It’s Not in the Manual
A while back one of our members called the tech line about a 2002 Toyota Sequoia that required replacement of the valve body. After the valve body was installed the vehicle had no reverse, pulled forward in neutral but drove perfectly when the selector lever was in the overdrive position.
And So It Begins …
Ford Motor Co.’s new 6R140W six-speed transmission has been on the road only since the 2010 model year, and we are already experiencing some problems. This is one of them.
A truck with the 6.7 turbo diesel and 6R140W transmission and a built on or before 4/11/2011 comes in with the malfunction indicator lamp illuminated and a flared 2-3 shift. Other symptoms may include a delayed reverse engagement and a stored fault code P0733 for a third-gear ratio error.
Reusable Gasket – Not!
A late-model Ford truck with a 6R140W transmission came into the shop with a complaint of a leak from the front. When the truck was raised on the lift, it appeared that it was leaking out the front, so the transmission was pulled to reseal it.
Similar but Different: A look at Ford’s 6R140W
For the 2011 model year Ford Motor Co. replaced the 5R110W in its Super Duty pickup trucks with a full-time six-speed transmission. Those of us in the aftermarket industry are calling this transmission the 6R140W. Ford likes to call it the TorqShift®6.
A Tale of a T-Case
The BorgWarner 44-05 and 44-06 transfer case used in Ford trucks is known to suffer from case-wear issues. Because the case halves are magnesium they tend to wear in the pocket that supports the steel shift rail (Figure 1) that holds the shift and mode forks.
Honda/Acura Third-Clutch Mystery
As a rule, when I write about something it’s factual and definitive material with some kind of solution to the problem. This article contains none of those things; however, it does contain theories.
This is in reference to the common failure of the third clutch in Honda/Acura five-speed transaxles. When one of these vehicles comes into the shop with third gear slipping badly you can count on the fact the third-clutch plates will be totally destroyed (Figure 1), along with its immediate components such as the third-clutch return-spring retainer and the splined washer that sits on top of it (Figure 2) and the return-spring retainer shown in Figure 3.
Ford’s Hybrid Transaxle – Part 2
In part 1 of this article last month we ended with the transaxle sitting on the bench awaiting disassembly, so let’s disassemble. You will notice in Figure 1 that we are ready to remove the top pan; we can’t call it a valve-body cover because there is no valve body.
Ford’s Hybrid Transaxle, Part 1
Beginning with the 2005 model year Ford produced the Escape in a hybrid version (Figure 1) that was shared by the Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute, pretty much the same vehicle.
The transaxle in these vehicles is called the eCVT, and even though there are no pulleys or a drive belt its ability to change gear ratios in a stepless fashion using electric motors puts it into the CVT category. The hybrid system in these vehicles is considered a series/parallel system, which means it can take off on electric power only or it can use the internal-combustion engine (ICE).
A Tale of Two Fords
Our first tale is one of those situations in which you are in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden a warning lamp comes on. This person, whom we will call Mr. Public, was driving his Ford Taurus equipped with an AX4S on a lonely stretch of road at night when suddenly the transmission-temperature lamp came on. Fortunately, Mr. Public was able to limp the car into the closest town, where he took the car to the local transmission shop the next morning.
What the …!
In essence, this equates to a hydraulic or mechanical problem in the intermediate-clutch circuit, which could mean that once second gear is commanded, the TCM does not see the correct second-gear ratio.
45/545RFE Pump Mystery Solved
This article refers specifically to Dodge trucks equipped with 45/545RFE transmissions. Because Dan’s shop works on many of these units, which are known to have pump issues, he stocks new pumps on the shelf. When Dan called he explained to me that when he disassembled one of these brand-new pumps he noticed that the screws that hold the pump spacer plate to the pump body were missing. He wanted to know whether this could be some kind of assembly-line error and whether he should exchange the pumps for new ones.
Mount Up, Partner
The transmission in this scenario is the VT25 CVT in the Saturn Vue. Figure 1 shows the location of the top transmission mount. The bolt holes and the bolts that secure the mount to the transmission case are different lengths, which means the bolts can be installed in the wrong holes.
