2001 Sport Trac transmission problems

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Chad Fielder

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Joined
Apr 12, 2002
Messages
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Location
Birmingham, AL
I’ve had my 2001 Sport Trac since new back in November of 2000. I had no problems whatsoever through this past winter. However I've had some problems with my transmission this year and was hoping to get some input/opinions on what situation I may be in.



Back in the spring I had the 90k mile service done at the Ford dealership that has done about everything to my Sport Trac (oil changes, recalls, minor maintenance stuff). They’ve generally been very good about their service for me and friends so I have no direct gripe with the dealership. But I forgot to tell them not to flush the transmission this time as I had heard it wasn’t recommended for higher mileage vehicles (or at all in some opinions). Once I realized I forgot this it was too late so what was done was done.



A few days later the overdrive off light started blinking. It wouldn't do it often but when it would start it wouldn't go off unless I stopped and restarted. It did this for several months as I didn't have time to deal with it and the transmission wasn't giving me any noticeable trouble. I figured it was a dirty/bad sensor or something. I did notice when in town if I manually turned over drive off the light wouldn’t come on. So I did this to avoid seeing (and having to deal with) the problem.



Well, one day as I was about to pull into the driveway the whole vehicle started shaking like it was trying to slip into park. So I took it back to the Ford dealership. They decided it was the control valve assembly but couldn't guarantee that was the only problem until they got into the transmission. They wanted to sell me a new in the box transmission from Ford with a 3 year warranty but the price difference between a control valve assembly and the parts/labor of replacing it and a new transmission was $1100 vs $3400. So I picked the cheaper option in the hopes that would get the job done long enough for me to get to next year at least.



At first that seemed to do the job and I had no problems for about 2 months. But just a couple days ago the old problem seemed to return. No noticeable slipping at first but the light started blinking again. Then after pulling over and turning the engine off and on again it didn't seem to down shift right when it should have gone into overdrive. I stopped again and started off without problems. It hasn’t had the problem since it showed up a couple days ago with a decent amount of around town driving (and manually turning off over drive again). But I have an appointment next week to have it looked at again anyway.



At this point I wish I had just sucked it up and got the whole thing replaced months ago but at the time I had just bought a new laptop and was in one of those months with more bills than usual.





So the question is am I screwed into having to get the whole transmission replaced or could this be the same control valve problem or some related problem? If it will require a replacement/rebuild would I generally be better off having the Ford dealership work on it or some transmission shop? I’ve heard some real horror stories about some of the local transmission shops (weeks to get the car back, gaskets not properly sealed and the shop denying they didn’t do it right, generally sloppy work, arbitration hearings about problems etc etc) so I hesitate to go there unless I get some ridiculous quote from the dealership this time.



Thanks for any input that can be provided.

 
sounds like a new tranny is in order... I've been thru 4 or 5 now... i cant recall i've literally lost count. but that three year warranty cover all of them but one - thank god. but i think they are still over charging you.
 
Find a good independent trans shop. Most likly get a rebuild for aprox.$2k..

With the transmissions in our trac any time the O/D light starts flashing, get it looked at imediatly. Can be the difference of just the valve body or complete trans.. good luck
 
I have to same problem, and I pretty much did the same thing. i have actually been trying to tear mine apart. I put a new valve body in and shift kit, after I did this it wouldnt run through all the gears and would only go forward, NO reverse and No neutral. So today I tore back in it and adjust the shift rail linkage and put the pan back on added some fluid and now I got nothing!!!! I try Drive or reverse and even 1st or 2nd not a thing all it does is rev up like its it neutral. Please tell me something good..... ps sorry for the thread steal
 
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Yeah, I figured I was pretty much screwed when I saw the light blinking again this week. I wish I had gone ahead and had the whole thing done right back in May. The $3400 included labor, parts, tax everything and they had one in stock so I wouldn't have been without it for very long.



If anyone in the Hoover area of Birmingham Al knows of a good trans shop I'd look into it. But like I said I've heard nothing but bad about them. There are a handful of good general mechanics but they are always backed up.
 
I have had mine blinking on and off for the past 3 years. It is very random and only happens during a cold start in the AM. I found if I take it slow and let the tranny rev up it never blinks. if I come out of the gate faster it does (sometimes). I stop, restart, and don't see it again at all. I'm probably flirting with disaster :) .. but maybe it is just a sensor.
 
ChadF



If you wanted to get a bullet proof tranny you might try Level 10 transmissions.

I think they are located in NJ but can ship fully rebuilt to your location. The cost is a little more than $3400. If I remember their web site quoted $3500 for the tranny 5R55E and $1600

for the hi perfomance higher stall torque converter. They have a 3 yr. warranty for non race applications. Their 5R55E hi po trans is designed and built to handle 650 hp. and 750 ft. lbs. of torque. Check out their web site. If you plan on keeping the ST for a long time it may be worth the cost.



John

 
Thanks for mentioning that NJ tranny but I'm afraid I won't have this ST long enough to get enough use to be worth the trouble. If I had 40 or 50k fewer miles maybe I would consider it. I had a Ranger from '91 to late '00 with no problems and I've had this ST since and I'm afraid this recent trouble has started the itch for something different. I had hoped to make it to next spring at least but we'll see how much damage the repairs do to my wallet.
 
Actually, a Ford/Motorcraft reman transmission retails for $2226.60 with exchange plus labor. It DOES have a 3 year/at least 75,000 mile warranty on parts and labor good at almost any Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury dealer.
 
A few days later the overdrive off light started blinking
Click to expand...



I would have had that trac back to the dealership in a flash when the issue happened right after the work done. It could have been covered under work warranty.



No issues until the flush tells me ..the work created the issue and I would argue that with them. Since some time has passed...tool late to go back to them...



Gonna have to get a new or used tranny OR take the loss on what you will get for a vehicle with a bad transmission and trade it in.



You can find cheaper trannys for it. Probably used but in GREAT condition. And a mom and pop shop would probably install it for a reasonable price. Check around... you might be surprised. Heck they would probably find a really good used one for you.



Woppy V- how is this last tranny working out for you?









 


Come on now........since you aren't having any issues, just enjoy your ST while you can. :)



Then, when or if you do start having probs, you'll know where to come back for answers to your problems.



BTW......Welcome to the site/Club
 
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As one comedian once said: " I don't want any passenger air bags, because if I get into an accident, I don't want any witnesses"



:lol::lol::lol:



...Rich

 
So far my 2002 4X4 trans has not given me any problems. But after reading this site, I wish now I would have never bought this ST.:(
Click to expand...



Every website dedicated to a certain vehicle has way more problems than you want to see. No one starts a thread with "my truck worked great again today!" As long as it works, no one asks any questions. As soon as it quits working right, though, the questions start flying!



My Trac has 157,000 almost trouble free miles. The only thing I've changed that wasn't a normal maintenance item is the fuel pump, which I ran out of fuel.
 
Bottom line was a lot of money flushed for something I may trade off 6 months from now. I guess I’ll walk away from this with several expensive lessons learned.



When I brought it in they checked it, checked error codes and found 3 new errors that weren’t there 2 months earlier, drove it around and dug into it a bit to find that 5th was essentially gone. Even with me it would sometimes hesitate several seconds before going into overdrive and their experience was even worse. Based on what I heard from them I assumed 3rd was about gone as well as it was exhibiting the same behavior before the control assembly was replaced. My options were let them carry the transmission around town having a rebuild done (pretty late to have them admit they don’t do real transmission work in house but whatever) or go with what they wanted me to do 2 months earlier with a new transmission or drive away and find my own outlet for a rebuild. Because I had already spent a good bit of money on this problem at their place they cut about a grand off the original quote of $3400 for a new and warranted transmission (3year 100k miles). It basically meant the first attempt to fix the problem I got for $100. I told them to go ahead and order me a new transmission. Because it was going to take a week or so to get there I had some time to think about trading or walking away altogether with a restock/reship fee of around $60.



I went ahead and let them put in a new transmission. So far the shifting on the new setup isn’t as smooth as I would like. I probably haven’t driven it hard enough to break it in though.



The experience didn’t end there though. The day I got the ST back I drove it home and heard a quiet hissing sort of sound. I live like 3 miles from the dealership so I didn’t drive it far enough to notice anything bad. The next afternoon I drove it to a doc appointment and on the way back the brakes started trying to stick. By the time I got home it wouldn’t idle roll from a stop at a redlight without pushing the gas and was pulling hard to the left. The next day I took it back and they inspected every part of the brake system and found nothing. I got the “bring it back as soon as it happens if it happens again” treatment. No charge though for essentially a full brake servicing.



About an hour later I limp back into the service bay with smoke coming out of the left front wheel well. They got the point then. A temp gauge the put on it pegged with 800 something degrees being the max it would read. The piston in the caliper was locked solid just a hair short of a completely stuck wheel. They eventually replaced the whole brake assembly on the left front from calipers to pads, rotor, bearings and whatnot, new right side pads and right rotors turned. They had to contact Ford about how much they could absorb of the cost and I ended up with 25% of the damage. It was debatable if this was their problem or if it was an oncoming problem so I relented with a little over $100 out of pocket for the brake work. The pads were near needing replacing anyway and I’m sure the rotors needed turning. Not bad overall but still frustrating to have it happen so close to dropping a lot of cash on the transmission. I could have pitched a fit about not paying anything but I couldn’t really drive it away in the condition I left it there.

 
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Changed my fluid every 30,000 miles. Not one issue.



A good independant tranny shop can do a full rebuild with a warranty for under $1,800.00.





Tom
 
Same thing here with my 2001(about 90,000 miles on it) Over-drive off light started flashing & it felt like the tranny was slipping. I just recently had to have the ...seperator plate(i think that was what it was called) replaced and was told that I was most likely going to have the transmission either rebuilt or replaced in the near future. The tranny still doesn't seem completly right though. It's better, but just doesn't seem to have much power. Is this a common problem? If so, having that plate replaced actually the fix? or is this just the begining of something alot worse? HELP!!!!
 

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