Transmission woes

[Roger Kathy]

2000 Pace Arrow on a Ford F53 chasis, V10 Triton engine, 68K miles, new transmission fluid and filter installed at 61K miles. Transmission fluid level, color, and smell is normal.

I have used the "shift to a lower gear" scenerio to slow down the vehicle when going down grades. I used this feature recently in West Virginia to go down grades (minimize brake usage), some as steep as 8% using low gear. All features in all 4 gears worked normally.

On the trip home, in more even expressway driving, while going down a grade, I selected the overdrive "off" feature on the shift lever to take the tranny out of overdrive. It did not seam to downshift. The motorhome tended to "free wheel" down the grade and the engine RPM dropped to about 1500 RPM and provided little if any resistance to help slow the motorhome. I then selected overdrive to back "on" and it re engaged the engine and brought the engine back up to normal RPM for overdrive and that speed.

Following that, when at appropriate speeds, I then tried this downshift technique to check second and first gears. Again the motorhome tended to "free wheel" and engine RPM went to about 1500 RPM. When decelarating or going down hill, it is like the tranny only connects the engine to the drive train when in overdrive. Overdrive or 4th gear is the only gear that functions normally for this feature.

When starting from a dead stop, the transmisson performs very normal in its shifting pattern. Other than this decelerating issue, everything performs normally.

I have found these forums to be very informative and any help is appreciated. Anybody else ever have this problem? Anybody got any suggestions or solutions?

Roger

[ljr869]

I'm not sure but, if you're going downhill, you're basically in neutral aren't you? Overdrive off won't do anything because you're not using overdrive. On flat ground, when you know you're in overdrive, switch it off and you should feel a shift. To truly downshift while going downhill you'll have to actually shift with the gearshift lever. The newer 'tow/haul' mode is more complex than that as it's my understanding that it still allows use of overdrive.

[LVJ58]

Something is definitely wrong, when I press the button on ours it drops out of OD into 3 gear with torque converter clutch engaging and provides some compression braking. Sounds as if your torque converter clutch isn't engaging when you drop out of OD mode. Could be a glitch in the electronics that controls your transmission. Best to have it checked out.

Best of luck, and do let us know what they find.

[Izzyblueye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Kathy 2000 Pace Arrow on a Ford F53 chasis, V10 Triton engine, 68K miles, new transmission fluid and filter installed at 61K miles. Transmission fluid level, color, and smell is normal. I have used the "shift to a lower gear" scenerio to slow down the vehicle when going down grades. I used this feature recently in West Virginia to go down grades (minimize brake usage), some as steep as 8% using low gear. All features in all 4 gears worked normally. On the trip home, in more even expressway driving, while going down a grade, I selected the overdrive "off" feature on the shift lever to take the tranny out of overdrive. It did not seam to downshift. The motorhome tended to "free wheel" down the grade and the engine RPM dropped to about 1500 RPM and provided little if any resistance to help slow the motorhome. I then selected overdrive to back "on" and it re engaged the engine and brought the engine back up to normal RPM for overdrive and that speed. Following that, when at appropriate speeds, I then tried this downshift technique to check second and first gears. Again the motorhome tended to "free wheel" and engine RPM went to about 1500 RPM. When decelarating or going down hill, it is like the tranny only connects the engine to the drive train when in overdrive. Overdrive or 4th gear is the only gear that functions normally for this feature. When starting from a dead stop, the transmisson performs very normal in its shifting pattern. Other than this decelerating issue, everything performs normally. I have found these forums to be very informative and any help is appreciated. Anybody else ever have this problem? Anybody got any suggestions or solutions? Roger

Your F-53 should shift down when you disengage the over drive. If it doesn't have it checked.

[greystroke]

Just traded to an MH but I still have my Ford truck I used to pull my old trailer.

When you start down a hill with an EO4D downshifting should work until you hit the brake. Hitting the brake dis engages the torque converter so the engine rpm must increase to a pre-determined value before re-engaging. A little difficult on a hill. This means your on fluid flow going down the hill.

This is what I did. The torque converter engages when the computer grounds the control line to the internal solenoid. In other words 12v is already appliec to the solenoid and when you ground the other end it allows current flow to energize solenoid and thus the TC. So I found the Lime/green wire coming out of the back of the tranny and connected a wire to a dash switch and then to chassis ground. (Don't cut the wire. Just attach another wire on to it by peeling back the insulation)

So when starting down a grade energize the switch for the duration of the grade. This is commonly known as a TC lockup switch. Energize only on descents because it will stall your motor in normal traffic.

[justimagination]

Roger,

Myself like you do, I also use the O/D button @ 1st to start the slow down process to take some of the wear on the brake's. I then shift the lever to 2nd, which is the lowest I have had to use. All of the above does make the RPM rise and @ no time does it let the vehicle feel as though it is freewheeling as you describe. I would certanily have it checked out, something is not working as it should, Good Luck.............
David G.

[Roger.H]

Transmission woes update: I contacted Ford customer service via the Ford website. I described my problem and got their response. Ford customer service asked me to take it to the RV dealer where I purchased the vehicle. I explained that an RV dealer would merely refer me to a Ford dealer as it is a Ford problem and not an RV system problem. On there second response they gave me a phone number in the Ford Motor Home Customer Relationship Center (800-444-3311) that could help. I called them hoping for someone knowledgable to discuss it technically. They said about the same thing, i.e. take it to a Ford dealer. They gave me a local Ford dealer that worked on motorhomes. But when I called the local dealer, they informed me they do not have motorhome capibility.

I also remembered that I have the Banks Engineering power improvement kit which includes their transcommand. I contacted Banks and they have sent me a jumper plug which will return the transmission commands back to standard Form OEM specs.

I am going to drive it this weekend (with the Banks jumper installed) and see if it has any effect (I do not think it will). I will then schedule it into a Ford dealer in San Antonio that works on RV's and hope for the best.

Roger

[gary P]

What did you find out?

[Roger.H]

Finally got around to getting the transmission woes repaired. Took it to the Ford dealer in New Branfels, Texas. Talked to the tech and he immediately new the fix. We test drove it and confirmed the issue. It was an internal seal within the transmission. These guys did a great job with diagnostics and $2K later is works like a charm again. The part replaced was only $45.00.

Roger

[LVJ58]

Roger, did the tech give any indication as to what may have caused the seal failure?

[Roger.H]

The tech had no idea of what caused the problem. He did say that he has had the same problem with a few trucks with the same 4R100 transmission but this was his first in a motorhome.

Roger

[LVJ58]

Very interesting, thanks for the information, sure hope it never happens to ours.

Jim

[Izzyblueye]

ROGER H. Thanks for posting this scenario. You may have given a lot of us Ford drivers an insight into possible problems, and the probable fix.