I have a 2008 F150. About 9 months ago, I noticed the transmission started acting up. After it had been driven for about 30 minutes or so, it would get pretty loud. It also had trouble shifting from reverse to drive occasionally. I received a transmission malfunction light, so I took it into a transmission shop and they said it needed a rebuild. I had that done, but it did not seem to fix the problem. I took it back in a couple times and they said it was fine.

About 2 weeks ago, it started doing the same thing again, getting real loud and not shifting. It also got another transmission malfunction message. The shop said they test drove it and didn't see or hear anything. They said there were no codes on it either.

Today, I ran Torque Pro on it while I was driving and monitored the transmission temperature. It got up to 240' in normal, mostly light highway traffic. It would not go down and kept climbing, even while cruising or sitting still. I pulled the codes and they indicated a transmission over temp error.

So now, a couple things. First, I am thinking that shop is shady and may have scammed me. Second, what should I be looking at to get this fixed. I can put a cooler on it, but I don't think it should be getting that how under normal conditions unless something else is seriously wrong.

Thanks,
Brian

 

Can you post the exact codes?

How does the fluid look? Is it to the correct level?

From the sounds of it, the shop didn't do anything.

Also, putting a cooler in is not going to fix the actual problem.

 

When the transmission was rebuilt did the cooling lines get flushed? Does it have a second cooler in series with the radiator? If so, that cooler should have been replaced when the transmission was rebuilt.

 

The thermostatic cooler bypass also needs to be checked for proper operation.

 

So the codes I am getting are:
P0626 - Powertrain
P1783 - Powertrain - Transmission Over - Temerature Condition
U2013 - Network

The P0626 seems to be electrical. Every once in a while while sitting at a red light, I will get a message saying check charging system. I can usually hear the engine speed drop by a few rpm's as it comes on. I had read about it a while back and most of what I read said to ignore it. I had already replaced the alternator and battery a while back, but it kept doing this.
The P1783 is the one I am concerned with.
U2013 indicates a compass needs calibration or something.


I also looked under the hood and there is already what looks like an aftermarket transmission cooler on it. I say aftermarket because it is loosely held on with zip ties.


I asked the person I bought the truck from and they do not recall ever installing it. They also never towed anything, so shouldn't have been a reason too. I am wondering if the shop did this when they "rebuilt" the transmission.

 

What the heck? A two y/o install that? lol

 

Is this the first time that you've looked under the hood? You should have looked under there before you bought the truck and you should already know if the trans coller was there or not at the time. Regarding the transmission; if there's a problem with it take it back to the shop that rebuilt it and make them fix it! Stop letting them stall you until the warranty is out. Give them a week to make it RIGHT, no more. If they can't or won't fix it, take it somewhere else and have it fixed and then take the first shop to small claims court and demand that they pay for the repair that they were supposed to have done.

You should have paid for the rebuild using a credit card and you should have filed for a refund with your CC company within 60 days if the repair wasn't done properly.

 

I would pursue the alternator problem. It could be causing the other two codes.

 

I purchased the truck from my parents earlier this year, but I have been driving it for a while. I have never seen the cooler before and I have been under the hood a time or two over the last 12 years. I did confirm that the transmission shop installed it. They are correcting the install.

When I was driving home from work yesterday, traffic was stop and go, mostly stopped, which caused the transmission to get pretty warm. It started whining and struggling to shift gears. I took it by the shop so they could see it at it's worst. We went for a test drive and I was able to show them what the problem was. The temperature from the OBDII showed the transmission fluid to reach 275'. It also got the Transmission Malfunction light while he was driving. He could hear the whining and feel the shifting problem. The whining starts when the temperature reaches about 245' and sound like a bad fan clutch.

The mechanic driving said it is a temperature sensor causing the problem. He was 100% confident of this. Once we got back and he described the problem to a couple other guys there, they both came to the same conclusion that it was the sensor. They are replacing the sensor for the cost of parts only. It was not included in the original rebuild.

While I am not 100% confident in the diagnosis, I will see once I get it back, hopefully later today.

 

A bad sensor causing the transmission to whine and not shift correctly???? I hope they are right but I would bet money they are not right.

 

I agree.

 

I picked it up this afternoon. They replaced the temperature sensor, filter and fluid. As suspected, it is not fixed.
I drove about 15 miles up and down The highway to get it up to temperature. It stayed around 195 so I thought it may have been better. I got off and started hitting the red lights. The temperature very slowly creeped up to 240. It seemed to take much longer, but it did get up there . I think it would have kept going higher if I wouldn't have shut it down. It was starting to make the whining noise and missing shifts as well.

I am going to take it back Monday.

 

Cut your losses short. Go to a different shop. This shop does not know what they are doing. I can tell by the way they installed the cooler. I wonder if they even used the correct Mercon V, or just some random multi-vehicle ATF which is usually a Dex/Merc equivalent.

Don't look for a solution online. While everyone could give you some advice, and some very good advice, nobody can "see" your truck over the interweb. Someone competent needs to check your truck out.

 

Ok, took the advice and took it to another shop. They ran a full diagnostic on it, checked the fluid, opened it up and they could not find anything at all. They test drive it for an hour or so and didn’t have any problems. The next day when I drove it home from work, it was overheating again. Took it back to shop 2 and showed them. We test drove it together and they were able to see what I was talking about. They kept it again and cleans out the bypass valve. Drove it again and it was fine.
The next day on the way to work and home, it was overheating again. On the way home, the temperature readout according to Torque Pro was 280. The transmission malfunction light came on and it started slipping and jerking into gear violently. It felt like the transmission was going to fall out. I took it back to the shop and showed them. They hooked their computer up to it and the temp read 235. Plugged my adapter back in and it was reading 275.
i am not sure which one is right, but there are definitely problems. The owner of the shop is going to drive it around for the weekend so he can feel the problem.
the one thing I have noticed is that when the temperature rises, it never goes down, no matter what I do. If I stay on the highway cruising, the temp stays at a steady 195. If I get caught in traffic or on a side street and the temp goes up, it will not go down on the highway.

 

My best advice is to replace all the lines, bypass, cooler (not to mention properly mount it!), refill with Mercon V.