It is so nice of you to offer such good advice. My husband checked on that alldata program and the salesman came out. We sure might use it on my truck. The daily update on my truck is they discovered a bad connector in the wiring harness. They said that was why it was dying, and voltage could make the transmission quit. I drive 120mi a day and this is the 3rd day and it has behaved. I am still watching like a hawk. We are putting the micro tuner in tonight and we’ll see if I am back tomorrow. The bottom line is they have charged over $3000.00 dollars for what may have been a bad connector. I am certainly glad I still was under warranty. The good news I have a new torque converter, a new throttle valve, and a new cpm. Again THANK YOU, it was sure nice to have someone who knows something listen to me.

 

Hi mrslarryb,

Ahh, so it sounds like they may have found the real culprit - I sure hope so!

That certainly is possible to have a wiring harness or connection problem like that - the symptoms sounded so much like the typical shift solenoid problems that many of us have had with the 4R70W's, which is why I was so adamant about heading in that direction - but then I'm a performance guy, and not a good diagnostician. A *good* diagnostician probably would have zeroed right in on this thing happening only at a certain speed (I didn't realize that this was something that only happened at 80 mph until that last post), which *would* point to a sensor or wiring harness issue.

(Hey Rebel Yell - that'll teach you to call me an "expert," I obviously blew this diagnosis!! )

Hopefully the problem they found is the actual culprit so you'll be able to enjoy your vehicle as you should - if you are now able to hit 80 mph and beyond without that problem happening, where it was doing so before at 80 mph consistently, then it sounds like that was the culprit - we'll keep our fingers crossed for you, & thanks for letting us all know what they found.

Best of luck & enjoy your vehicle,

 

Well, Mike, I still consider you the expert and will stand by that comment.

But...this whole predicament just reinforces to me that with these "newer" vehicles and the technology that drives them, there is such a myriad of potential causes for such similar symptoms. Each vehicle is an "individual", and if there are 10 trucks exhibiting the same symptoms, there could very well be 10 unique problems causing the symptoms.

That makes troubleshooting a problem very difficult for ppl like me. I grew up working/tinkering with carbureted engines and vacuum/linkage operated trannys. Learned from helping my dad and on my own. I don't have a clue when it comes to the "new" computer-controlled drivetrains.

Back "in the day", there were fewer contributing factors to a given symptom. Sometimes I miss those days.....but most times I am glad for the better efficiency in our "new" drivetrains.

 

Hi RY,

Those were "the days" - carbs, distributors, vacuum modulator controlled automatics, etc. allowed a lot more "average" vehicle owners to work on them.....sounds like you grew up with the same experiences many of us did!

For the first coupla-few years after computer controls were introduced, in the late 70's/early 80's I disliked PCM control as much as just about anyone - but that quickly changed (for us) as we learned about the systems as far as improving performance goes at least - so now we at least basically understand them, and can control them so very precisely - personally, I think *these* are "the best days" for performance, as we now have the technology to make BIG horsepower on pump gas with a clean exhaust. But the average vehicle owner can't do certain things anymore, that is true.......there's always trade-offs.

>>this whole predicament just reinforces to me that with these "newer" vehicles and the technology that drives them, there is such a myriad of potential causes for such similar symptoms. Each vehicle is an "individual", and if there are 10 trucks exhibiting the same symptoms, there could very well be 10 unique problems causing the symptoms.<<

I kinda felt that way about this situation, but then it hit me, we didn't know that this was a problem that happened only at 80 mph, or that happened consistently at a certain speed in other words, until her last post or two - or perhaps I should say that *I* didn't realize that - maybe I just missed it - but knowing *that*, it then points to the real possibility of a PCM, sensor or wiring harness issue - what was apparently found as the actual culprit. Without knowing (or realizing) that, her symptoms sounded exactly like the classic shift solenoid problems the 4R70W's are known for.

You're absolutely right in that troubleshooting modern vehicles is far more complex than older vehicles were - in Ford's case, they do a pretty good job of giving their service technicians troubleshooting flowcharts on their service CD's & DVD's - but the average vehicle owner doesn't see that stuff.

It brings up a point that doesn't get discussed often enough, and that is, for anyone that is going to keep their vehicle long enough to be out of warranty, or who is doing modifications, etc. - they need to buy the service manual for their vehicle - each owners manual for FoMoCo vehicles lists the availability & ordering information on how to get the service manual for that vehicle, and this is something many more owners should do.

Yeah, a situation like hers (mrslarryb) does tend to make us long for the old days when troubleshooting was much simpler, you're right......