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5R55E Problems…Need a transmission wizard


Danval

New Member
U.S. Military - Veteran
ASE Certified Tech
Joined
Mar 3, 2025
Messages
2
City
Florida
Vehicle Year
2002
Transmission
Automatic
A little background….
I bought a 2002 ranger 4.0 4x4 auto for 1000$. Truck has 350,000 miles! Owner told me it was all original, he just kept up with maintenance. The body is extremely clean, with no rust, dings or anything.

Okay let’s get into it.

I was towing my boat, and was going up a hill when suddenly I see white smoke behind the truck. My rpm’s shoot to 5k, and my truck won’t go over 25 mph. I get over the hill, coast down it, and pull over. I see GALLONS of transmission fluid pouring out of the bottom of the bell housing. I tow the truck back home, and pull the transmission out. To my surprise there are markings on the transmission, “Rebuilt 2023”, and on the torque converter. I have built engines for the last 20 years, but haven’t really messed in depth with transmissions. I take the bell housing off and notice that the front seal looks worn. I ordered a whole kit, and replaced the front seal, bell housing seal, the o ring that goes in the oil pump gear, and all the orings on the bell housing bolts with transmission rtv. I checked out the clutches while I was in there, and noticed it had borg Warner clutches, and new disks in it. Nothing looked broken or overheated, so I slapped the transmission back in the truck.

I filled the torque converter up, then added trans fluid to the dip stick. I slowly added the rest of the oil (10qts total) while it was running. Within a couple minutes, the front seal blew out again. My O/D light is flashing from the second I turn on the truck.

bad valve body? Broken valve body gasket? Bad oil pump? Bad converter? Who knows. I don’t have the knowledge on transmissions like I do engines. If anyone can point me in the right direction, please do. I would hate to throw away a “fresh” rebuild transmission for a used, 220k mile one. Thanks in advance !
 
Were you towing in Overdrive?
The rebuilt 2023 trans are you sure it is a 5r55e with all 5r55e parts - someone didn't slip a 4r44e part in there or anything?
The 10,000' overview here, the A4LD, 4R44E, 4R55E, 5R44E, and 5R55E are all interrelated evolution of the basic A4LD, and have some well known issues and design improvements. The front seal was a known issue on the A4LD...
Having ran it, even a few minutes with no fluid you could very likely set yourself up for another failure in your near future.
Since you parallel almost exactly this other guy, I think you should read at least the first few posts of the "frankentranny" thread - be sure to go so far as the 'towing in overdrive' section, and 'enlarge the drain back hole and cutback restriction' ...
 
I was towing in overdrive…
Do you think I hurt the tranny to the point of needing another full rebuild? I know you’ve never seen it, and it’s hard to give me an answer, but what would you do? Where would you begin to look? And yes, as far as I know, and from what I could see, it has all 5r55e parts. What do you think about the overdrive light flashing as soon as I turn it on? Valve body damage?
 
Well the author of that frankentranny article (not me) was towing in overdrive, blew the front seal at 85k, and then ended up doing a full rebuild at 125k due to the damage done back at 85k.... I guess ultimately it is up to you how much you want long term reliability versus another sitting on the side of the road in ~3 years time (and of course only someone looking at it in person can see the condition of it and if it really needs it).
Personally me? Well I wouldn't have an auto in a pickup... pickups are for workin' and need a solid strong trans... autos are for cars, but then again you asked me what I would do :P
That said, I have 3 pickups I have to care for... and one of em (my mom's) is an auto with a 5R55E (2007 Ranger 4.0 SOHC/5R55E)..... I've just told her baby it, treat it like a car, and be on the constant lookout for SOHC timing chain explosion, and sell it as soon as you don't need it.

I can't really comment on the OD light flashing, haven't researched it at all - yet.
 
Towing in Overdrive is a big no-no for auto transmissions. You don’t want the torque converter taking that abuse. I’ll do it towing an empty tow dolly or small open trailer empty, but that’s about the limit.

Also, the factory trans coolers are not ideal for actually working it. My 00 I actually swapped an auto trans cooler from an 07 F-150 to get something substantial.

Additionally, I highly recommend a shift kit and valve body mods. The typical somewhat sloppy shifting these transmissions have is slippage which results in more heat. Heat and auto transmissions is no bueno.
 

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