1997 ranger, 4.0l, 4R-55E radiator aneurysm

[huh?]

i just lost my original post that i've been working on for two hours or so. to make a long posting short and blah, blah, blah free:

failure in radiator allowing water intrusion into transmission. previous to finding this out, i was informed and confirmed that no forward gear selection provided any drive. reverse clunks into gear, although not too harshly, and moves vehicle in correct direction. backward that is.

i'd like to repair it my self but time is a major factor(money, too):

1) can the trans be flushed, change filter, new fluid, cross fingers and maybe get lucky(one extreme)? or;

2) am i looking at a complete tear down with everything being replaced(other extreme)? or;

3) somewhere between these two extremes is where i'll be? or;

4) i should put all my effort/time/money into finding and acquiring a known good used unit and a stand alone cooler?

any and all suggestions/ideas/opinions/hints/ are welcome here. thanks for reading.

1997 ranger

4.0L engine

transmission code T= 4R-55E automatic

2 wheel drive

another thing i'm wondering about: can water in trans cause "no forward/reverse works" condition? or is it possible the water intrusion and forward gear failure together is a coincidence and there's a different cause for the "no forward" situation?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I don't have transmission knowledge. So my pick would be #4.

 

[huh?]

10-4, alwaysFlOoReD. after more research last night i came across a post that taught me that the friction material in transmissions are bonded with a water-based adhesive. at first "water-based" sounds weak, but i suppose it makes sense for an application that operates in a supposedly water-free environment.

#4 is what i'll proceed with. if it seems that cleaning and friction plates are all i may need to do(internally), then i'll turn in that direction if i haven't found a trans by that point. and a VB redo.

appreciate the reply, alwaysFlOoReD.

anyone that can provide any more info, suggestions, warnings, please do so.

 

[willy]

Quality used unit is going to be the fastest fix no doubt or rebuild transmissions dont like water neither do torqe converters

 

[willy]

And i would run a seperate plate style cooler im not a big fan of radiator trans coolers

 

[huh?]

thanks, willy. i'm eyeballing the air conditioners' condensor, but i don't even know yet if the system works.

 

[huh?]

... not a big fan of radiator trans coolers

the person i bought the truck from said he installed the radiator 1.5 years ago, but the radiator looked like it was taken out of its shipping box 1.5 days ago. looking from above so i could see the front of the core, both the front and rear fields of fins were perfect- no impression of anything coming into contact with them.... not even a bug, lol