Tranny Survey

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

Michael Cacioppo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Messages
1,479
Reaction score
0
Location
Newtown, CT
There appears to be a large discrepancy between Autos that fail early and autos that do not fail. Heat is a major cause of transmission problems. I have only 30 K on my Trac. I have a reprogrammed ECU which gives much firmer shifts. Since a slow gear change means a lot of slippage and heat. I would like to hear from the crew whether you had tranny problems or not, at what mileage, if the shift firmness has been modified or not. and did you change the tranny fluid and when. The answers may or may not show a trend. Thanks in advance.



MikeC ( a consevative, gun toting, pro choice trouble maker):D:D:D
 
1. I had a 2002 ST with nary a problem.:D



2. I've owned a 2004 STA for 4.5 years, and never had a problem with it either. On this one, I dropped the pan, drained the fluid, added a drain plug, changed the filter, and performed the EPC adjustment project at about 40,000 miles (just prior to towing a travel trailer from VA to IL). Still have a stock tune, but plan on getting some custom tunes from Torrie very soon. She now has 80,000 miles on her, and this winter I'm probably going to do a full flush and add a deep sump pan and 4X4 filter with RP tranny fluid.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
165k on original unmodified transmission. Changed fluid and filter at 30k and 60k, then added a drain plug. Now I drain the pan every other oil change and refill with new fluid, and change the filter every 30k or so.
 
2002 ST, purchased used about this time last year with 43,000 miles on it.



Began the 2-3 flair within a month of buying it. :(



An EPC adjustment and regular transmission service failed to fix the problem (in fact, it got much worse; do a search if you want to see how bad).



I was blessed to find several folks on here who had the same problem, and were able to get it fixed with a valvebody rebuild for around $450-$600.



Found a good, honest tranny shop (Miami Valley Transmission, Dayton, OH; two locations, one north of town, one south; I went north) to do the valvebody work. Cost around $550.



Thank God, no problems since. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just traded an 01 job 2 with 98k+ on it and no tranny issues at all. I towed a trailer loaded out at over 4k quite a bit. I was the original owner and changed/flushed the tranny fluid about every 30 k miles.



When it came time to replace the truck, i wanted an 08 or 09 model year, and with all the issues we have seen here with the gen 2 St trannys, I went with a different make.



Cayman can chime in, I know he has towed some serious loads with his and has not had any issues either -- it just requires you to maintain your vehicle.
 
Had an 02 4x4 with 73k when i bought it, had the tranny flushed about 3 mos after I bought it, and withing 3 months the tranny failed. Had a rebuilt tranny from ford dealer installed, and sold it about 45 days ago after having it for sale for 6 months (due to gas prices mainly/mpg). 02 ran good ater new tranny but had an opportunity to get into an 07 ST XLT at a good price and jumped. 07 is a certified pre owned so I have a limited extended warranty out 100K on the drivetrain.
 
04, 2WD, 4.10, New



1. 5K miles - Additive recall service

2. ~8K(?) miles - Slipping (2-3). Dealer dropped pan, then flushed.

3. ~28K miles - Slipping again. Purchasing dealer installed rebuilt tranny.



Shortly thereafter I adjusted the EPC slightly. I've been using aftermarket SCT tunes and flushed the tranny at about 55K miles. I'm almost at 60K now and the tranny feels okay. I have learned that the tranny will shift funny if I use a new tune without disconnecting the battery. Sometimes when accelerating there is a discrete slip when I change my driving from routinely aggressive to a much milder one. I will flush again at 90K then 120K. I will still be driving her then.
 
Woppy,



Which dealership? When I lived in Tidewater, I had good service at Cavalier Ford in Chesapeake and Portsmouth, and Barton Ford in Suffolk. I know you're on the Peninsula, so those are probably too far for you, but I was just curious...
 
Mike C.

I have never had any tranny problems with either of my Sport Tracs, but I did state that there were a lot of transmission problems for such a small sampling of people. Somoe tried to follow that up with a survey as to who did or did not have tranny problems, and of course, the majority who replied did not have any problems.



Th 2-3 shif flare is a well known and documented problem in all the Explorer electronic shift transmissions going back to the the 4 speed automatcis that were the predicessor the the Sport Trac's 5 speed Automatics. Ford even added special sensor to detect when the 2-3 shift flare was occuring to flash the OD light, but we all know that is usually too late.



There are transmission repair shops on line that give specific instructions for repaing the 2-3 shift flare and some even carry specially modified valvebodies to cure the problem.



I drove my 2001 Sport Trac for 42K miles. Had the fluid flushed at 30K miles and immediately noticed much firmer shifts and better acceleration even though the transmission was fine prior to the flush.



I only drove my 2003 Sport Trac for 33K miles and had the tranny fluid flushed once at about 21K miles. There was no significant difference in how the transmission operated after the flush.



...Rich







 
Dropped the pan, installed the drain plug, and did the EPC adjustment at 30K miles. Flushed at 60K miles. Drain and change the fluid every 10K miles. Knock on wood, have 80K miles on it now and no tranny problems.;)
 
2001 Job 1 purchased new, with 97K miles on it. Do the trans maintennace every 30K miles and so far have not had any problems with it.
 
04 XLT Prem, and no tranny issues



the additive recall ... and a couple of other things fixed under warranty.





 
04 adren, tranny replaced at 30k

07 limited, crappy tranny, with 2 trips back to the dealer. same crap, different day



cruz,

what make did you go with? :p
 
01 purchased new; new fluid and filter every 30,000 religiously; at 122,000 a pressure switch failed ultimately resulting in needing a complete rebuilt tranny; at 166,000 tranny leaked and new front seal/bearing and torgue converter was needed; currently just turned 170,000 and running great



Steve
 
2003 XLT Prem, just rolled over 80K yesterday.



I have not had any transmission troubles, and she shifts like a champ. The only modification I have is a K&N intake system. I had the transmission fluid flushed at 60K miles, and all my ST does is pull boats.
 
I traded my '03 STA largely because the transmission hesitated going into drive during cold weather. I would back out of my driveway in the morning into the busy street, then put it in drive, and it would take 1-2 seconds before it would actually go into drive. Sometimes the engine would race and then it would slam very hard into gear.



I took it to the dealer 3-4 times, even paid for a transmission flush and filter change (~30k miles) and the dealer kept telling me that everything was working as designed.



Because of the thought of being T-boned in the middle of my street was not real appealing, I traded the Adrenalin for my current '07. The '07 has had a whole bunch of other problems, but so far the transmission and engine have had any.
 

Latest posts

Top