Ask the Car People.SM


Ford Explorer Transmission Questions

383 messages,  Last post on May 08, 2013 at 12:11 PM

You are in the Ford Explorer Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Explorer, Ford Explorer Sport, Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Transmission, SUV

Ford Explorer Transmission Questions

Messages Page 23 of 39

#216 of 383 97 transmission or transfer case? by enforcer

Dec 01, 2008 (12:12 am)

Replying to: ldaniels (Oct 29, 2007 10:16 am)
This car has been relatively free of problems for the last 8 years (I bought it 3 years used) but I am now hearing some clunking when I start driving in reverse, and once in a while I am getting a spinning/grinding sound when shifting from drive to reverse, and occasionally on freeway shifting.
 
My trusted independent mechanic believes it is the transfer case, $1500-2000 to fix.
 
I got a second opinion from Aamco, which guarantees they will fix it for $2000 if I let them overhaul the transmission. Upset that I let them take me for $280 to diagnose the check engine light and fix an oxygen sensor, my fault for not walking.
 
May take it to Ford dealer for a 3rd op just for fun, but there is no way I can justify investing $2k in an 11-year old vehicle with 102,000+ miles.
 
From reading this post it looks like Explorer transmissions are set to implode 100k miles, so if you have more you are living on borrowed time. Guess I was lucky.

#217 of 383 2003 Ford Explorer transmission O/D light blinking by mjfix

Dec 25, 2008 (7:53 am)

I have a 03 Ford Explorer, the O/D light just started blinking. The transmission seems to be slipping. Between 20-30mph the engin rev sup to 5rpm on the tachometer and then the gear kicks in. Do I need a new transmission? How much would it be and should I get a rebuilt one. Could it be some other problem? Truck has 85K miles. Has this been recalled?

#218 of 383 Re: 2003 Ford Explorer transmission O/D light blinking [mjfix] by acunningham1

Dec 25, 2008 (10:56 am)

Replying to: mjfix (Dec 25, 2008 7:53 am)
I am not a mechanic but I have a 2005 Ford Explorer that had 43,000 miles on it at the time. The same problem was happening. The O/D light was blinking and the transmission was slipping. I would have taken it in to the Ford dealership but it was a weekend and they did not have a mechanic on duty to diagnose the problem. I took it to an independent transmission company and needed a rebuilt transmission which cost me $2100. It turned out to be a gear train failure and the mechanic showed me the defective parts, which I kept. There was no recall as I made sure to have it researched and Ford customer service gave me the same information. I have heard a lot of bad feedback about Ford's transmissions. I would definitely contact Ford to see if there has been a recall on your truck.

#219 of 383 Trans Oil Level by scootter1

Dec 26, 2008 (11:58 am)

I have an 03 V8 Explorer I just bought for my daughter. It doesn't have a dip stick for the trans. Any idea how to check the level? It has about 119k miles, and I would feel better if I could check the level!!
 
Scott

#220 of 383 2002 Eddie Bauer Explorer - O/D Light Flashing, Check Transmission message by TheKernal

Dec 27, 2008 (4:32 pm)

We purchased this Explorer used in early 2005 with about 50K miles on it and it's been a pretty good car. In 2006, we took it to the Ford dealership because we were having some shifting issues. They replaced some solenoids and it has been behaving OK up until about a month ago. We live in the mountains and climb some pretty steep grades. The O/D light and Check Transmission warning message comes on and flashes continuously when we climb the steep grade on the highway. If we click the O/D off before hitting the hill, nothing happens except we don't go into 5th gear. To reset the light and the "Check Transmission" message on the infocenter readout, all we have to do is turn off the car and turn it back on again. This car now has 137K.
 
Does anybody know if changing the transmission fluid and maybe doing a full flush helps with this issue? Otherwise, we're considering a Honda CR-V...

#221 of 383 2003 Ford Explorer has blinking O/D light. by redruby529

Jan 06, 2009 (11:10 am)

I also have a 2003 Ford Explorer that the O/D light just started blinking on today. I felt it slip a bit last week when I was turning the O/D on, and now it seems to slip a bit between 20-30mph. I have about 82K miles on it, is this always a "needs a new transmission" problem or could it possibly be something not quite as, how should I say....Expensive? Any information would be greatly helpful and appreciated...

#222 of 383 transmission failures to all by jaglover05

Jan 24, 2009 (1:58 pm)

I would strongly advise everyone with transmission issues to find out first what type of trans. you have. Do some research online. I had an 02 jaguar trany go out after warranty expired and had a headache for 6 months trying to figure it out. While ford owned jaguar they kept using a jatco "japanese automatic transmission co." j5 something trany and these have electric cylinoids for shifting. These were very very very prone to failure and have been used on several other types of cars. I traded an 02 jag for an 05 and havn't had a problem yet. One rule you should remember, no warranty means more of a headache than without, because it's all out of pocket. it nearly ruinned me, but i only got a deal trading it back in on another one "with a warranty till 2010. goooood luck to all.

#223 of 383 EXPLORER TRANS SWAP by martyp1234

Jan 26, 2009 (2:05 pm)

Hello all, I have an '02 Mountaineer w/4.0 V/6, it supposedly has the 5R55W transmission. Overdrive just died, blinking lights, etc. Can I swap it with an 5R55S transmission ? I've heard they are "sister" trannies. If it does bolt up, will it throw codes ? From what I've read, 2nd gear has a different ratio. With these computer controlled cars, I don't know what will happen. I called Ford, but they say that they NEVER change what was originally installed, no matter how bad the original part performed. They only used the 5R55w for 1 year, then replaced it with the 5R55S. Any help, would be appreciated. Thanks.

#224 of 383 96 Ford Explorer by wonderwood

Jan 31, 2009 (12:01 pm)

Won't go into Drive. Takes off fine in 2,1, and then does fine in Drive after I reach about 15 mph or so. Reverse seems fine, everything else is normal. This vehicle has 316,000+ with no major issues... yet. Problem started after being hung up in a snowbank, but there is no snow packed around the tranny and I can't find anything unplugged, bent, etc. Any suggestions?

#225 of 383 Automatic Transmission by johnnie632000

Mar 05, 2009 (9:42 pm)

I have a 1997 Explorer that needs the trans replaced. Can anyone tell me how I can tell if mine has the overdrive drum sensor or not? Thank You John

Messages Page 23 of 39

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement