harsh transmission shifts

[lking]

well i'll be.....so i connected the battery after a few hrs of leaving it unconnected i went through the procedure of what to do after installing a new battery from the owners manual

1. put on parking brake put car in park and start wait until normal operating temp

2. let idle for at least one min

3.turn on AC for at least one min

i took the car for a drive..when i put it into reverse i could tell right away that it didnt shift as hard as it used to i put it into drive and still better then before i took it around the block the gears were shifting better then before i would say a 50% improvement from the way the gears were changing before

i think its still very early to tell for sure if this was the fix i will drive it for a few days before making a final conclusion

 

[lking]

So, have you ever even tried the e-brake initialize procedure?

Basically, put the car in neutral and hold pressure on the brake pedal. Set the parking brake, wait several seconds, release the parking brake. Drive a little ways and then use the parking brake when you park. The light should be off when you restart it a while later.

thank you i will try this next and hopefully this gets fixed too FOR FREE ! hahaha

 

[lking]

i just tried the "e-break initialize procedure" so far so good the light would be on and then off the next day then back on so it'll take a few days for me to be sure that its not going to turn back on

 

[lking]

ppl here are going to s_hit because they dont agree; but i think you should un plug your battery (to clear the tranny specs) and run a drive cycle on it before you go tearin the thing apart and opening your checkbook.
recently new tranny filter & fluid + old tranny specs = ?
clear your specs for free and see what she does with new ones in lieu of dropping all the money on repairs. if a few drive cycles doesnt fix your probs then do the solenoid.

thanks to you i think i just saved myself $300.00 and a lot of headache

 

[jrand]

well i'll be.....so i connected the battery after a few hrs of leaving it unconnected i went through the procedure of what to do after installing a new battery from the owners manual

1. put on parking brake put car in park and start wait until normal operating temp

2. let idle for at least one min

3.turn on AC for at least one min

i took the car for a drive..when i put it into reverse i could tell right away that it didnt shift as hard as it used to i put it into drive and still better then before i took it around the block the gears were shifting better then before i would say a 50% improvement from the way the gears were changing before

i think its still very early to tell for sure if this was the fix i will drive it for a few days before making a final conclusion

youre welcome bud; good call reading the owners manual too, i forgot that there was more info in there about battery disconnects. thats pg 283 (in the 05 owners manual) for all the haters who said 'youre full of bs what does my ac have to do with my tranny?'

 

[jrand]

i also have a v6 and do not have the select shift tranny; sometimes when i run a drive cycle after disconnecting the battery i have noticed if i do not drive as i normally do it will drive and shift a little bit differently than what i would consider 'normal'. i just disconnect and re-do the procedure until it feels how i want it to. you may want to try disconnecting and driving it really gently to see how mild it can be; and then disconnect and drive like a madman and see how wild it can be.

mine is accustomed to 3 different driving styles, which i would describe as 'soft' 'hard' and 'normal'. soft gets good gas mileage, i dont take too many fast turns, rarely see over 60% throttle. pretty much only use it when im driving with a woman or customer in the car. hard is how i drive when im in a rush, and normal is slightly less than hard.

 

[nelliott500]

For anyone curious, this is what's being discussed: (from the '04 manual)

However, that's just for resetting the proper idle speed. It has nothing to do with the trans, or at least it doesn't mention that. It just says the trans will shift more firmly until it relearns the patterns.

 

[jrand]

haha you really dont think idle & fuel trim has anything to do with tranny shift? hogan rules, but youre wrong brother.

 

[nelliott500]

No, I don't think it does, but I could be wrong. I'm not arguing with you.

 

[jrand]

no sweat. its like west virginia (its all related)

 

[lking]

haha you really dont think idle & fuel trim has anything to do with tranny shift? hogan rules, but youre wrong brother.

i think your right iv'e noticed that if there's at least a quarter of gas or more in the tank the transmission shifts easy if there's less then a quarter of gas the shifts are not as smooth

 

[lking]

i drove the car around for about half an hr easy on the gas style so the computer learns that this is the way i drive the shifts seem to be getting smoother the more i drive cant be more happy about how this turned out

it was either the reset that fixed the shifts or the solenoid came back to life after hearing me play this song especially the last 15 seconds

Beyoncé - Video Phone ft. Lady Gaga - YouTube

 

[lking]

disconnecting the battery and going through the reset procedure was only a temporarily fix the harsh shifts came back after a few days of driving I could disconnect the battery anytime and go through the reset procedure the transmission will shift as smooth as butter for a few days but the more I drive the worse it gets

anyone experienced this before? only other problem with the car is the emergency break module needs to be replaced

 

[REDBED]

I recently had the solenoid asymbly. replaced for the same sympton as yours. Bought car to dealer and PCM was reflashed with latest software. I purchased the part from TASCA for $275. Bought car to Mech and he replaced for 2.5 hours labor. Mine is also a 2004 V6. There is no way to correct this other than by changing the solenoids. Car shifts better than new. Good Luck.

PS I also had the E brake module fail. I think its an easy fix if you don't mind working under the car. Mine was done on a lift in the shop.

 

[M4rk]

It needs to be calibrated, obviously

I'm thinking your solenoid might be bad - it's an '04 after all?

 

[jrand]

it is possible you could have a bad solenoid.
it is possible you could have coils that wont pass stress tests.
it is possible you could have a problem in the alt/battery.
lots of other things are possible too.

i would lean towards the coils, but thats just me. everyone here will disagree but the symptom disappears for three days then returns... solenoid issues arent intermittent. coil problems are. intermittent coil issue is throwing off your shift strategy and its currently taking about 3 days to do it. it will progressively get faster (less days)until youre misfiring your way to advance auto or your lincoln dealer to replace the bad ones (or all if theyre greater than 60k miles). you should take it to lincoln if you really arent sure who to believe. pay them the 100 diagnose...

 

[lking]

it is possible you could have a bad solenoid.
it is possible you could have coils that wont pass stress tests.
it is possible you could have a problem in the alt/battery.
lots of other things are possible too.

i would lean towards the coils, but thats just me. everyone here will disagree but the symptom disappears for three days then returns... solenoid issues arent intermittent. coil problems are. intermittent coil issue is throwing off your shift strategy and its currently taking about 3 days to do it. it will progressively get faster (less days)until youre misfiring your way to advance auto or your lincoln dealer to replace the bad ones (or all if theyre greater than 60k miles). you should take it to lincoln if you really arent sure who to believe. pay them the 100 diagnose...

that's what I was thinking if its the solenoid it should be bad at all times the car shifts like a brand new car when I disconnect battery overnight and do the reset procedure

I did have coil issue once with one coil ever since I replaced the bad coil the car ides like so smooth cant even tell its on so I really don't think its the coils

the cars got about 75000kms

if I take it to Lincoln dealer they will probably take my $100.00 and tell me they cant find anything wrong other then the E break module

 

[jrand]

that's what I was thinking if its the solenoid it should be bad at all times the car shifts like a brand new car when I disconnect battery overnight and do the reset procedure

I did have coil issue once with one coil ever since I replaced the bad coil the car ides like so smooth cant even tell its on so I really don't think its the coils

the cars got about 75000kms

if I take it to Lincoln dealer they will probably take my $100.00 and tell me they cant find anything wrong other then the E break module

ok there you go: i would buy the other 5 coils and replace. theyre due. the one that you replaced may be good, it may be bad. i would put it on the bank thats easy to access bc its the first one thats going to be a problem, if its not already a problem...
your solenoid is most likely fine.

 

[jrand]

another thing you can do, and i dont really recommend this bc you do need new coils asap, is to start in d4 then throw it to d5 when around 50mph to shift to 5th. this will clean up the shift to 5th and will likely not be as rough on the tranny. you may also throw it to d4 when you are slowing down and want to clean up the shift from 5 to 4. doing this will override the shift strategy and force the rpms to get into the shift range, whereas the computer is getting so many f'd up signals bc of your coil it cant figure out when it wants to shift when youre not using the shift lever to 'force' it. or if you have sst you could prolly use sst to do the same thing

 

[jrand]

ok there you go: i would buy the other 5 coils and replace. theyre due. the one that you replaced may be good, it may be bad. i would put it on the bank thats easy to access bc its the first one thats going to be a problem, if its not already a problem...
your solenoid is most likely fine.

i dont think i explained fully: original coils exhibiting the harshness described with about 60k+ miles (i cant convert km to mi that quick but im pretty sure youre in the ballpark) are most likely out of spec and should be replaced all at once.

i actually did what you did and replaced one, waited a few months, it got better then worse, and then replaced the others. i used the bwd intermotor coils from advance auto with a coupon. bought them seperately and used the coupon on every order. not sure if you have advance in your neck of the woods. cheap after coupon and lifetime warranty. no issues thus far.

 

[REDBED]

that's what I was thinking if its the solenoid it should be bad at all times the car shifts like a brand new car when I disconnect battery overnight and do the reset procedure

I did have coil issue once with one coil ever since I replaced the bad coil the car ides like so smooth cant even tell its on so I really don't think its the coils

the cars got about 75000kms

if I take it to Lincoln dealer they will probably take my $100.00 and tell me they cant find anything wrong other then the E break module

Dealer will do nothing but tell you need a new trans. They will not diagnose other than to tell you yours is no good and well be happy to sell you a new one.
Buy a new solenoid assmby and have it installed. I hope you have a trusted mech as this major F%%%k Up from FOMC can be repaired but for big $$$. It's pretty disconcertining to hear and feel the driveshaft "clunck". If throwing $1k is a problem for a 9 year old car you aint seen nothing yet. If you intend to do proper maintence and repair on this vehichle I hope you are mechnically inclined with acss. to a lift Wait till the front end starts falling apart. Good Luck

 

[lking]

i dont think i explained fully: original coils exhibiting the harshness described with about 60k+ miles (i cant convert km to mi that quick but im pretty sure youre in the ballpark) are most likely out of spec and should be replaced all at once.

i actually did what you did and replaced one, waited a few months, it got better then worse, and then replaced the others. i used the bwd intermotor coils from advance auto with a coupon. bought them seperately and used the coupon on every order. not sure if you have advance in your neck of the woods. cheap after coupon and lifetime warranty. no issues thus far.

thanks but I wont replace parts that will cost $600.00plus unless I know for sure

the car drives and idles very smoothly at all speeds only problem is the transmission shifts

 

[joegr]

thanks but I wont replace parts that will cost $600.00plus unless I know for sure

the car drives and idles very smoothly at all speeds only problem is the transmission shifts

Coil problems tend to show at times other than when the transmission shifts. I suspect that you do have a transmission problem. It may be the solenoids, but it may be something else in there too.

 

[lking]

Coil problems tend to show at times other than when the transmission shifts. I suspect that you do have a transmission problem. It may be the solenoids, but it may be something else in there too.

honest and helpful info like always

 

[lking]

it is possible you could have a bad solenoid.
it is possible you could have coils that wont pass stress tests.
it is possible you could have a problem in the alt/battery.
lots of other things are possible too.

i would lean towards the coils, but thats just me. everyone here will disagree but the symptom disappears for three days then returns... solenoid issues arent intermittent. coil problems are. intermittent coil issue is throwing off your shift strategy and its currently taking about 3 days to do it. it will progressively get faster (less days)until youre misfiring your way to advance auto or your lincoln dealer to replace the bad ones (or all if theyre greater than 60k miles). you should take it to lincoln if you really arent sure who to believe. pay them the 100 diagnose...

a