Question about transmission in 99 ranger

[pgatimmyd]

Hey All, I have a 99 Ranger XLT has an auto trans and a 3.0 litre V-6. The transmission seems to slip a little bit going from 2nd to 3rd gear. Nothing tragic, but you can definitely tell its happening. I was just wondering if any of you all have had this kind of issue, if it is something that needs to be addressed right away, and what you think a ballpark figure of getting it taken care of may cost. Thanks to all of you for any information you could share. Hope you all are having a great year!!!

 

[97RangerXLT]

first thing that I would do is check the fluid level. I believe that you will need the truck and transmission at operating temp to do this accurately, run it through the gears and check, add as needed, do *not* overfill.

If proper level is not the issue, then change the fluid and filter. you will get about half of the fluid out by dropping the pan and changing the filter, this should be enough to get you some results. if it is still slipping after that, start hunting down another auto trans from a 3.0 Ranger. The transmisisons from the 4 cyl and 4.0 will not work.

How many miles on it?

Good luck!

AJ

 

[97RangerXLT]

add on to the above... transmission drain and fill and replace the filter will be about 50 - 60 bucks if you do it yourself, 130 or so if a shop does it. replace transmission... if you get a transmission out of a totalled truck you can pay anywhere from a few hundered to 1000 for the transmission plus a few more hundred to have it installed.

 

[sgtsandman]

I would drain and fill with a filter change. Drive it for a bit and repeat.

I’ve been told in the past that if people did fluid changes every 30,000 miles on their transmissions, a lot of transmission shops would be out of business. Even manual transmissions should get their fluid changed every 30,000 miles.

Like any other lubricant, they wear out after a while.

 

[pgatimmyd]

first thing that I would do is check the fluid level. I believe that you will need the truck and transmission at operating temp to do this accurately, run it through the gears and check, add as needed, do *not* overfill.

If proper level is not the issue, then change the fluid and filter. you will get about half of the fluid out by dropping the pan and changing the filter, this should be enough to get you some results. if it is still slipping after that, start hunting down another auto trans from a 3.0 Ranger. The transmisisons from the 4 cyl and 4.0 will not work.

How many miles on it?

Good luck!

AJ

Thanks AJ I appreciate your input. I will check the levels first like you said and then change fluid and filter if necessary. FYI it has 175k on it. Engine is pretty strong, I had some work done recently to the suspension and ball joints and tie rods, so it's a pretty good runner. Thanks again for your input!!

 

[pgatimmyd]

I would drain and fill with a filter change. Drive it for a bit and repeat.

I’ve been told in the past that if people did fluid changes every 30,000 miles on their transmissions, a lot of transmission shops would be out of business. Even manual transmissions should get their fluid changed every 30,000 miles.

Like any other lubricant, they wear out after a while.

That's great information to have thanks very much for your help!!

 

[MikeG]

Probably getting close to a rebuild....

Growing up, vehicles in the 70s, at least the ones my family had, it was lucky to get 100K out of an automatic, especially any sort of work truck or vehicle used to tow with.

I put a drain plug in the pan of my 97's 5r55e, and it went close to 300K before things started to get go. Which was pretty astonishing for a first year 5r55e.... most of them blew out valve body gaskets and had other issues, it seemed. There were a ton of TSBs on that transmission in the early years.

Anyway, with the drain plug, it was easy to empty the pain (which generally got around 4 quarts out) every oil change, and refill. That put about a third of the fluid in 'fresh' at every oil change, and have no doubt that it greatly extended the life of it. Fluid was always bright pink. Once in a while, got around to putting in a filter, but can't say I was real diligent about it.

By the way, I've cut apart a tranny filter, and there isn't much too them. They really don't filter out anything but the biggest chunks. They can't filter out anywhere near to the level that an oil filter can, because there would be no way to keep enough fluid going through them for the transmission to work. If it doesn't have a magnet in the bottom of the pan, I'd sure put one in, once you get it all sorted out. Fluid levels are important. On the Ford transmissions I've dealt with, they did not like being down in fluid level AT ALL, especially in cold weather (97 5r55e and 96 Exploder 4r55e, I think).

A secondary filter, that cleaned up smaller particles, would be an interesting idea but don't think anyone has ever made one (like the secondary AMSOIL engine filters if those are still around).

Good luck.

 

[pgatimmyd]

Probably getting close to a rebuild....

Growing up, vehicles in the 70s, at least the ones my family had, it was lucky to get 100K out of an automatic, especially any sort of work truck or vehicle used to tow with.

I put a drain plug in the pan of my 97's 5r55e, and it went close to 300K before things started to get go. Which was pretty astonishing for a first year 5r55e.... most of them blew out valve body gaskets and had other issues, it seemed. There were a ton of TSBs on that transmission in the early years.

Anyway, with the drain plug, it was easy to empty the pain (which generally got around 4 quarts out) every oil change, and refill. That put about a third of the fluid in 'fresh' at every oil change, and have no doubt that it greatly extended the life of it. Fluid was always bright pink. Once in a while, got around to putting in a filter, but can't say I was real diligent about it.

By the way, I've cut apart a tranny filter, and there isn't much too them. They really don't filter out anything but the biggest chunks. They can't filter out anywhere near to the level that an oil filter can, because there would be no way to keep enough fluid going through them for the transmission to work. If it doesn't have a magnet in the bottom of the pan, I'd sure put one in, once you get it all sorted out. Fluid levels are important. On the Ford transmissions I've dealt with, they did not like being down in fluid level AT ALL, especially in cold weather (97 5r55e and 96 Exploder 4r55e, I think).

A secondary filter, that cleaned up smaller particles, would be an interesting idea but don't think anyone has ever made one (like the secondary AMSOIL engine filters if those are still around).

Good luck.

Thanks very much for that info. I will see about putting a magnet in the bottom of my trans pan. Your input is very helpful and appreciated!!