FNR5 TCC slip and/or shift solenoid E stuck off
The FNR5 transmission can be found in most Ford and Mazda front-wheel-drive vehicles and has been with us for a while. One of the most-common calls we get on this transmission in the tech center at Valve Body Pro is for a code P0741 TCC slip and/or P0771 shift solenoid E stuck off. Recently we had a 2008 Ford Fusion with this problem. Figure 1 shows the SSA (SSPCA) increasing the modulation but no drop in rpm slip.
Analyzing Clues Solves TCC Mystery
The vehicle was a 1995 Ford Ranger 2WD, equipped with a 4R44E transmission. It had originally been repaired by a local transmission shop that had removed the unit and rebuilt it in house, though we had no knowledge of what the original complaint was at the time. After their repair, it would set a P0741 (TCC stuck off), OD light flashing etc. They’d had the vehicle for quite some time but then decided to purchase a remanufactured unit from one of our distributors when repairing the rebuilt unit was unsuccessful. After installation of the remanufactured unit, the same code and symptoms returned. It was then that the vehicle was brought to our shop for diagnosis.
Tag, You’re It!
This story is about the grown-up “shop” version of the game. The vehicle in question is a 2005 Ford F-150 4WD with only 49,568 miles. It all started like so many others: It came in with erratic shifts, abnormal noise and metal in the pan. The vehicle also had two transmission codes: P0712 and P0713. Initial diagnosis determined that the unit had internal hard-part damage. A remanufactured replacement transmission was in order.
Not Getting ‘Skunked’
This week I got one of those in from a customer who was recommended to come here by another shop that had given up on finding the problem. After several attempts and customer drop-offs, the shop couldn’t get the problem to occur. The vehicle was a 2007 Ford F-150 pickup, and the problem was it would occasionally blow the brake-lamp fuse. The circuit seemed simple enough, not like a spider-plant circuit we sometimes run into.
Dead Cylinder Leads to a Broken Relationship
We originally test-drove the vehicle to verify the shaking and lack of power, and we also heard a light ticking when it was idling and at lower engine speed. Even though this Escort far exceeded the average life expectancy of today’s vehicle, with gas currently at $3.50 per gallon, my customer dearly wanted to keep this little Ford on the road.
CFT30 Variator Repair
Today’s CVTs are a fact of life because of the number of them on the street. In addition, the flavors (variety) of CVTs have also increased.
One of the more popular CVTs being rebuilt today is in a now-defunct vehicle, Saturn, whereas other CVTs are used by Nissan in vehicles like the Murano. The Nissan CVTs are produced by Jatco, which is the dominant CVT manufacturer in the marketplace today. Jatco has recently released a variation of a CVT that actually has an auxiliary gearbox, making it a partial step-type trans. It almost seems like a “step” backward from a pure CVT.
Sometimes I Wonder, ‘What Were They thinking?’
Case in point is a 1992 Ford Bronco (Figure 1) with a 5.8-liter engine and E4OD transmission. The vehicle came to our shop with shifting issues. The owner said he was driving along and all of a sudden it shifted down and then slammed back into gear, and then a short time later it shifted down again but this time would not upshift. He thought it was stuck in low, although it did not act up on the way to our shop that morning. The owner had recently bought this vehicle with some known issues. There was a rear-ABS lamp on and the Check Engine lamp was not on.
Diagnosing Explorer’s Shift Complaint not an Easy Task
A 2002 Ford Explorer came into our shop recently with a shifting complaint. The customer said it slipped or felt bumpy under fairly hard acceleration.
‘Why should I pay for diagnosis?’
A 2003 Lincoln LS with a 3.9-liter V-8 and 5R55S transmission came into our shop with a grocery list of codes stored, no power, and it didn’t shift. I scanned for codes, found P0715, 717, 718, 731, 732, 733, 734, 745 and P2106. As you can see it had turbine-speed-sensor codes, gear-ratio codes, pressure-control fault and a forced limited power from the TAC. My first thought was that the turbine-speed sensor had failed and as a result of continued driving set the other codes.
Serviceability Report: Ford Focus Revisited
In the July 2006 issue of AutoInc., I compared the 2006 Focus to the 2000 model. Well, let’s look at the next generation and see if Ford took heed of our suggestions.
Ford had a hit when it introduced the 2000 Ford Focus in 1999; it sold more than 286,000 units the first year. Sales settled down to around 175,000 for the other years, but the 2012 model may change that for the better.
Old Guy, Old Problem; Young Guy, Old Problem
Thus is the case with the 2000 Crown Vic that showed up at one of our installers. With the car having 190,000 hard miles and needing an exchange unit installed, the Young Guy (technician) quickly pulled the unit and dropped in a fresh 4R70W reman. It all went smoothly until the test drive.
Adjusting Clutch-Control Valves on the Aisin FWD 6-Speeds
Have you ever installed a TF80, TF81 or TF60 after overhaul and it has had harsh shifts or engagements, or maybe there has been a flare/bump upshift or harsh coast-down clunks? Most times, clearing the shift adapts and driving the vehicle to relearn the shifts will correct these annoying problems. After a good, long test drive to relearn the shift adapts, sometimes a shifting or engagement problem remains. Assuming that there is not excessive wear in the valve body and the linear solenoids are good, the clutch-control valves on the valve body can be adjusted to correct these problems.
