending bad waves. So I disconnected the electrical connectors to no avail.

I guess the next step is testing each and every wire in the harness to make sure they are good? I don't know how to do that yet...still have to do some youtube searching but if anyone can point me to a link I'd sure appreciate it.

I love my truck and miss it...but now it's threatening my huntin season and it may be on the chopping block soon! lol

I sure would appreciate some guidance on what to check next electrical wise. I would like to do as much as I can before sending it in to tear it back down. There is a guy in town that has something called a Schaffer shifter that will cycle through the gears...but he wants 100 bucks to do it. So I'm torn at what to do next...pay the 100 to eliminate internal issues or pay $180 and ship my pcm to be fixed. It's only 89 if it is good...but the likelyhood of them sending it back and refunding me money because it is "good" is pretty slim so I'm just counting on paying 189.
 
#6 ·
another thing is reverse is sometimes stuttery if that makes sense. Would love some input as to which direction I should invest more money - electrical or mechanical tearing it down. Also, does anyone have any experience making a little gadget that grounds the wires to the solenoid to electronically force shifting?
 
#7 ·
Why didn't you take it back to the guy that rebuilt it?

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#8 ·
because I never ended up paying him full for his labor....I bought all the hard parts and he finally said it was costing him too much of his time (to figure out what is wrong) for what he quoted me and said to come get it. I'm only into the "labor" part of it a couple hundred bucks.
 
#9 ·
Then you probably just need to get a new/rebuilt trans.

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