[Chainblade]

Ya so my Explorer seems to be having some problems. Its starting to get a little colder (not much though, maybe mid 40s at night) but my truck won't shift from 2nd gear (i think). I can reverse and drive but then at 30 miles an hour when it usually shifts, it won't and the rpms just stay high. once the truck warms up, it shifts no problem. What do you think could be the problem? I hope its nothing major like needing a whole new tranny or something. I'm taking it to the shop this week but just wanted to hear your opinions.

[Alex B]

I doubt the tranny is on the outs. When was the last time the fluid and filter were changed?

[sims]

thats a little odd that its fine when it warms up, are you certain its you're tranmission? are you sure its not shifting past second?

how long does you're truck take to warm up? is this something thats only happening for the first 5 minutes you drive? have you tried starting you're car and just letting it idle untill its at operating temp then gone for a drive?

if you're car operatates perfectly when the car is warmed up it isn't likely that its something to serious.

[tweakmonkey]

My car has problems shifting when it's cold, but it's a 5-speed and they are notorious for transmission issues. To remedy my problem (somewhat) I replaced the fluid with GM Synchromesh fluid. This fixes the problem somewhat, but when the car first starts warming up it still grinds 2nd gear often.

I'd recommend at least checking the fluid level, but possibly a flush/replacement and filter. On some automatics there are also a few sensors that could cause issues like this but I doubt they'd be temperature related.

[Chainblade]

ya once it warms up, it runs fine. I can let it sit in idle until it warms completely up and then it's fine. It's only the first 5 or 10 minutes that it does this.

What is your opinions on a transmission fluid flush? When I got my oil changed last time at Jiffy Lube, they recommended it but I said no as I've read that doing a transmission fluid flush can actually cause more problems later on with high mileage vehicles (plus I would never trust Jiffy lube to do anything more than an oil change anyways).

I'm not certain it's the transmission as I don't know anything about cars and I'm not sure exactly what gear it is in at the time. I'll have to grab my Explorer manual to see about when it's supposed to shift. But I do know that usually at 25-30 mph, it will shift but now it doesn't seem to when it's not completely warmed up. I don't feel it shifting and if I keep on pressing the gas, the rpms will just go higher and higher and higher.

[Chainblade]

well I talked to one shop and they said that I would need the transmission rebuilt. Good lord, that probably will cost like $2k to fix right?

I was looking on craigslist though and there are explorers on there for sale for less than a new transmission. I could buy one of those but would that really save me any money? What labor costs would it be for a mechanic to take the tranny out of one explorer and put it in mine?

[Phant0m51]

Tweakmonkey, check out Double clutch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gives the basics on how to double-clutch which will save your second gear from being torn to shreds down the road.

Chainblade: Unless you have a mechanic friend to do the swap for free (or a few cases of beer) you're looking at a decent chunk of change to get a tranny swap done. And considering the explorer you buy may have worse problems with it's tranny than you do, I'd suggest either just warming up your car to work around the problem, or have the transmission rebuilt. My dad had his truck's done a few years ago, cost him $1,250 or so to have it rebuilt.

Get a quote from a couple of different transmission specialist places to see if it's something simple like a bad sensor or a small pin.

My jeep has similar issues in the cold. Won't shift into OD, and sometimes it even comes out of gear if I stop at a light before it's warmed up.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by Phant0m51

Tweakmonkey, check out Double clutch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gives the basics on how to double-clutch which will save your second gear from being torn to shreds down the road.

Chainblade: Unless you have a mechanic friend to do the swap for free (or a few cases of beer) you're looking at a decent chunk of change to get a tranny swap done. And considering the explorer you buy may have worse problems with it's tranny than you do, I'd suggest either just warming up your car to work around the problem, or have the transmission rebuilt. My dad had his truck's done a few years ago, cost him $1,250 or so to have it rebuilt.

thanks for the help. I'm expecting up to $2k for it. I'm wondering if it will hurt it more to just keep driving it like it is. Like I said, it is fine (for now anyways) after it's warmed up. It's going to take a while to save up that kind of cash and I really have no alternative but to drive it.

[Chainblade]

well I talked to shop number two. They said it was a about a 70% chance I needed a rebuilt transmission. So I had him drive it and look at it and there were a lot of small metal shavings in my transmission fluid and stuff so he said it would need a new tranny. Yippie! I guess he said that Ford puts POS transmissions in their Explorer and they don't last very long. I may end up getting a new truck but not sure. I wonder if Chevy/GMC but crappy trannys in their truck. I'd get a Toyota or Honda or something but I'm not going to have enough money for those...

[Phant0m51]

It's not going to hurt it any more to just keep driving. Gotta get places, ya know? Try to let it warm up a bit before driving it to keep as much strain off of it as possible, but like the shop said it'll need a rebuilt tranny sometime in the future. How long? Anybody's guess. I say keep saving up and drive it until you either get a new truck, or HAVE to replace the tranny.

[Mr. Ali]

just get a used civic and you will start saving money on gas anyway....

[Juballharshaw]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ali

just get a used civic and you will start saving money on gas anyway....

He traded in an Accord for the Explorer because he was more comfortable in it, IIRC.

Chainblade, Explorer trannies suck. (God that sentence out of context sounds fucking dirty.) The fix I've heard is to shotgun it and put in a Mustang transmission as they're a slightly higher quality and properly handle the power coming out of the engine. But that's only what I've heard.

[Chainblade]

ya, i can't even fit in a civic lol. I can fit in an accord but it's uncomfortable. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. Regardless, I"m going to have to save some money so once I hit about $1500 or so, I'll decide if I should put it towards a new tranny or a "new" vehicle. I'm also going to get my truck put through an inspection to see if there is anything wrong with it. If there are other things, then it's probably not worth putting more money into it and just move onto a different vehicle. I just don't know if I'm going to be able to find a good used truck/SUV for $2k or so ya know. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

[Chainblade]

a little update. I'm getting a new tranny put in today. $1700 to get a remanufactured transmission. Called like 30 shops around the area and that was the best deal. i took my truck through an inspection and there was nothing else wrong with it so I figured it would be best to fix the one i have, than to risk another used vehicle. I'll be glad to have her back. I haven't driven her in 2 weeks.

[Phant0m51]

Sounds like a solid plan. If the Tranny was the only thing wrong with your vehicle then replacing it is a good idea.

Keep us updated.

[Chainblade]

so I got it back this morning. So far, so good. Nice smooth shifting. Nice to have it back. in about a month, i'm taking it back there to just check it out and make sure everything is good.

[Phant0m51]

Sounds like a good investment. Hope it stays that way.

[WoodButcher]

Good deal, I think keeping the vehicle was a good way to go. I don't think I'm cheap but I can't justify buying new. I'd love to get the new mustang but until I can pay cash I just can't do it.
Be sure to get the name and phone # of the mechanic that did the job, not just the shop where it was done. Good tranny mechs are hard to come by.

[MSP]

$1,700 was damn cheap, congrats. My wife's sport-shift auto Mazda 6 cost us almost $3,000!