'04 4.6L V8 Transmission Problems......

Hey everyone,

I have a '04 Explorer Eddie Bauer w/ 4.6L V8 which has 80K miles. My transmission will shift out of gear when suppost to when accelerating, then delay for a few seconds, and then slam into gear... Is my transmission going out??? Sometimes it will also slam into Reverse when I go from Drive to Reverse... any suggestions...

Thanks!

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First thing to do is check the fluid level. It might be seriously low.

The only way to check the level is to take it to the dealer... I looked for a dipstick for about half an hour, then finally got the manual out, and it says the car was designed without one, if you need fluid checked, or anything done, to go to the dealer...But if no fluid leaks out, where would it go? since its a sealed place.... ??

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If, and I don't know if it does, if it has a vacuum modulator valve those sometimes get a pinhole leak in the diaphragm and then the engine sucks the fluid out and burns it. If it's really bad you'll see white smoke, but if it's jut a little leak you won't.

If it's not that and it shows no signs of leaking then it may be just an electric problem, I'm sure it's got several electric solenoids inside the tranny.

Modulators are long gone -- the computer that controls this transmission (as well as the engine) has all the information already.

To me, the reason that Ford no longer installs dipsticks is simply improving its dealers' bottom line. With all those imported hybrids coming from Japan, those poor guys can't many any money selling domestic product, so they need an incentive to stay in business. How about deleting the engine oil dipstick and drain plug too? Wouldn't that be wonderful? You want your oil changed, sir? No problem, we just need to pull your engine out and drop the pan. That will be $1250... For sure, some on this group will come with other reasons like the average owner having no clue how to check fluid level and causing damage by overfilling. What can I say? Driving requires a lot of skill; perhaps we should all hire professional drivers, all employed by the dealership?

If you don't see any drips under the vehicle and there is no oily gunk floating in the coolant, it's probably not low on fluid. It could be as simple as the filter getting loose and starving the transmission or a bad pressure regulator. If it's persistent, there will be a code set. You can read those yourself or go to a place like Autozone that does that for free. But there is virtually nothing the owner can do with the resulting information anyway. If there is a transmission business in your area with good reputation (rare, unfortunately), I would head there instead of the dealership.

I let a similar problem like this go on for about 50K.

When I finally got it fixed this year, was suprised how cheap it was to fix. Just need solenoid replacement, and of course a fluid change. Runs like new now.

Total repair at dealer less than $500.