I have about 76,000 miles on my 97 f-150 bought new in june 96 has 4.2l with auto (not sure of trans type) After having the fluid and filter changed at 60k miles....started noticing slippage between 1-2 only if i got on it a bit. At 76000 miles i was 50 miles into a 100 mile trip on level intersate and the transmission lost OD...when I started to slow down I tried locking out OD and got no response. Now i only have 1st and 2nd (barely) and no upper gears. What the hell has happened? The fluid level is good but has an acrid smell (which I just happened to have checked before the trip and it looked and smelled fine).

I am being told that it probably needs to be replaced at a cost of anywhere from $1300 to $3000. I would like to know what exactly is wrong before I take it to a transmission shop. One shop told me they could hook it up to a computer and it would tell them exactly what is wrong.....is this true?

Most other shops wont even discuss possibilites until I let them tear into it first....at a price of course.

I have babied this truck on every mile...never abused. Seems like a transmission would hold out better.

Dont know what type fluid shop used when they serviced it.

Thanks

 

I just had mine rebuilt a month ago after only 90k miles. I lost 3rd and 4th gear completely. The guy showed me the case after he pulled it off and showed my where parts of the mold didn't have enough metal and some of the bores weren't done completely. Now as I type this I'm sitting stranded at my families house in southern California. It blew something out and lost all fluid all over the underbody and tailgate. It had nothing in it to even pull over to a safe place out of the way of traffic.
I am so furious over this. This is the 3rd time in 1.5 years that I've had some kind of rediculous problem. The first time I had to pay 1,000 bucks and the second time was 3,000. Who knows how much it will be. I know that the tow home by itself is going to cost a pretty penny.
Good luck with yours. I just thought I'd vent and share my misery. I hope you don't have the same problems I'm having.