Reverse Problem after Towing

J

johnnymo

New member
My 01 has about 700 miles left on the factory warranty and I am
trying to get a clue what could be causing my problem. Greg, you suggested that I check the motor mounts, in a reply on another forum. Motor mounts are fine. During the summer months, my Lightning sees boat towing duty. The truck remains garaged in AZ with my boat, and is primarily used to tow a 3500 boat to and from the Colorado River, about 20 miles each way. In July it's not uncommon to see 115 degree days. After towing the boat a short distance if I stop and put the truck in reverse, the engine speed drops to the 350 400 RPM range and acts as if the TC is trying to lock up. After a couple of seconds, the idle returns to normal. Another way to describe how this feels would be momentary overdrive in reverse. The dealer continues to state that there is nothing wrong, and I would imagine that is because they can't duplicate what I have described. There is no doubt that the problem is related to the temperature spike after towing is extreamly hot weather. What I am trying to avoid is paying for trans work that should be done under warranty. Your thoughts about possible causes of what I have described will be greatly appreciated. Also, is there any safe way to get my trans as hot as it gets in 115 degree weather after towing so that I can demonstrate the problem to my local dealer?
 
To heat it up, put it into reverse and pwoerbrake it, it'll heat up real quick that way, to cool it back down, put it in Neutral and run the RPMs up to about 1500 and it'll cool down as quickly as any other way. Powerbraking in reverse is not good for it, be careful not to doit too much or you'll burn up the reverse clutch.

G
 
Greg,

My original post was about a year ago, and the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem. Last night after a 250 mile trip the trans went crazy. It feels like the line pressure is at max. Shifts hard from 1st to second. When it attempts to shift from 2nd to 3rd, it feels as if is going back into first. This morning after it cooled off. it shifted through all of the gears fine. After about 10 miles, it started shifting very hard. After driving back home (250 miles) 1st to 2nd shift is extremely hard, will not shift into 3rd. No trouble codes, the fluid appears nornal. Since my truck is an 01, I looked for the 1j id that you have mentioned so many times. The only numbers I could find were on the passenger's side of the very tail housing. There was no 1j to be found. Any advice you can provide will br appreciated.

John
 
Follow up,

After allowing the truck to cool down completely, I drove it around the block. When the trans attempts shift into 3rd, the truck slows down as if the brakes are being applied. Line pressure seems at max. During this trip around the block I was data logging with a Predator. I don't understand most of the codes but noted during the data playback that on about 4 occations the load % jumped from the 20% range to above 70% and the rest of the spikes between 50 to 60%. Still no check lightrs or error codes. I am convinced that I thought could be an electrical problem, is the failure of more than one major trans internal. Still curious what is failing and why. I am 54 years old and give this truck the besy care. It and never been to a track and has never
seem more than an occational WOT blast through the middle of third. It has however, put some time in towing a boat and trailer weighing a combined 4300 pounds. 47K miles and the trans fluid was completely exchanged at 30K and partial change with fiter
35,300. I wasn't aware that a transmissoin could act so bizarre. I would love to hear your thoughts. thanks
 
I think it sounds like the mechanical diode, the hard shifts are the tranny going into limp mode. Are you sure it's getting second at all? It may be skipping through second into third, which is what a broken diode would do.

G
 
Greg,

Thanks for getting back to me. No question I do have 2nd. the only way the truck can be driven is to put it 2nd and leave it. If I let it shift, something binds that feels like the brakes being applied. I'm stumpped. Never been raced, chipped or abused. 47,000 miles, Actually, I had a chip in it for about a week when it was new. Didn't run right so I took out.
 
Putting it in M2 does not require the diode to function, it will engage the band and not the clutch and still allow you to have second gear. Automatic second engages the clutch (but not the band) and if the diode grenaded, it's act just like what you describe.

G
 
Greg,

Took the truck to Ford and they covered the trans under an extended warranty that was placed on the truck to cover the trans failure. Ended up costing me a large deductible but I now have a 7 year 100K mile powertrain warranty. I asked if the problem was the diode and was told it was the front pump. I still think that the diode was the origin of the problem. My original trans never shifted from 1st to 2nd as well as the Ford replacement. Also, I towed my boat to the Colorado River this weekend and the reverse problem that started this thread was gone. Seems my original trans had problems for a long time, just as I advised Ford over a year ago. Your input was very helpful in getting my issue resolved and for that I thank you very much.
 
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