I have a 94 king cab f150 with about 240K miles, type U 4R70W transmission. Ugly as hell but run great except OD... Previous owner told me he had replaced the tran. filter not long ago... This was about two years ago when I traded for it. I cant find a straight answer nor identical issue regarding my overdrive. IT IS NOT THE SHIFT CABLE SHORTING. For a while it popped out of overdrive intermittently driving down the highway and I was unable to use the OD button to re-engage. After many attempts the OD light would go off and it would be engaged fine for a time then kick off and the light back on... Now? It has illuminated and I have NO OD... it is NOT the shifter/cable... I'm suspecting the solenoid under the pan. I'm on limited income and cant afford a bunch of trial and error parts purchasing nor deal with the frustration. Can somebody give me a straight answer what failed here. I'm ex-military.... Straight to the point no nonsense song and dance... Not a big fan of exhaustive explanations. What is the MOST likely culprit and Ill replace the d** thing and pray first that this be the issue...

 

I would find a Ford EEC (OBD1) code reader and see if there are any trouble codes. It does store transmission faults. OBD2 didn't come till 1996 so a OBD2 reader won't work. O'Reilly's here has the correct reader and will read them for you in the parking lot free of charge.

 

I live in the sticks... probably 90 miles between me and an Oriely's.... Advance & Autozone sell them for $30. Not paying $30 for something Ill probably use once... There are three solenoids under the pan... One I can probably rule out right away... The torque converter one... the other two? I suspect the pressure sensor ECP I believe its called?? I could pay $100 and replace all three or a third of that and buy the one that's fried... I live on disability... its a 22 year old truck... You cant tell me out of twenty two years a Ford guy hasn't run into this OD problem before and it not being the stinking shift cable shorted... Which one and ill take a chance.... I'm that lucky... Its one of those two solenoids... I doubt its the bands or anything else.... this has been intermittent on and off periods and now completely crapped.... I suspect it began after the previous owner said he replaced the filter.... based on repairs Ive made he was a half-a** backyard band aid mechanic. Amazingly enough most everything on the beast is great now except this thorn in my side... ya cant find a strait answer on these forums... If i knew which one i would order it through mail, pick up some fluid at wally world and have it done in a couple hours out in my garage building... this ain't rocket science I there should be no need to jump through hoops and test anything. Its happened many times before... its an F150... Simple question... Which of these three solenoids is most likely to crap out and cause this... In 22 years time of a F150 you cant possible get me to believe this isn't a reoccurring issue and repairable without paying some yahoo wheel barrows of cash to do what I am quite capable of myself nor replacing the entire trany... Rebuild or replacements will be 1000 easy... truck ain't worth that. Even i junkyard will most likely jack you up.... its all about the buck these days...

 

You will most likely use a code reader more than once if you keep the truck, but there is a way to read out the codes using a jumper wire in the diagnostic socket and counting the MIL flashes if you don't wish to buy a proper tool. You can also use an analog voltmeter if you have one.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/11...an-eec-iv.html

Transmission codes are 600 series.

Proper code reader:

 

A test light and volt meter I have... Reading over those instructions though? Any self test lights have long since been disabled as the previous owner ripped out most of the "excess" stuff under the hood.... This truck is stipped down bare bones... Its 22 years old... Like i said... simple question... What is the most likely and most common niod to crap out of the three in the last 22 years and that's the one i replace. If its not that one? I get the other one... If it still is screwed up? Well? I'll deal with that when the time comes... This truck is basically a run to town truck, haul some firewood and the like with the occasional road trip up to Columbus... I'm a vet... I painted it camouflage with 20 in waloly world paint and some reeds out back for gods sake.... I am not spending nor investing into special tools for it... Most likely never use them again... Have enough stuff laying around like that... Driving to C town without OD burns some gas... Would it most likely be the ECP solenoid or the other? that's the question for you long time F150 mechanics... Aint my first one, but my first with this issue... Just replaced the front tank pump and repaired the float.... Ill take my chances and replace it then go from there...

 

You don't need any self test lights if you have a voltmeter, just follow the Analog VOM instructions. I'm not trying to avoid your question - I don't KNOW which solenoid may be bad, if it's even a solenoid causing the problem! Reading the codes WILL help a lot.

 

Like I said.... Simple question.... Simple answer... There is no requirement of knowing what is wrong with the transmission. I simply want to know....

Which of these three solenoids..... Located behind the pan.....
In the last 22 years of this trucks life span....
HISTORICALLY &/or ON AVERAGE
Has failed the most...
Instructions? It states a timing light? A timing light? Why the hell do I need a timing light? Ill take my chances on the ECP solenoid I suppose...

 

You don't need a timing light to read out the codes, you can skip that step. You are simply looking for codes. You can do that with your voltmeter.

 

The simple and straightforward answer is that those solenoids are very damned reliable. None are more prone to fail than the others.

My thoughts are that if you aren't in the mood or don't have the ability to check the codes that you should replace all of those solenoids while you are in the pan because it sucks pissing around with that multiple times. I'm betting you will be back looking for something else to replace, but since you are specifically asking which solenoids then that is your simple answer.

As a guy that does this daily, I'm just going to tell you that your're doing it wrong by not listening to good advice. There is more to it than solenoids. Much more. Parts swapping can get spendy quick but often wont get you to your solution. I see it all the time. Particularly on older trucks. Without the codes you are flying blind without a destination.

D

 

My God? Can somebody please filter out all the bull**** then and give me the plane straight forward simple instructions for a 5 liter 94.... Like maybe? Jump the test plug, turn on the key, touch the Volt meter probe to a,b,c,d terminals and count the pulses in between pauses on the needle? Use the code list to find your fault.... I'm assuming its probably that simple but you need to sift through a bunch of unneeded crap and acronyms to conclude this? Its a 94 F150 with a 5.0 liter... My God? I'm sure glad the aircraft manuals I used in the military weren't written like this.... Some of those guys would have crashed a helicopter for sure... The one who wrote this was writing it for a trained auto mechanic, not the back yard mechanic... I work on my vehicles when the break.... Not everyday... I don't know all the acronyms and terminology... Had I been the technical writer of these instruction I would have wrote them much different so that a man with absolutely no experience could easily follow understand them... Maye divide the instructions pertaining to the different engines apart... Seven years ago I experienced an 18 minute a death... Really tends to mess a guy up.... Attention span of a nat, short term memory loss and focus are very lacking these days.... i used to calculate Algebra in my head and never forgot anything, especially numbers...sifting through paragraphs of unnecessary information like 7.0 diesel engines and timing lights tends to confuse and frustrate the hell outta me... How the hell am I supposed to know what steps to skip and omit? Your absolutely right.... The Codes would be great.... getting the dam things is the problem.... Im willing to bet when I am CLEARLY instructed how to retrieve them.... It willl turn out to be so simple a ten year old could do so.... The straightest answer I have got so far and most helpful was that those solenoids rarely fault.... Which probably sucks for me as this means its most likely a much bigger problem requiring the transmission to drop. Although I have the tools and building to perform such a task, patients and willingness at 50 now has worn thin... ten years ago and earlier, no problem... If that's the case and a cheap junkyard one is not available. They want as much for used crap as the rebuilt? Most likely the truck will be replaced...

 

It's by far most likely electrical, so I say it's a no on the transmission drop.

I would buy a decent code reader on ebay or amazon. They can get it to you quickly and you will then know what you are working with.

But that's just me, I like to make things stupid simple and effective.

D

 

Is this easier to follow? The top section shows the hookup for either a test light or a VOM. Hook it up, turn on the key, and watch the light or meter.

http://www.troublecodes.net/ford/

Here's a video:


She only describes 2 digit codes but you should have 3 digit codes on a 94. If the check engine light works, you can simply sit in the cab and count the flashes, no meter or test light needed, just the jumper wire.

I still think you should spend the $30 for a reader - did you troubleshoot and repair your helicopters with improper tools and test equipment? I think not - I spent enough time around P-3's to know what proper maintenance practices are.

 

Here is another question.... Is it possible the OD on/off switch/button is simply bad? When depressing the button its not making contact? Its not a shorted cable.... Ive completely removed that possibility by cutting out that section and rewired/connected the button under the steering column to completely remove that fault in design... If its not a short, the button, nor any of these solenoids? And the problem is only with the trans. going into OD... It does tend to delay up shifting as times.... I can only assume it will be and expensive and difficult repair/replacement.... Clutch.... 3rd gear bands or some other pain in the *** expensive repair? Like i said... I live on disability and raise a 15 year old alone.... I don't have much money to spend on this beast... I dam sure ain't financing anything through a filthy bank... Cant drive around in 3rd gear either... Might be forced to go without a repair until I save enough for a transmission replacement. I'm not so sure I want to be ripping apart a trans... Ive rebuilt motors.... Transmission scare the hell outta me... All those parts... easy to screw up...

 

Electrical? Oh please tell me so.... That i can fix and do so cheap.... Ill watch that video and see what I come up with... Thanks!

 

When Uncle sam is paying for the special tools and peoples lives are at stake that is a WHOLE different world that my 22 year old f150 does not fall into.... Im disabled living on disability.... $30 may not be much to you, but its a lot to me.... Dont need a lecture from anyone regarding my military service... As I stated before.... This beast was stripped.... I have a list a mile long of fuel and intake codes i can ignore and some i have already corrected. I have one set of numbers in the 600 range.... Wouldnt ya know? 666.... Not even listed as a code.... Is the dam thing evil possesed? Glad i didn't waste $30 bucks now... I retested it three times to be sure.... 666 is the ONLY 600 range code, most are in the 500 range, 124 and 132 not even listed.... go figure... Even had my son come out and write them down as i read them off to be sure I wasn't missing anything.... Any explanations?