Tranny replaced under warranty

[FlipTrac_511]

As some of you already know I had my transmission replaced by my home dealership. My Trac was having discrete signs of slipping again at almost 28K miles (first time was at 18K(?) and solenoid was replaced and flushed). So I took it in ASAP and I was told that it was more practical to replace it with a remanufactured one than try and fix it. I was completely bummed this was happening to me but happy the dealership was replacing it under warranty relatively hassle-free. Since then I've put in over 1500 miles on this 'new' tranny and it has felt very, very good. It shifts firmly unlike before...and mind you, I was using an XCal performance tune.



Speaking of which, when I flashed my old tranny with the Xcal, the shifting did not firm up as others have claimed. I thought nothing of it as I was happy with the performance gains alone! But when I flashed my new tranny, the firmness of it went away. The shift points changed but they were really softened up just like with my old tranny. At this point I decided to flash back to stock and contact Wayne about my experience since I was under the impression that maybe, just maybe, the dealership flashed my Trac with a new calibration contrary to what my Xcal was tuned for.



Anyway, Wayne got me up to speed and gave me instructions on how to pull a code out of the Trac to see if my assumption had any merit. Unfortunately I require a laptop to hook up my Xcal to and I don't have one that works. I'm eager to get this code out to Wayne so I hope I can borrow a laptop soon. Dare I drag my desktop system to the garage???

 

[Richard L]

FlipTrac,

I have been trying to tell most people who have reported symptoms of transmission slipping that replacing the valvebody and/or solenoids only works if the bands and clutches have not been damaged by the previous slipping. In my opinion, the replacing of the solenoid is worthless if you do not change the valvebody since the sticking is caused in the vavlebody and that will weaken the new solenoid and the slipping will likely return very soon.



I'm glad your dealer is now smart enough to know that you need the transmission replaced and not just patched again. Unfortunately, many dealers will try to patch a slipping transmission with a new solenoid hoping that will get the vehicle past the warranty, then they can really make some money.



...Rich

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Richard, yes, the home dealership (where I got my Trac from) replaced it right away. The first time it happened I took it to a dealership that is closer to my house. This dealership just replaced the solenoid, and even then, only after a flush did the flair disappear. So when the problem returned, I decided to take it to my Trac's home dealership instead.

 

[Lauren Y]

HI Flippy...



How are you?



Email me.



Lauren

 

[FlipTrac_511]

Hi LY!

---

You know what, I just read a reply from ToddZ on another thread and he made a good point. What's it matter if Ford put in a new calibration or not when using the Xcal completely replaces it anyway? I realize my concern is what if Ford is using a new calibration to accomodate something that was changed physically/mechanically (as an improvement) in the replacement 5R55E and that perhaps an 'older' Xcal tune is incompatible with it.



FYI, I'm by no means trying to discredit the XCal tuner, I love it and Wayne's service has been great.

 

[Lauren Y]

HELLO!

 

[JK II]

LY is alive!!!



I think its all caused by the missing handle :lol:.. Seriously though I hope all goes well for you.

 

[M B]

I had to drag her back....Lauren almost forgot about us. Like I said in the email, we need to cause trouble in the chat room sometime!

 

[Todd Z]

I say drop the pan and up the epc pressure, THE dealer may have rebuilt the unit and REUSED the old solenoids. This will make the tranny shift exactly the same...

Todd Z

 

[FlipTrac_511]

I don't mind at all how the new tranny is shifting more firmly. I just don't recall my old one being this firm on any occassion; since it was new, after I disconnected the battery, or after I flashed it with my XCal. And I found it odd that the new tranny lost it's firmness right after I flashed it. In fact, I expected it to firm up some more because the computer had to "relearn". I also recall other owners claiming how their shifting firmed up after flashing.



I don't really have a preference whether shifting is firm or soft. For the time being I'm running on stock program until I can get Wayne the info he needs. As it is the Trac has been running great (new tranny, new muffler) and I can't wait to use my XCal on it again.



I will also drop the pan and up the EPC soon.