Hi I need some help here ! I bought a 1996 Ford Ranger Ranger 4wd with the extended cab,4 liter engine.I think it has the 4R55E trans I bought the truck about 3 years ago and haven driven the truck but about 500 miles a year(only when fishing or hunting). The truck has had a shifting issue since I first bought it ,the Trans will shift ok sometimes but when it gets warm after about a mile of driving with 2 or 3 shift series it will rev up several hundred RPMS and then shift. Does not seem to matter whether I shift the trans by hand or just let it shift. It seems to shift better when its cold outside ! Almost forgot sometimes when first started and I put it in gear it will take a few seconds to go into gear. I had the trans fluid and filter changed shortly after I got the truck and that did not seem to help anything. I am not a mechanic and on a fixed income and dont want to pay for a trans rebuild when it might be something simple.
I know very little about transmission but in similar situations have been told to drive it until it finishes tearing up and then fix it. I used to have a chevy that clunked when you accelerated out of overdrive. I took it to a guy and he rode with me. He told me he could fix it now for $1800 or I could drive it until it tore up and then he could fix it for $1800. I drove it a long time....probably 10 years.
Start asking around about a good transmission guy who is honest. Then let him look at your truck. You probably have time since you don't use it much and its still working.
"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn
Bcraig, maybe you can pick up a used trans at a junk yard. I'm not sure how to gauge your aptitude/access to tools/etc., but that could be a cheap fix.
Originally Posted by 16penny
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
Have you ever completely disconnected the battery terminals? If you haven't, try that first. I'm not familiar with your specific tranny, but some of them can be thrown into the "limp home mode" by a short (in of all places) a taillight or some other such electrical problem not even associated with the tranny...continuing to drive it in the condition you describe, will likely result in a blown seal at the tranny pump. Disconnecting the battery will probably "reset" the computer. Good luck.
In 1986 I did a lot of A4LD transmissions. A real lot of A4LD transmissions. I had to look at what has changed.
From the C3 to the A4LD 1 ~ 2 shift is the same. The problim would sound like a 1-2 clutch pack / clutch pack seal. Fine cold, warm the fluid thins a little and a delayed shift.
However some good advice was given. 1986 rules are still about the same. If I had to go into the transmission, the cost would have been about the same.
'If' your not piling shavings up in the pan.
Smell the fluid, overhaul parts smell burnt. I doubt it will leave you stranded.
Edit: Direct clutch pack / direct clutch pack seals. Note: Cost still the same.
Had the same transmission in my explorer, but just traded it out at probably close to 400K miles for a riding mower. LOL.
It had a weird shifting issue once it hit about 350K miles.
Now and then it would grind going into R, and then the OD light would flash.
After months of research, my thought was it needed new shift solenoids and there were a couple of spots in the thing that needed extra holes drilled. But I never got that far.
Fluid never went down. It was never burned smelling either.
Mine did take a bit to go into gear, especially R, and especially when it was cold but once it did, all was fine then...
Good luck.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
