2002 lincoln ls v8 overdrive seems to be taking longer than usual to engage

John 1983

John 1983

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When I accelerate from a stop every gear shifts smooth and on time. When im cruising around 60 or so and let off the gas and coast and then press the gas again the rpm temporarily jump about 500 rpm and then engages into overdrive this process only takes about .5 of a second to engage into gear but was wondering if this is normal or not most people probably wouldn't even notice it its so subtle. No loss of gas mileage. 131,000 miles. No noises no bumps just when your coasting in d5 and press the accelerator the rpm jump up to around 2 then back to 1500 when its in gear. Like I said it only takes a half second to do this. no check engine light,nothing wrong with the car just the overdrive issue which is not noticeable at all just wondering if its an early sign of something I can fix now to avoid trashing my tranny. It doesn't get hot either no work done recently

20180319_083911.jpg
 
This is not how it works. You are not describing overdrive. You are talking about downshifting out of overdrive (5th gear) and into 4th.

What happens if you manually shift it?

The transmission actually uses overdrive as 2nd gear as well as 5th. It's really a 3 speed with overdrive used twice.

1st gear is 1st.
2nd gear is really 1st + overdrive
3rd gear is really the 2nd gear.
4th gear is really the 3rd gear.
5th gear is really 3rd (4th) + overdrive.

When you are cruising normally, it gets to 5th ("overdrive") quickly. When you press the gas pedal enough to tell the PCM you need more power, then it will down shift one or two gears as needed. I think you are talking about this downshift.

You have apparently messed with your throttle hard stop adjustment, so the PCM now probably thinks you are always more on the gas pedal than you really are. This is likely messing up the transmission strategy more and more as time goes by. I'd fix whatever engine problem you actually have that was preventing the PCM from correctly regulating idle, then I'd find someone to make the correct hard stop adjustment.

BTW, It was correctly posted that low transmission fluid can cause the engine to stall. Just because you don't understand why, does not mean it is not true.
 
It downshifts fine. And it runs like a champ.130,000 miles.i didn't move the idle adjustment bolt. I've never had any engine problems.only routine maintenance.which I've done myself.inner,outer tie rods,upper,lower control arms,oil change,airfilter,spark plugs,timing chain,coils,PCV valve,brakes,rotors,etc.never done anything to the tranny its sealed and doesn't leak(never checked fluid level) What im describing is, the car is fast as shit. When you put it in d5 and drive the car the engine and tranny run flawlessly at speeds up to 120 if I wanted. I've had the car for 6 years and it gets driven everyday. When your going 60 mph and let off the accelerator you start coasting correct?then when you gently press the accelerator again the rpms jump from 1500 rpm or so depending on speed to almost 2000 rpm then back to 1500 rpm at which point I can feel power to maintain speed but its very fast rpm transition. It downshifts fast and has more than enough power. Just kind of feels like its slipping out of gear for a split second then reengaging but only does it in high gear could this be the torque converter.?im even getting 26 mpg at 70 mph! It does this rpm change at any speed above 43 mph or so when driving gently, pressing gas then letting off, then pressing the gas again.I know alot about this car. My wife had been driving it for about 3 weeks because her car was hit when parked. Now it does this in high gear and i don't remember it doing this before. its very subtle tho. she doesn't even notice it but I do. I know something is failing most wouldn't realize it had a problem. Want to find and replace faulty part. not taking it to ford.
 
It idles perfectly at 750.does anyone else with this car,2002 Lincoln Ls 3.9L notice this is, it normal or not?

1521560355395-1582824018.jpg
 
joegr said:
This is not how it works. You are not describing overdrive. You are talking about downshifting out of overdrive (5th gear) and into 4th.

What happens if you manually shift it?

The transmission actually uses overdrive as 2nd gear as well as 5th. It's really a 3 speed with overdrive used twice.

1st gear is 1st.
2nd gear is really 1st + overdrive
3rd gear is really the 2nd gear.
4th gear is really the 3rd gear.
5th gear is really 3rd (4th) + overdrive.

When you are cruising normally, it gets to 5th ("overdrive") quickly. When you press the gas pedal enough to tell the PCM you need more power, then it will down shift one or two gears as needed. I think you are talking about this downshift.

You have apparently messed with your throttle hard stop adjustment, so the PCM now probably thinks you are always more on the gas pedal than you really are. This is likely messing up the transmission strategy more and more as time goes by. I'd fix whatever engine problem you actually have that was preventing the PCM from correctly regulating idle, then I'd find someone to make the correct hard stop adjustment.

BTW, It was correctly posted that low transmission fluid can cause the engine to stall. Just because you don't understand why, does not mean it is not true.
Click to expand...
Do you own one of these cars?
 
joegr said:
This is not how it works. You are not describing overdrive. You are talking about downshifting out of overdrive (5th gear) and into 4th.

What happens if you manually shift it?

The transmission actually uses overdrive as 2nd gear as well as 5th. It's really a 3 speed with overdrive used twice.

1st gear is 1st.
2nd gear is really 1st + overdrive
3rd gear is really the 2nd gear.
4th gear is really the 3rd gear.
5th gear is really 3rd (4th) + overdrive.

When you are cruising normally, it gets to 5th ("overdrive") quickly. When you press the gas pedal enough to tell the PCM you need more power, then it will down shift one or two gears as needed. I think you are talking about this downshift.

You have apparently messed with your throttle hard stop adjustment, so the PCM now probably thinks you are always more on the gas pedal than you really are. This is likely messing up the transmission strategy more and more as time goes by. I'd fix whatever engine problem you actually have that was preventing the PCM from correctly regulating idle, then I'd find someone to make the correct hard stop adjustment.

BTW, It was correctly posted that low transmission fluid can cause the engine to stall. Just because you don't understand why, does not mean it is not true.
Click to expand...
It shifts perfect when manually shifted
 
John 1983 said:
Do you own one of these cars?
Click to expand...
I own two of them, since new, now at about 200K miles each. Are you trying to imply something here?

750ish is the normal warm idle. Do you suspect some problem with your idle?
 
John you have kinda answered your own questions here. I too own a 1st generation and even before it hit 100k (at 16 years old) I had the tranny pan pulled and service the valve body and filter there changed. As the mechanic stated when he did, he at first didnt see any issue on visual 'rack' inspection, but when he rebuilt the valve body 'the springs just crumbled in my fingers'. Ford said sealed on this tranny, but really it needs maintenance every 50 to 75 k - thus you are overdue.
 
grizzlyls said:
... Ford said sealed on this tranny, but really it needs maintenance every 50 to 75 k - thus you are overdue.
Click to expand...

Technically, it meant every 150K miles. They never made a secret of this. It's printed plain as day in the maintenance/service guide that came with your car. That said, I agree with you that the interval should be more like 75K miles, which is what I do with mine. Note that this is a full fluid exchange, using the machine, not just a pan drop and refill.

150,000 miles
❑ Change engine oil and replace oil filter.
❑ Inspect tires for wear and rotate.
❑ Inspect brake pads/shoes/rotors/drums, brake
lines & hoses, and parking brake system.
❑ Inspect wheel ends for endplay and noise.
❑ Inspect engine cooling system and hoses.
❑ Change Premium Gold coolant (see exceptions
page 45 and record page 47).
❑ Inspect exhaust system and heat shields.
❑ Inspect steering linkage, ball joints, suspension
and, if equipped, half shafts, driveshaft and
u-joints.
❑ Replace engine air filter (except PZEV Focus see
below).
❑ Check air filter minder, replace filter as required
(Focus PZEV engine).
❑ Replace fuel filter (see page 46).
❑ Replace cabin air filter, if equipped.
❑ Change automatic transmission/transaxle fluid
and filter.
❑ Change rear axle lubricant on all rear wheel
drive (RWD) vehicles (see pages 45 and
46).
❑ Replace accessory drive belt(s) (if not replaced
within last 100,000 miles).
❑ Replace climate-controlled seat filters (LS,
Freestar, and Monterey) if equipped.
❑ Inspect fuel tanks (natural gas only).
❑ Drain coalescent fuel filter bowl (natural gas
only).
❑ Clean injectors (natural gas only).
❑ Multi-point inspection (recommended)
 
No idle problem .that was a different topic lol. So obviously ill do a transmission flush and refill.anything else I can do to prevent having to rebuild the whole tyranny?.and no wasn't implying anything I was just going to ask you if yours does the same thing? So all are saying my transmission is starting to fail or just the one gear or the whole thing?
 
So should I have the valve body serviced when I replace the trans filter?and what was the price for that service?
 
John 1983 said:
So should I have the valve body serviced when I replace the trans filter?and what was the price for that service?
Click to expand...

You can get a "shift kit" that will have the wear parts in the valve body. The better ones will have the gaskets you need too. You probably need to replace the solenoid assembly too. All in, you are probably at between $500 and $1000 to have it done. If you are lucky, that will be it. If very unlucky, then the servo bores in the case will be worn. The transmission has to be taken out (and largely disassembled) to resolve that. The other known problem with LS transmissions is that sometimes FETs get weak in the PCM, and the PCM has to be repaired.

Honestly, with such a minor symptom, it'll probably go another 50K miles before it gets really annoying. As long as it's not slamming when it shifts, it's probably not doing damage to the rest of the transmission.
 
Ok. And I do not accel then roll then press the accelerator again like my wife. I maintain my speed and it doesn't do this. so I may not have ever noticed it until she was driving it one day and I saw the rpms. does either of your Ls do this? And should I just do the transmission fluid complete refill and see what happens or should i have the valve body serviced at the same time? And does either of your cars do this?
 
John 1983 said:
Ok. And I do not accel then roll then press the accelerator again like my wife. I maintain my speed and it doesn't do this. so I may not have ever noticed it until she was driving it one day and I saw the rpms. does either of your Ls do this? And should I just do the transmission fluid complete refill and see what happens or should i have the valve body serviced at the same time? And does either of your cars do this?
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity....when was your last tune up? And what plugs do you use? The reason I ask is my 2001 3.9 LS had a hard shift when going from 35mph to around 45ish or so after changing COPs and plugs all eight mind you...my car doesn't shift hard and does not hesitate in any fashion after that replacement. With that being said I'm at 175,000 miles and need to flush the transmission...always good to heed your factory recommendations
 
The transmission in my 04 is fine. The one in my 06 does need a new solenoid assembly. The 06 does flare a bit shifting from 3 to 4. I'll have to do something about it soon. The 04 is normal.
 
I use 93 runs even better with royal purple octane booter! 10 percent Lucas synthetic oil stabalizer. Smoother than my 745.
 
What Amster is refering too is that if those are the original Coils on the Plugs then those are definitely also due replacement. Plenty of threads about not buying cheap off market ones in here too.

Having said that - Joe 12k miles now 1.5 years Delphis still going strong!

Nevermind, went back and found 'coils' in the list sorry. :)
 
John 1983 said:
I use motorcraft platinum plugs
Click to expand...
MotorCraft and NGK both great plugs for this car...I think you may be reading into this shifting situation ...like Joegr said this car has a complex overdrive system ...and yes everyone drives different ... It's almost funny watching my wife drive it ...she isn't use to the power due to her driving a GMC V6 Envoy...so she is very ginger to say the least lol after so many years of driving a certain way, especially with the LS, which I may have ppl argue this point ...but in my opinion it has a very custom feel when you drive this car...one of the reasons I fell in love with it and have kept it...I would even go as far as to say after driving this car for a few years or more it almost becomes a custom one person car....anyway NGK or MotorCraft are both fine plugs
 
AmsterDutch said:
MotorCraft and NGK both great plugs for this car...I think you may be reading into this shifting situation ...like Joegr said this car has a complex overdrive system ...and yes everyone drives different ... It's almost funny watching my wife drive it ...she isn't use to the power due to her driving a GMC V6 Envoy...so she is very ginger to say the least lol after so many years of driving a certain way, especially with the LS, which I may have ppl argue this point ...but in my opinion it has a very custom feel when you drive this car...one of the reasons I fell in love with it and have kept it...I would even go as far as to say after driving this car for a few years or more it almost becomes a custom one person car....anyway NGK or MotorCraft are both fine plugs
Click to expand...
Yes I love this car. And your right she has a Mercedes c240 I think? but its not nearly as fast. I disconnected the negative side of the battery for 15 mins and then reconnected it. Its not doing it nearly as bad now she's back to her factory settings! Still gonna do the tyranny work when it warms up a bit. Im in Maryland and its cold! We just got 6 inches of snow!my wife couldn't drive the Ls I always take the traction control off always... So she leaves it on and goes to the store next 10 mins I get a call....she's stuck. "The little picture of the spinning tire keeps coming up aand the car won't move im stuck...."so I say take the traction control off,she does and says it still won't move. So I had to drive my 745 to the store in 6 inches of snow and get the car unstuck! Took the traction control off and floored it! I want stuck for more than 10 sseconds!haha
 
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