We have a 98 F150 V8 4.6 L. When towing our trailer with bikes (approx. 3700 lbs.) when gas pedal is floored, the RPM's stay at 4 and the transmission doesn't shift and squeels the entire time. The truck does seem to struggle even though this weight is acceptable for this truck. Is there a problem with the transmission? Also, replaced the fan clutch because it was staying on continueously and very loud, still stays on and is very loud. Any ideas?

 

Hi HG Welcome!

Obviously you have a tranny problem. Maybe you'll get some real helpful info. here...meantime--assuming its a a/t 4R70W

Did you check the a/t fluid?

Did the "TCIL" (o/d) light flash?

Does "4" mean "4000" rpm? What gear were you in when you got a "no downshift"?

Do you have reverse gear?

Fan is clutch drive...should only come on when needed..not stay on full time. Seems new one may be defective? JMO!

Keep checking for updates. Good luck...OT

 

Hi Old Timer-

Yes - it is an a/t, not sure about the other.

We have not checked the a/t fluid - will do today.

The TCIL light did not flash (I don't think we have a light), we only have an overdrive button on the on the end of the gear shift that only allows on or off. It didn't matter if we had it on or off. Ran the same either way.

Yes, 4 means 4000 rpm's. We were in 2nd gear.

Reverse is fine.

We will look into replacing the fan clutch again.

Thanks for you help.

 

h-g01,

if the lever was in 2 then the 4R70W is locked in 2 it will not down shift. This is a feature of this tranny. It is for low traction situations where the torque afforded in 1st would be too much and would cause excessive wheel spin. The truck will start off in 2nd gear. Do not tow with the tranny in 2nd gear.

regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Sorry JMC-

What I meant was that the truck leavor was in drive but while shifting through the gears while staying in drive it stays in what we thought was 2nd gear and doesn't continue shifting through the other gears until we reach a hill and start decending down hill. The rmps stay at 4000. I hope I am explaining it correctly.

 

hg,

If I understand correctly the tranny doesn't shift back into 3rd or OD after a downshift It sounds like a bad OD band. It needs to be looked at by a tranny shop before it gets worse.

Regards

JMC

 

In the meantime, you can run to your local parts store and get a quart of Lucas for trannys. I work part time at AutoZone and people swear by Lucas.

Then, to my luck, my wife's tranny in her CRV auto w/ 53k miles started to "slip". With nothing to lose, I added 12 oz to her tranny and within 5 miles we noticed a difference, now, some 3 days later, it seems just normal.

Hope this helps.

 

I think I have the same problem with my 98.
If you are pulling a trailer it seems like it wants to "hold" on to second gear and doesn't want to shift up. I have run it up to 4000 rpm like that and if you hold the throttle steady it will not shift up. If you let off the throttle it will. I have just been living with it. I seems to shift normal without a trailer and I don't pull one very often. I know it sould not act this way so if some one knows what is wrong please let us know. I don't want to rebuild my trans yet but I don't want it to blow up either.

Thanks,
Mike

 

MVILLE656,

You are right on the money. If we are not pulling anything it seems to be fine except a little aggravated on steep hills. I live in Utah so you know we have very big mountains. I am going to take it into the Ford dealer and have a diagnostic done so I will let you know what I find out. Maybe it will help you too.

Only one,

In the meantime I will try your idea. Thanks for the input.

Dawn

 

Did you ever get your truck to the dealer?

 

No, I haven't made it to the dealership yet. I bought the Lucas for transmissions, we will put it in tonight. Have you tried this?

 

I haven't tried the additives. Let me know how it goes.

Mike

 

I have a 97 f150 4x4 sc with an automatic transmission. Mine is doing the same thing. when i tow my camper down the highway, it sticks in second and will not shift until i let up on the gas. it'll then go into the next gear. i have also been living with it. i always run mine with the OD off. i've also notice that my truck starts idling really bad after i've towed the camper for awhile, but its only when i come to a stop. its almost as if its going to stall, but it doesn't miss when running down the highway. sometimes when i stop, its like the transmission is stuck in 2nd or something, it simply doesn't hardly want to move when i hit the gas, but it will eventually take off. its only a slight hesitation, but its making me nervous. just like ya'll, it only does this with a load. i know this is getting long winded, but without a load, my truck seems to have a clunking when i take off from a stop. it almost feels like someone has bumped me in the rear bumper, i also feel this when i let off the gas. are you having this problem? don't know if that is tranny or rear end. please let me know any info you find out on the non shifting thing.

 

Plug-

Mine is also making the clunking. Usually off the line. A friend of mine mentioned that maybe the rear gears are the problem. Anyone heard of this? Still haven't made it into the dealer. Hopefully early next week.

 

Sounds like this is a problem with the older trucks. I have a clunk also, but I think mine is coming from the front end. I can feel it through tthe steering wheel. I jacked up the front end and shook everything but couldn't find anything wrong so mabye it is the same as the two of you. I have noticed with mine it will do it if I take off in the morning with out letting it warm up for a few seconds. I know that this is not good for it but I'm always in a hurry. After it shifts through the first shift it is fine. I hope we can find a easy fix for this. It sounds like alot of people are having the same problems.

Mike