2004 V8 trouble going into gear

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Sexsymbolx

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Hi everyone-

I know that this is a pretty common problem, but I can’t seem to find any past posts with exactly the same issue.

My 2004 V8 has the occasional hard shifts, but nothing major. Yesterday I put the car in to reverse to back out of my driveway and the car didn’t want to go into drive. I tried all gears and had no luck until I put it into drive and revved higher on the engine. Then it shifted into gear.

I drove it to my destination and got hard shifts repeatedly between 1-2 and 2-3. I then parked it for a few hours.

When I got into it later the same thing happened - didn’t want to go into gear. I disconnected the battery for about 5 minutes and then it shifter fine. The rest of that trip had no hard shifts at all - super smooth.

Parked it again for maybe an hour. Didn’t want to go into gear until I revved it up, then it engaged. Had a couple hard shifts but at least got it home.

This morning - same thing. Didn’t want to go into gear. Revved it up and it engaged, then I could go back and forth between drive and reverse just fine.

I’m in LA and don’t have easy access to a flat enough surface to do much work on this thing myself very often. I read that it could be the solenoid pack. I would like to check the transmission fluid level but I’m not even sure that I can get under it to do that.

Any help would be appreciated. I’m not in a good situation to go down the wrong road with this one.

Thanks!
 
What's the mileage? Certainly points to the solenoid shift valve pack but I'm no pro like some guys here. Think you can check the fluid level at the check screw on the side of the tranny but unless you have a noticeable leak, it should be fine.

I'm planning to change my fluid w/ 54k miles. Lifetime no service on a tranny seems nuts to me.
 
Jtown said:
... Lifetime no service on a tranny seems nuts to me.
Click to expand...

People keep repeating this myth. Ford never said lifetime. The service schedule clearly says full fluid exchange every 150K miles.
 
Thanks for the response guys!

The milage is getting up there, just over the 150K mark I believe. And I'm not sure whether or not it's actually had a fluid replacement in the last 10 years.

If you think it's worth the time to have the transmission fluid changed I'll give it a try, but from the previous discussions it sounds as though that's unlikely to help.

I'll be honest - I can tear apart my '69 Firebird blindfolded, but I'm lost when it comes to the transmission on the LS. Is access to the transmission pretty easy? Do I just open the check screw and see if anything comes out?

And if it does come to replacing the solenoid pack, is there anything inhibiting access to the transmission pan? If not it seems like it's pretty straightforward.

Thanks again!
 
Sexsymbolx said:
...Do I just open the check screw and see if anything comes out?

And if it does come to replacing the solenoid pack, is there anything inhibiting access to the transmission pan? If not it seems like it's pretty straightforward...
Click to expand...

The pain of it is that you have to take out a bolt from near the top of the transmission to get the solenoid assembly out.
This sounds like more than just the solenoid assembly, but I could be wrong. If you are going to replace it, you may want to rebuild the valve body too. Just get a "shift kit" to get the parts you need.

Here is how to check fluid level: 2006 Lincoln LS Workshop Manual
 
Thanks Joegr!

So, please forgive the stupid question, but are there any options to buying all the special tools? And if not, where do i find those? I'm assuming that they're dealer items?
 
Special order at dealer, snap-on, ebay, make it yourself, ...

Edit: If you are only talking about the fluid fill, there are DIY ways to do it with nothing special. Check the forums.
 
Most of the factory installed solenoid packs seem to act up between 100-150k. Pack and fluid change might fix it... But as Joe suggests, a valve body rebuild might be necessary. Better than listed maintenance intervals... I have been servicing mine every 75k.

Per chance you didn't recently change plugs and coils???
 
04_Sport_LS said:
Most of the factory installed solenoid packs seem to act up between 100-150k. Pack and fluid change might fix it... But as Joe suggests, a valve body rebuild might be necessary. Better than listed maintenance intervals... I have been servicing mine every 75k.

Per chance you didn't recently change plugs and coils???
Click to expand...

I'm new here and have been utiliZing the search function. That's what's brought me here to this post .

2006 V8 LS, 170000 miles.

Same issue here as op.

I recently changed plugs and coils. What relevance does that have to the described issue in this thread?

I just bought this car and would be relieved to find out coils would rectify my issues.

No transmission codes btw. Does have CEL for EGR. Will be replacing with OEM soon.
 
Bump....

Used mode 6 in forscan lite to check for misfire absent a DTC for it .

Shows 2 misfires for cylinder 2, which is within the limits in forscan
 
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