Hey guys, I have a 95 F-150 5.0L with the 4R70W. My overdrive gear was slipping pretty bad when it went to shift and the other day I started leaking a bunch of fluid out of somewhere on the trans so I decided to just go up to the junkyard and pull one and replace it.

I pulled the trans out of a 03 F-150 4.2L and swapped it into the truck and got everything fired up but the problem that I'm having is that when I put the truck in Drive I think its sticking in 2nd gear and it won't downshift to first or shift up into 3rd.

The overdrive off button on the shifter is flashing too so I think maybe its in a limp home mode of some sort.

I swapped the electronic piece that goes on the arm to the shift linkage off my 95 trans into the new one and I also swapped over the output shaft speed sensor. Are there any other sensors that I need to swap over?

Thanks for any help guys

 

The electronics on the inside of the 03 are MUCH different. You can either re-pin the harness on your truck to account for that or swap over the internal wiring harness and the solenoids.

It's been a while since I messed with those older transmissions, but there also may be an issue with the TCC solenoid on your old transmission having either more or less resistance than the one from the 03. An ohm meter can sort that out. You really need to have the correct TCC solenoid in there and that may dictate which route you go on either a re-pin or electronics swap.

If you need more detailed help, call me at 317-514-0816. I have instructions and pictures for the harness re-pin procedure.

Good luck
Darrin

 

I was looking around the web and people were saying that I would need to replace the TCC solenoid because they have different ohms.

I have my old trans still, am I able to just pull the TCC Solenoid out of it and swap it into the new trans?

Is it okay that I swapped over that harness on the shifter linkage and swapped out the OSS Sensor from the old trans?

I would prefer to go which route doesn't involve me having to drop the trans again, I had to wrestle with it the son of a gun for the better part of two days in the driveway to get it in there lol!

 

Yeah, the 95 truck uses a different TCC solenoid that has a different resistance than the new one. Trouble is that there isn't a way to connect the old style TCC into the new style harness.

So, what you need to do is get a valve body gasket to go in between the valve body and the case, drop the pan, drop the valve body and swap the electronics from your old transmission into your new one.

This should solve your issues. Not the easiest solution, but also not the hardest either.

The harness and everything on the MLPS (shifter linkage sensor and harness) should be fine as long as the alignment marks are aligned in neutral.

 

Welp I got all three of the solenoids swapped over today and I got my old harness put into the new trans. Now when I drive the truck I don't have my overdrive light flashing and I don't think the PCM is upset anymore. But the problem is still there where the truck is starting off in 2nd and it won't shift at all.

Do you think its possible that low fluid could cause it not to shift from 1st to 2nd? I think I have probably got about 8 quarts of fluid in there right now (I know it takes about 14) from losing some from a leaking pan gasket and from taking everything apart I got a nice load on the driveway.

 

I guess I would start with checking the sensor that goes on the gear selector linkage. There are lines on it that need to be aligned with the transmission in neutral. That sensor is what tells the transmission what gear it's supposed to be in. An absence of a flashing OD light is progress and is what is pointing me to that sensor as possibly being misaligned.

 

Make sure you end up looking like this with the transmission in neutral where the thin line is aligned with the corresponding thin line and not one of the thicker grooves. Those grooves are used with an alignment tool and aren't used for visual alignment in neutral

 

I think you're on to something, I will look at this tonight when I get home from work. Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it

 

Let me know if there is anything I can do. I have a bunch of pictures and info for just about anything you need on these transmissions.

Darrin

 

Just wanted to post up and say that was 100% the issue, I got under there and had to use a paper towel to clean that little white ring up enough to even make out that it was white. I found the little line in it and it was ever so slightly off of the neutral mark on the housing. I undid those two bolts and jimmied it till they were right on the money and tightened it up. I went for a spin and it went to shift and started slipping so I knew I had fixed that problem. I parked the truck and went to the auto parts store and picked up two more containers of fluid, started the truck up and put another gallon container in there and took it for a spin and it shifts perfect everything is good to go now!!!

Thanks a bunch, without your help I would have pulled my hair out and taken this puppy to a shop

 

That's awesome. Best case scenario. Love when that happens and glad that I could help.

D