I'm having a consistant problem that 2 shops haven't been able to cure. I am going down the road and the tranny seems to go into neutral. then it goes into 3rd gear then to OD. They have checked fluid pressures and everything fine there. Could it be the computer or the cable to the tranny? Any idea on cost of cable or computer? Easy or hard to do on both? Thanks.

 

What year is the truck, and what all does it have done to it.

G

 

It's a 92 F150 Flairside. Only mods are to lower the truck with a Belltech kit (installed by the dealer. It was going to be the dealer owner's personal truck.) The transmission was rebuilt about 18 months ago. No other mods. The total miles are 238,000. Tranny was redone @ 183,000.

 

any codes present? if the problem is consistent it should be picked up on a test drive with a scanner (preferable ngs). did you have the guage attached when problem occured? need to know if it is pressure problem or electrical or clutch pack. as a last resort dealer can install flight recorder that you can drive around with until problem reoccurs.

 

No codes showing. May have to have test drive with equipment attached. I think it may be the cable from the computer. Doesn't do it all the time. The hotter it temp is, the more it does it.

 

I have the same problem with an 89 Thunderbird. It only happens over 40 mph. I have to drive in D instead of OD. I have been told that there is a notorious problem with overdrive hanging up. I tried to e-mail Greg / factory tech, but he has not replied. I am assume the e-mail did not go through or something. I am very curious to see what develops here. Darin

 

if it were a connection problem it should set a code, if the connector was unhooked it would stay in 4th gear with a slew of codes behind, sounds like the mlp problem that shows of on AODE tranmissions . really need to know the line pressure when it acts up as well as the VSS snd GEAR reading on scanner. as for as the 89 BIRD that is a totally different trans and non electronic.

 

There is a very common problem with transmissions of this vintage. It's almost certainly a bad Transmission Range Sensor.

When the sensor starts to fail it tells the PCM that you have shifted to neutral. The PCM, just doing what it's told, shifts the transmission to neutral. The fault only lasts a short time, then it shifts back where it belongs.

Replace the TRS and all should be fine.

 

Now that is a "steely eyed transmission man"!!!!

And by the way, I agree, try the TRS switch, about $60 from your dealer.

G

 

BTW mlp (manual lever position) and tr (trans range sensor) are the same thing, i relalize that most wil know this.

 

Thanks guys! That will help keep the costs down. It will be about 2 weeks before I can act on this. I'll post what happens!