Fixed a bunch of stuff, now tranny problems?!

[Rassa Farlander]

Hi folks!

I bought my first vehicle, and of course it is a Ford Ranger! 1996, 2.3L Engine with the Automatic transmission, XLT single cab She's green with just over 124,000 miles.

Got a good price, $1300. Had a fair amount of work done. New brakes, rotors and pads up front and new shoes and hardware kit in back. An alignment and new tires all around. New windshield and an oil change. Then my radiator failed and had it and the hoses replaced. I needed a transmission pan casket & filter (it was leaking before) and had it done at the same time. Some mixing of Coolant/ATF had occurred. Now I am here for help, as this seems the place to go.

The problem:

Every so often, when either sitting at a stoplight or going from Reverse to Drive, the tranny will fail to engage and it sounds like Im in Neutral. Once when this occurred, it slammed into gear and jerked the truck pretty bad. Previous owner said he had the tranny rebuilt, but with the failed radiator, Ive heard that Coolant/ATF mixing can destroy a transmission Am I about to lose my truck??

Also mechanic says I need ball joints all around soon and a timing belt job.

Im hoping some of you wise folks can provide some wisdom.

Thanks

 

[Haywire6000]

First off did they completely flush the transmission? I don't mean drain the pan then top it off I mean torque and everything? If not that can be hurting it now. Next thing is how long did u drive it when it was mixing coolant/ATF?

 

[Rassa Farlander]

Good question on the flush, I dont know. They took the pan off, did the gasket and filter. I didnt drive it much after I noticed it, just to the shop about a half an hour away. The ATF looks like a red film over the top of my nice green coolant

 

[Andy D]

Transmission pump pressure is about 20 psi, A normal cooling system is about 16. So you would expect to see ATF in the coolant. Water pump lube.

 

[Rassa Farlander]

Well what should I do? Is my tranny about to die?

 

[Haywire6000]

I personally would flush it again and see how it goes. That's really all you can do at this point. Hopefully no one ever ran stop leak in the radiator...

 

[Blown]

Sounds like solenoids in the tranny are shot or clogged. I have fixed such issues by dropping the pan, pulling and cleaning them with solvent. They are an electromagnets and thus attract steel/iron and can become disfunctional.

 

[Rassa Farlander]

Supposedly the previous owner had the tranny rebuilt. Could it still be the solonoids? I wouldnt know how to drop the pan and find them.

Also, someone told me the coolant gets in there and the transmission is a goner. Something about it dissolving parts of inside?

Today I had no problems with it for whatever reason.