Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and gearheadstu
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
- Messages
- 1
- Vehicle Year
- 2001
- Transmission
- Automatic
Hi there gang. I'm hoping that some of you can help direct me, namely by either confirming my theory, or if not, preventing me from going off the deep end!
I've got a 2001 3.0l 2WD with the notorious 5r44e. The truck has 208k on it, most of which were put on by my father-in-law. He was pretty gentle on the truck in terms of how he drove it, but may not have been rigorous about scheduled maintenance.
When cold, the transmission shifts beautifully. Shifts come prompt, and are executed in a way that is crisp, but not harsh.
Once it hits a certain threshold of temperature, roughly 10-ish miles of driving, things start going downhill.
The shifts:
1 --> 2 is just fine.
3 --> 4 is just fine.
4 --> 5 is just fine.
2 --> 3 is bad. The shift timing is right; it isn't revving out the engine before the shift. Nor is it shifting harshly into 3rd. Instead, it slips between gears. The only real frame of reference I have is with a motorcycle. If you've ever gone to upshift a bike from 1st to 2nd and instead only went 1st to neutral before getting on the gas, you'll know what I'm trying to illustrate.
The truck comes out of 2nd cleanly at the right time. However, it doesn't go INTO 3rd; it just revs freely as if in neutral. Only when I get out of the throttle completely (and I'm doing this in normal city traffic, not like I'm WFO or anything) will the trans shift into 3rd. There's no clunking, grinding, or other sounds of mechanical distress, just a resolute lack of finishing the 2 --> 3 shift.
Based on all the reading I've done, I highly suspect a valve body / valve body gasket issue. I'm on the fence about trying to DIY that or send it to a specialist shop.
So here's my ask:
In the collective wisdom of the forum, is this likely to ONLY be a VBG issue? Or is this symptomatic of bands/clutches/widgets/gizmos within the scary Pandora's box that is my transmission? I'm not overly scared of DIYing, but I'd rather not throw good money, and especially time, after bad.
Thanks!
I've got a 2001 3.0l 2WD with the notorious 5r44e. The truck has 208k on it, most of which were put on by my father-in-law. He was pretty gentle on the truck in terms of how he drove it, but may not have been rigorous about scheduled maintenance.
When cold, the transmission shifts beautifully. Shifts come prompt, and are executed in a way that is crisp, but not harsh.
Once it hits a certain threshold of temperature, roughly 10-ish miles of driving, things start going downhill.
The shifts:
1 --> 2 is just fine.
3 --> 4 is just fine.
4 --> 5 is just fine.
2 --> 3 is bad. The shift timing is right; it isn't revving out the engine before the shift. Nor is it shifting harshly into 3rd. Instead, it slips between gears. The only real frame of reference I have is with a motorcycle. If you've ever gone to upshift a bike from 1st to 2nd and instead only went 1st to neutral before getting on the gas, you'll know what I'm trying to illustrate.
The truck comes out of 2nd cleanly at the right time. However, it doesn't go INTO 3rd; it just revs freely as if in neutral. Only when I get out of the throttle completely (and I'm doing this in normal city traffic, not like I'm WFO or anything) will the trans shift into 3rd. There's no clunking, grinding, or other sounds of mechanical distress, just a resolute lack of finishing the 2 --> 3 shift.
Based on all the reading I've done, I highly suspect a valve body / valve body gasket issue. I'm on the fence about trying to DIY that or send it to a specialist shop.
So here's my ask:
In the collective wisdom of the forum, is this likely to ONLY be a VBG issue? Or is this symptomatic of bands/clutches/widgets/gizmos within the scary Pandora's box that is my transmission? I'm not overly scared of DIYing, but I'd rather not throw good money, and especially time, after bad.
Thanks!
