My son bought a 2000 Ford Explorer with 88K miles on it from a guy who said the transmission was going bad and slipping. It was about a quart low, we added fluid and he has drove it for a couple of days and so far it seems to be okay. The fluid is pretty dirty and we were going to change the filter and add new fluid.
Some have said not to change the fluid if you think the transmission is going bad, the dirt and grit in the fluid is keeping the transmission working.........new fluid may make it slip worse.
I say put in a new filter and fluid and see what happens.........what's the opinion??
Transmission Problems....Need Opinions
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+1 on new fluid and filter
Also allows you to inspect the pan and pan magnet for anything abnormal
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unless there is some other evidence of abuse (or excessive towing?) I agree. 88,000 miles are nothing.
Kevin
+1 when in doubt, change it out.
Change the fluid and filter and do a few line exchanges or fluid extractions. I'd add LG Red to the final fill, but mentioning additives can be a problem with some members.
The 4 speed autos in those were pretty weak.
Drive it for now, but keep it in the back of your mind that you will be replacing it soon.
Safest would be to just drop the pan and change the filter. There have been stories of power flushes moving stuff around and clogging up the transmission whereas a standard pan drop just gets the fluid out. There also many stories of the transmission acting strangely, and then once the fluid is at the right level, everything is fine again. Remember to check it hot.
What engine do you have? (5L V8 uses the 4R70W which is bullet proof) 4.0L have the 5R55e transmission which is prone to blow out the Valve body separater gasket. Mine blew out right by the reverse servo.
Ford has a update kit for that transmission including a bonded separater gasket.
Google "Ford explorer 2-3 shift flare"
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Change the fluid and filter and do it 3 times if you cant flush it.. Very important to use the correct fluid i believe the max life high mileage atf is good for that transmission. Use a motorcraft filter.
most times on modern transmissions people change their fluid when things go wrong and when the trans stops working they blame the new fluid, its the same with the people that put in the wrong fluid..
put the correct fluid in and all should be fine
Here is a pic with valve body removed on the 5R55E. The reverse servo is shown here. this is where the valve body gasket is prone to blowing out. While in there I replaced the reverse servo O-ring with a Viton D shaped o-ring. This will cure the delayed shift into reverse that these are known for.
Originally Posted By: Miller88
The 4 speed autos in those were pretty weak.
Drive it for now, but keep it in the back of your mind that you will be replacing it soon.
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If it's not slipping or otherwise acting up now that the fluid level is full, then it's perfectly OK to change the ATF.
How did the fluid look before you added the quart? Was it nice and red like it had been changed recently? Or was it dark and burnt smelling like it was neglected?
Why would the transmission be low on fluid? It may be leaking.
Flush the fluid and put some Lucas transmission additives in
Originally Posted By: Miller88
The 4 speed autos in those were pretty weak.
Drive it for now, but keep it in the back of your mind that you will be replacing it soon.
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I would drop the pan to change the fluid. You might know if the transmission has completely failed if you find transmission parts in the pan or big chunks of metal. If you don't find those, you may have gotten lucky and only needed a fluid change.
If the transmission has failed, you can use Lucas ATF additive to get a few more miles out of it before rebuilding. Don't add Lucas ATF additive to a transmission that functions properly.
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: Miller88
The 4 speed autos in those were pretty weak.
Drive it for now, but keep it in the back of your mind that you will be replacing it soon.
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: Miller88
The 4 speed autos in those were pretty weak.
Drive it for now, but keep it in the back of your mind that you will be replacing it soon.
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Here is how you can make the POS A4LD into an okay transmission
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117793
I heard lots of stories about those trannys being weak. I heard the same thing about the tranny being weak in my 93 Aerostar, 212,000 miles IIRC of hard use and it went to the junkyard working perfectly. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw.
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