Jurassic Park Revisited
This all came about from a technician who was working on a cast-iron Hydramatic in a vintage 1955 Cadillac. During the phone conversation the technician mentioned that with all the late-model electronically controlled vehicles that come through his shop, it felt strange working on a version of the first automatic transmission ever put into a car or truck, to which I answered, “I don’t think the cast-iron hydro was the first automatic transmission.”
You Can’t Rely on the Relay
Chrysler’s 41TE transmission has been in use since 1989, the 42LE since 1993, the 45RFE since 1999 and the 42RLE since 2003. With each of these transmissions having similar electronics, they also have similar diagnostic codes and testing consistencies.
Valve-Body ‘Kibbles & Bits’
In all the years of building transmissions, I think the worst thing that could happen is having the R&R guy, manager or owner come back after a road test and tell you, “It’s not working.” All of a sudden you get this knot-in-your-stomach feeling that makes you wish this were not really happening.
45RFE: Mystery Code 1781
This is another one of those frustrating and mind-boggling codes that you do everything to try to get rid of but it seems to always come back. The worst part about this code is that it will not appear when the vehicle is in your shop. Unfortunately, the code is intermittent and its frequency is erratic.
Missing You
Have you ever built a unit that went out running absolutely fantastic but came back with a problem only a month or two later? Maybe you were so good to that transmission that it was missing you and wanted to come back for a visit!
All Fired Up
The doodad we’re going to discuss here is an optional one that is installed by Ford Fleet Services, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. Ford Fleet installs systems in fleet vehicles such as police cars that include items like the flashing roof lights, sirens, Kevlar‚ lined trunks etc. Ford Fleet also installs a fire-suppression system, which is the one we’re going to discuss here.
Temp-eramental Hyundai
In this situation it was none of the usual items. It was, believe it or not, the transmission-fluid-temperature sensor. As I looked further into this, sure enough, I found factory bulletin 00-40-010 dated August 2000.
Hooked
We all know how important grounds are in an electrical system, and when it comes to our trade we can tell incident after incident of weird, unexplainable transmission malfunctions that are taking on “fish story” proportions. And, in fact, we have caught quite a few large ones over the years.
Tiburon Spells Trouble
I got a call from a technician about a month ago concerning a problem with a 1997 Hyundai Tiburon with the A4BF1 transmission. The technician explained that the MIL (malfunction indicator lamp) was on and codes P0743 and P0747 were stored.
German Electrical Insanity
For those select few of you who have taken on the task of either rebuilding or installing a Volkswagen 01M transmission, you know that these units can be difficult. This transmission is very easy to rebuild, and usually the internal parts are in good shape.
Why Didn’t I Think of That?
Once in a great while something comes along that makes you slap yourself on the forehead (ala Homer Simpson) and wonder why you didn’t think of that. The Teslite (teslite.com) test lead is one of those items – a very simple tool that can find a bad connection or contact with a quick push of a button.
Leftover O-Rings
Have you ever wondered where those extra O-rings go that are left over in the kit bag after you’ve completed an overhaul on a transmission? Most rebuilders, including myself, will twist-tie them to a bellhousing bolt hole and say, “Must be some spare pieces for the R&R guy!”
