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Please tell me my trans isn't going out...

9

99gtxws6

New member
Not sure where to start, but I will say I've searched and read and tried some of the things I've already seen on the forums, but I was looking for a little more insight.

Sunday I left the house for the first time that day, so the car was still cold. Backed out of the parking spot and started to drive out toward the street. Once I accelerated from the parking lot, the car started to take off then all of a sudden felt like it missed a gear.

After that, it felt like the trans was just low on fluid because it would drive but I had to give it tons of gas to get it moving. I turned around to come back to the house and at a light, it wouldn't move forward at all.

Turned the car off for a couple seconds, turned it back on, and was able to drive back to the house.

Checked the fluid and it was full, still red, and didn't smell burned.

Monday, the car wouldn't move at all in any gear, forward or reverse.

Disconnected the battery and held the terminals together and left it overnight. (per a recommendation on here) It helped slightly. Car would move forward on its own power but only after basically flooring it to get it to move a foot.

And it basically did this with no warning. Though for a week or so it would surge while driving at highway speeds. I read on here it could have something to do with the TCC solenoid.

Anyways, I'm hoping it's something other than the transmission biting the big one. Something in the PCM or a bad solenoid.

Can anyone give me some insight?
 


Sounds like you either lost the forward band, or this (click me!)--> No Forward Cold

Either way, I would have it scanned and see if there are any DTC's for the trans. Some code readers may not pick up trans. codes so be sure the place you go can do this.

Jay
 
It's the TCC solenoid. This is a common failure on these transmissions with high milage. My trans has 197,000 miles on it and mine started acting up about 2,000 miles ago. I'm going to change the solenoid later this month when I have a weekend free. Good luck.

Mark
 
It's not the forward band if it still moves in D or 3. A forward band breakage will only allow you to move in 2 or 1.

Consider doing a pan drop trans service with a filter. Is it whining at all? It sounds very much like the filter is plugged. I understand you say the fluid is nice red and not burned, but did you dab some on a white paper towel or cloth? White, yes.

Most people are amazed at how unred, fluid can look on white while it still looks red on the dipstick.
 
I haven't touched the car in a couple of weeks. Went out of town over the holidays and haven't messed with it.

But last time I tried to drive it or do anything with it, it wasn't wanting to move at all in any gear.
 
Checked it out again this morning and it still was doing the same thing...which was nothing.

In any gear, forward or reverse, the car won't move at all. In gear and revving it up as much as it will go and the car won't move an inch.


I need to know something soon. Do I spend the bucks on replacing the trans or can it be fixed without having to get a new transmission?

I'm hesitant to tow it to a trans shop because most likely they'll just say "oh yeah, trans is out. that'll be XXXX dollars please"
 


Got in today to move the car across to another parking spot. It's down hill so I planned on just starting it up and rolling it, but once I shifted into Reverse, I could feel the trans go into gear and low and behold, it drove!!

So I backed down to the parking spot, put it in Drive, and it actually drove forward too!! So I tried driving up and down the parking lot a couple times but could tell the longer I drove it, the less the trans wanted to work. I had to give it more and more gas to get it to move so I figured I'd better park it before I got stuck pushing it.

So what does this sound like to you guys?
 
Had the car towed down to a trans shop to get checked out. They couldn't find any electrical issues with it and said the fluid looked pretty burned.

Quoted me $1400-ish to rebuild it, but up to $2200 if it needs a new pump or converter.

Guess I'll be calling around junk yards tomorrow. Can I get a trans out of any year model or am I gonna need a '99 trans to swap in?
 
So I picked up a used trans for $450 and had the shop install it for me for $520

Drove the car for 2 days no issues but now it's back to doing the same thing again.

Can start up and drive it for a mile or so then it starts slipping bad and bucking. Can pull over and sit for a bit and it'll repeat the cycle.

What are the odds that it can blow through a different transmission in less than 30 miles?
 
Its not overly likely. Although it does sound like a plugged filter is a possibility. If the filter is full you can't pump fluid to hold the gears.

At the same time, it may be electrical, but tough to find. Tough to say w/o seeing it.
 
Been to two shops for a flush and filter and neither one wanted to do it...said it'd just be wasting money and I need to just have it rebuilt or replaced
 


Being you installed another used trans. I wouldn't flush it anyway. Will probabaly cause more bad than good. Just get under it, drop the pan yourself and change the filter. Refill w/ correct fluid and see what you get. If it works, great. You just saved yourself money at shop rates. If not, then you're only out the cost of the filter and fluid and you still need a new trans, which I would contact Dave at TEP for that if you really want to keep the car.

Personally for the trouble involved, if you do have to replace the trans. again, I wouldn't go used this time. Just bite the bullet and get a good new one and call it a day.
 
FordMan77 said:
Being you installed another used trans. I wouldn't flush it anyway. Will probabaly cause more bad than good. Just get under it, drop the pan yourself and change the filter. Refill w/ correct fluid and see what you get. If it works, great. You just saved yourself money at shop rates. If not, then you're only out the cost of the filter and fluid and you still need a new trans, which I would contact Dave at TEP for that if you really want to keep the car.

Personally for the trouble involved, if you do have to replace the trans. again, I wouldn't go used this time. Just bite the bullet and get a good new one and call it a day.
Click to expand...


Just weird it worked fine for 2 days...or about 25 miles...and then started messing up. Seems that if it were a bad trans it wouldn't have worked right off the bat.

And a new trans is what...$1500 plus a core, plus shipping the old one back? That's gonna be over two grand before it's all said and done, and it's still not even counting the $500 to have it installed (being that I can't do the install myself living at an apartment)

That's a lotta coin to drop on a car only worth $2-3k and it still needing other issues addressed to make the Check Engine light go off (has codes for boost bypass and a vacuum canister)... And with 176k miles already i'm sure the motor will be the next thing to go in the near future. Just don't think that's a wise investment on a car like this, regardless of how much I love it
 
Sounds like its time to retire it sadly.

Perhaps you could check with the locals to see if there are any good transmission shops around that are knowledgeable with the 4t65e.
 
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