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Transmission Acting Up       #: 2684
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 Posted: Mon Nov 6th, 2023 07:12 pm
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mhoward
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 I just can't catch a break!  Just got my wrecked truck looking good again after much work and money.  Now, suddenly, my transmission is acting goofy.  I noticed it Sunday evening when I was moving cars around in the driveway.  I was backing my Ranger in and it started "dropping out" of gear.  Didn't really feel like slippage, but more like I was going from reverse to neutral and back.  My son was in the garage and he came out beside my truck and asked me what that noise was.  When the trans would do that "dropping out", you could hear a loud click that sounds like a solenoid that isn't engaging properly or cannot stay engaged.  I messed with it for a few minutes, going forward and backward in the driveway.  Then it just cleared up.  Started up this morning for the work commute and it did fine with no issues (since I was backed in, I just shifted into Drive and left, so no Reverse).  Reasonably smooth shifts and occurring when they should.  So I leave for lunch time and it did it again, but cleared up by the time I drove across the parking lot to pull out onto the highway.  Before this, my plan was to take a weekend day and drain the fluid and change filter, but if it is dying, I won't waste my time or money.  The truck has 194K on the clock with reasonably good maintenance and care.  Also, I added a bottle of Lucas Transmission Fix about two months ago.  Do any of you transmission gurus have any suggestions?

As a side question: I was also mildly considering installing a TransGo kit while I had the pan down.  Good idea, or no???



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 Posted: Tue Nov 7th, 2023 02:56 am
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black06xlt
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 My old white ranger started doing that then reverse went out a short time later. Then all the forward gears went. Time for a rebuild.



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 Posted: Tue Nov 7th, 2023 01:29 pm
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mhoward
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 Good to see you, Adam!

UPDATE: Drove home from work yesterday evening (30~ miles).  Not only did the transmission act weird, the engine seemed like it was running on 3 cylinders instead of 6.  I get home and drag out my shiny new Bluetooth OBDII connector.  Hadn't used it yet, so I spent about 15 minutes messing in the software settings with the key on (because you have to).  Battery went flat as a pancake.  I get the charger out and ran a HD extension cord to the front of my truck (it was in the driveway).  That thing stayed at a steady 5 amps charge for a couple of hours and never dropped.  Got out the load tester and hooked it up, started it and it showed 14.5 volts... then I hit the load button.  It damn near killed the engine and went sub-10 volts.

I'm driving wifey's MKx today and will be stopping to buy a new battery on my way home.  I'm hoping that this fixes ALL my problems as I know electronics don't work correctly without the proper minimum voltage.  Injectors, ignition coils and such as well as shift solenoids all have big issues when they are starved for power.  Cross your fingers!



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 Posted: Tue Nov 7th, 2023 04:56 pm
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black06xlt
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 Yeah I'm back. Bought another Ranger I've been working on. Hopefully a new battery takes of your issues



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 Posted: Tue Nov 7th, 2023 04:59 pm
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mhoward
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 black06xlt wrote:
Yeah I'm back. Bought another Ranger I've been working on. Hopefully a new battery takes of your issues
Yeah, I'm certainly hoping so!

What kind of Ranger did you get this round?



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 Posted: Tue Nov 7th, 2023 10:03 pm
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black06xlt
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 mhoward wrote:
black06xlt wrote:

Yeah I'm back. Bought another Ranger I've been working on. Hopefully a new battery takes of your issues
Yeah, I'm certainly hoping so!

What kind of Ranger did you get this round?
A 95 splash regular cab 2wd. I'm currently restoring the truck and putting a v8 in it. Just a mild street strip build.



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 Posted: Wed Nov 8th, 2023 02:15 am
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mhoward
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 Sounds like a fun project!  Pics when you can (required here, ya know)!

New battery purchased and installed.  Sadly, the engine misfire and trans hiccups are still there.  I can't help but feel that the engine and trans issues are related, since they both started pretty much at the same time.  Can't decide if I will have the truck crushed, or simply set fire to it in the field behind my house and roast some hotdogs on it...



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2003 Ranger Edge / Extended Cab / Flareside / 3.0L FLEX / 5r44e Auto / 2WD / 8.8 LS 4:10 / Sonic Blue Pearl

So many mods... so little time...
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 Posted: Wed Nov 8th, 2023 11:27 am
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black06xlt
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 mhoward wrote:
Sounds like a fun project!  Pics when you can (required here, ya know)!

New battery purchased and installed.  Sadly, the engine misfire and trans hiccups are still there.  I can't help but feel that the engine and trans issues are related, since they both started pretty much at the same time.  Can't decide if I will have the truck crushed, or simply set fire to it in the field behind my house and roast some hotdogs on it...
I have a thread for my build. More than likely your issues are the same. Bet ya autozone says you have a bad o2. lol



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 Posted: Wed Nov 8th, 2023 01:18 pm
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mhoward
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 I have two scan tools.  Both of them stated there were NO codes (stored, pending or otherwise).  How can a truck run so badly and not throw a code?  The CEL/MIL isn't on.

Full disclosure: 3 weeks ago this coming Saturday, I did give the engine bay a bath.  Spritzed it down with Dawn & water mix, let it soak a few minutes, then used a long-bristle brush to agitate the dirt off.  Hit it with the pressure washer to rinse (never too close with the nozzle).  I have done this many times over the course of the 8.5 years I've owned it.  But like I said, that was almost 3 weeks ago.  Could it be related?



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 Posted: Wed Nov 8th, 2023 08:36 pm
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mhoward
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Does anybody else see something wrong here?  So my son Cameron (was the owner of 1999 Ranger "Gold Dust") came home from work last night.  Started doing some diagnostics on my truck.  He pulled the plugs and the above pic shows what he found.  Notice how those on Bank 1 are pretty much toast but Bank 2 isn't too bad considering there is 75K miles on them.  So when he got up today, he went to AutoZone (close by) and bought a set of Double Platinum Autolite plugs and a new set of wires.  He installed them and it runs sweet and smooth again!  He then connected his laptop and ran ForScan and the Downstream O2 sensor on that bank is showing 0.00 volts.  Hmmm...  Anyway, I am planning to buy a new O2 sensor to replace that and probably fuel, air & PCV valve and just call it a full tune-up.

He took it out for a good test drive and said it responded strong when he got into the pedal.  Tooled around some side streets in town and it stayed smooth and shifted properly there as well.  In ALL my over 50 years of owning and working on vehicles, I have NEVER had one go South so abruptly and severely as this did.  Usually, performance and such is a gradual thing, unless a wire pops or a coil shorts out.  This was quick and absolute, along with the transmission misbehavior, which is what threw me off.  At any rate, I think I'm good again and I will take care of the O2 sensor and other tune up items this week.



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-- Michael

2003 Ranger Edge / Extended Cab / Flareside / 3.0L FLEX / 5r44e Auto / 2WD / 8.8 LS 4:10 / Sonic Blue Pearl

So many mods... so little time...
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 Posted: Mon Nov 13th, 2023 12:17 am
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mhoward
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 So this weekend, I replaced the air & fuel filters and PCV valve.  Then I replaced all three O2 sensors.  This morning, I removed the new battery, cleaned, primed and painted the battery box.  Truck is still running smooth.  I connected my laptop and fired up ForScan.  I cleared PCM Adaptive Learning to make it start from scratch.  Gonna see how it performs this week!

Our plant is going to shut down the entire week of November 20th.  I plan to take some of that time off to replace all the rear leaf spring bushings and shackles.  I hope to take some more shut down time around Christmas/New Years to rebuild the front suspension as well.



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-- Michael

2003 Ranger Edge / Extended Cab / Flareside / 3.0L FLEX / 5r44e Auto / 2WD / 8.8 LS 4:10 / Sonic Blue Pearl

So many mods... so little time...
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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:14 pm
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JAMMAN

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 mhoward wrote:


Does anybody else see something wrong here?  So my son Cameron (was the owner of 1999 Ranger "Gold Dust") came home from work last night.  Started doing some diagnostics on my truck.  He pulled the plugs and the above pic shows what he found.  Notice how those on Bank 1 are pretty much toast but Bank 2 isn't too bad considering there is 75K miles on them.  So when he got up today, he went to AutoZone (close by) and bought a set of Double Platinum Autolite plugs and a new set of wires.  He installed them and it runs sweet and smooth again!  He then connected his laptop and ran ForScan and the Downstream O2 sensor on that bank is showing 0.00 volts.  Hmmm...  Anyway, I am planning to buy a new O2 sensor to replace that and probably fuel, air & PCV valve and just call it a full tune-up.

He took it out for a good test drive and said it responded strong when he got into the pedal.  Tooled around some side streets in town and it stayed smooth and shifted properly there as well.  In ALL my over 50 years of owning and working on vehicles, I have NEVER had one go South so abruptly and severely as this did.  Usually, performance and such is a gradual thing, unless a wire pops or a coil shorts out.  This was quick and absolute, along with the transmission misbehavior, which is what threw me off.  At any rate, I think I'm good again and I will take care of the O2 sensor and other tune up items this week.
The spark plugs are screaming (as you and your boy already know) "O2 sensor says rich, have to lean out!!!!" and it did so, burning the tips off your plugs. Probably didn't have to replace them all, if you got them out fine you might have been able to wire brush them. But then again I'm a cheap ass.



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:16 pm
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JAMMAN

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 mhoward wrote:
I have two scan tools.  Both of them stated there were NO codes (stored, pending or otherwise).  How can a truck run so badly and not throw a code?  The CEL/MIL isn't on.

Full disclosure: 3 weeks ago this coming Saturday, I did give the engine bay a bath.  Spritzed it down with Dawn & water mix, let it soak a few minutes, then used a long-bristle brush to agitate the dirt off.  Hit it with the pressure washer to rinse (never too close with the nozzle).  I have done this many times over the course of the 8.5 years I've owned it.  But like I said, that was almost 3 weeks ago.  Could it be related?
There is a thread here somewhere where I put an engine in my first 2000 4.0. The head gasket actually blew and started running badly immediately after I pressure washed the engine. Didn't really make the connection till now but that is the exact moment when it started.



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:25 pm
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mhoward
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 JAMMAN wrote:
mhoward wrote:

I have two scan tools.  Both of them stated there were NO codes (stored, pending or otherwise).  How can a truck run so badly and not throw a code?  The CEL/MIL isn't on.

Full disclosure: 3 weeks ago this coming Saturday, I did give the engine bay a bath.  Spritzed it down with Dawn & water mix, let it soak a few minutes, then used a long-bristle brush to agitate the dirt off.  Hit it with the pressure washer to rinse (never too close with the nozzle).  I have done this many times over the course of the 8.5 years I've owned it.  But like I said, that was almost 3 weeks ago.  Could it be related?
There is a thread here somewhere where I put an engine in my first 2000 4.0. The head gasket actually blew and started running badly immediately after I pressure washed the engine. Didn't really make the connection till now but that is the exact moment when it started.
I dunno, Jim.  Mine was running the best it ever did after the plugs, wires and O2 sensors (along with other filters).  Then it started acting up again.  I replaced the coil pack and it's back to smooth.



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:36 pm
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JAMMAN

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 You would think the wires would seal out the water from the coils. I used some dielectric grease when I put mine on.

I do know I wrecked the IAC with the pressure washer. Good thing I had another one sitting in my overstuffed garage.



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:39 pm
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mhoward
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 JAMMAN wrote:
You would think the wires would seal out the water from the coils. I used some dielectric grease when I put mine on.

I do know I wrecked the IAC with the pressure washer. Good thing I had another one sitting in my overstuffed garage.
How did a pressure washer ruin the IAC?

I think I will apply some dielectric to mine since you mentioned it.

Last edited on Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:40 pm by mhoward



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 02:46 pm
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JAMMAN

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 Something about spraying it directly made it lock in the open position. Maybe it was a coincidence but I doubt it.

I also found out that the 4.0 will run just fine with the cam synch unplugged on a 2000. Just throws a code. Scary.



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 Posted: Sat Nov 25th, 2023 03:02 pm
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mhoward
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 JAMMAN wrote:
Something about spraying it directly made it lock in the open position. Maybe it was a coincidence but I doubt it.

I also found out that the 4.0 will run just fine with the cam synch unplugged on a 2000. Just throws a code. Scary.
That is strange, I've never had that happen.  Who knows...

Yeah, not sure I would be comfortable running it that way.



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