6R140 solenoid harness

D60

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I've got the pan off my '11 6R140.

I noticed the solenoid harness has a little "bur" of what I think is brown wire insulation bunched up. It's not debris - it's firmly attached.

Also I see what appears to be black heat shrink connectors, was that OEM? And did Ford use these large black zip ties and snip them off? Seems a bit crude for OEM

I know really early 6R140's needed new solenoids but mine allegedly fell outside that window, built in 3/11 per ETIS. Mine supposedly just needed a reflash which I had the local dealer do after purchase at 130k

Basically I'm just wondering if this indicates previous solenoid or harness service?

@clinebarger or anyone else good with a/t's
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Here's that QR code but my phone says it doesn't have any apps that can make sense of it
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The zip ties are factory.

That QR code is for calibrating. There are multiple solenoids for each spot depending on what the code states was there.
 
That all looks OEM. There are tags on the solenoid body and the transmission case that have both the solenoid body ID and strategy code.

What you are pointing to in the photo is difficult for me to see so I can’t tell you exactly what it is.

Is there a specific problem you’re trying to fix…?

I did a tutorial of an overhaul of one of these a while back if you want more photos. Just search my history.
 
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That all looks OEM. There are tags on the solenoid body and the transmission case that have both the solenoid body ID and strategy code.

What you are pointing to in the photo is difficult for me to see so I can’t tell you exactly what it is.

Is there a specific problem you’re trying to fix…?

I did a tutorial of an overhaul of one of these a while back if you want more photos. Just search my history.
I'm just doing spill 'n fill plus filter because I ran some SF TransTune in it.

Here's why I ran the TT: it would sometimes drop out of 1 or R when cold. It'd go to limp and jam itself into 5, although if memory serves one time it put itself into 2nd which I found kinda curious for "limp mode."

Letting it warm up or several subsequent restarts always made the problem go away. The problem initially was very infrequent but became more consistent, occurring with nearly every cold start.

If occurring it would always give me 1 or R for several seconds, but eventually kick into what felt like N....and once the trans figured out what was happening it would go to 5 and stay there.

In hindsight, I never tried to look for codes w Forscan. DUMB. I guess I could still check....

ANYWAY, I ASSumed it might be a solenoid issue (based upon my extensive knowledge of automatics, ie NONE) and after some research (including BITOG) was willing to gamble I didn't have much to lose other than my ~$13.

Now, I'll say this: the TT seems to have eradicated the issue. As I said, it was happening basically every cold start and so after TT I deliberately would fire it up cold (and CO in January isn't bitter but isn't exactly warm) and immediately put it in R or D in my driveway and perform the same maneuvers as before when it would "fall out of gear." Since TT, it hasn't happened once.....and I'm hesitant to type that for superstitious reasons now....

I ran the TT for a couple hundred miles but didn't want to leave it in there long term, and while the pan was off I figured I'd just give a visual to the wiring as I usually don't give it a second glance when servicing a transmission.
 
And I guess I failed to mention in my post above fluid level was fine.
 
You could have some tired piston seals. Although a little coincidental for forward and reverse when they are opposite ends of the case and are applied differently (fluid tubes from main control feed reverse, and the sealing rings on input shaft and back of the pump seal fluid coming from the main control to the forward clutch piston. However it is somewhat common to have some sealing ring issues as the trans ages (input shaft/pump). It is also possible the issue isn’t with reverse clutch, but direct (applied in reverse also). Then again, you shouldn’t have 3 or 5 if there was a problem with direct as it’s with those 2 gears.

An air pressure test when cold might reveal some results, but you have to remove the main control for that.

It is also worth noting some earlier builds had a problem with the check valve in the pump allowing converter drain back causing delayed engagement. There is a TSB.
 
Thank you @mattd . I'm open to any advice although I'm not likely to address the problem until it returns (human nature I suppose)

I had not heard of known converter drain back issues but sounds likely as it's only after sitting overnight.

In the past I've had the problem occur the morning of a (towing) road trip and then done 6 hours one way with ~8k lbs GTW, so I mean once the trans is acting normally it's perfectly fine.
 
The converter drain back would happen after sitting for an extended period. A way to test it is to immediately put the trans in gear after start up.
 
The converter drain back would happen after sitting for an extended period. A way to test it is to immediately put the trans in gear after start up.
Yeah that's pretty much what did it but I'd pretty much always get a few feet of movement before it would fall out.....so I dunno if converter drain back is plausible with that.
 
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