Trans. swap does no good... HELP!

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Iszi

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Backstory:

Awhile back, I lost 3rd and 4th gear in my '93 Mark VIII. With O/D off, the car would shift normally between 1 and 2, but wouldn't shift into 3rd or even seem to try. O/D on, it would seem to shift into neutral when it should be shifting into O/D, and would just stay there until I either turned O/D off again or manual-shifted it down to 2.

Current situation:

I got a '98 transmission with some 70k+ miles on it from a reliable source on MarkVIII.org, and had another guy install it, who works at a Ford dealership. However, the "new" transmission is behaving exactly as the old one did now.

Some things did need to be swapped over from the "old" transmission to the "new" one to make things work. Those that I know of are:
  • TCC Solenoid
  • MLPS (Brand new)
  • Fluid pan/filter. (Bought a new filter to put in the '98, but it turned out it was for an earlier-style pan, so the pan was swapped.)
  • Vehicle wiring harness needed to be re-pinned.

Could any of these old remaining parts have caused the problem, or is there possibly something else that could be behind this?
 
When I first read you problem, MLPS came to mind. I dont think you needed a new trans. Align the MLPS and you should be fine. It can not be misaligned by even 1mm, it must be nearly dead on.
 
unity said:
When I first read you problem, MLPS came to mind. I dont think you needed a new trans. Align the MLPS and you should be fine. It can not be misaligned by even 1mm, it must be nearly dead on.
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May be something to look at, then. I watched it being done when the new one was put on the '93 trans before the swap and it looked fine to me, but I could be wrong.

Also of note, some other things I noticed after the swap:

At about half-throttle or more from a standing start, I noticed a shudder that wasn't there before the swap. If I let off it goes away and won't return until under similar conditions (heavy throttle, low speed).

Also, it now seems to hang a bit when accelerating through 3k RPM, and won't shift 1-2 like it should at 6000 RPM. I've taken it all the way to 6500 RPM in WOT without it shifting, and don't dare try taking it further. If I let off from there it seems to drop in though.
 
Which torque convertor did you use. Good chance its NOT the problem, but it could be.

Did you use Mercon V?

What year Mark?

Otherwise the shudder could easily be a bad coil pack, often it is mistaken as trans shudder - trust me, I went through the same and spend a year chasing this one down!
 
TC was from the same '98 Mark VIII as the donor transmission. Yes, used Mercon V. The transmission and the TC were drained and filled. The car that everything is in is a '93.
 
ok.. I wondering is MYABE the new TC is bad, I would HATE so and again, lets not assume that now.

The shudder may be ignition then. When were the coil packs or wires last changed?
 
Car is a bit overdue for a full tune-up. That's been put on hold because of all this transmission crap. This shudder didn't show up until after the swap though. Could a bad TC also cause the other problems?

Also, someone at TCCoA has suggested the PCM could be bad. Any opinions here?
 
I doubt the PCM is bad. A bad TC could cause the shudder, but not the shifting issue you describe.

I would look at wires/plugs/coil packs and go from there if not code is appearing. Coil packs are known to go and easy to replace. The wires take a tad more work. Two coil packs will cost about $10 to $20 less then a set of wires costing $90. 96 Cobra MSD work well.

Have you re-checked the transmission fluid level properly. That is with it hot and the engine running after going through all the gears manually?
 
Yeah, fluid level is good. I've already got plugs and wires to put in the car, but that "shudder" issue is so low-priority as opposed to the transmission itself, that I don't want to mess with bringing the car back just to fix that.
 
I understand. Then check out the MLPS, the car should be in neutral and I think there is a line on the MLPS that helps align itself when in neutral.
 
unity said:
...check out the MLPS, the car should be in neutral and I think there is a line on the MLPS that helps align itself when in neutral.
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Image000.jpg
 
My '96 Mark VIII started out with a small shudder that I swore was in the trans. It got worse and worse till I couldn't hardly give it gas without a shudder. I knew it was overdue for plugs/wires so I changed them. They were worse than I thought and after the change it was as good as new!

I think Ford recommends plugs every 35K and wires at 80k. Check edmunds.com to be sure.
 
Well, the verdict on the transmission is "direct clutch failure, due to faulty hardware retained from old transmission". One of the transmission guys at a Ford stealership took it for a ride, and that's what he says. Oh yeah, and the fluid (FRESH when it was put in Saturday) is already burnt up!

I'm throwing in the towel here and handing it to the pros this time. As soon as I can find some fundage (And I'm looking) this car is going to a tranny shop or (gasp!) a stealership to either get all-new parts put in, or get a rebuild. A few people have told me to just sell the car and get a new one for around the same price as the transmission work would cost me, but I say no for two reasons:

1.) I've put too much money into this car to let it go after having it not even a year.

2.) For the same price as parts/labor might be for the repair on this car, I wouldn't trust any "new" car as far as I would this one after it is fixed.

Right now, I'm looking to get an "emergency use" credit card, that I probably should already have anyway. Wish me luck.
 
"I think Ford recommends plugs every 35K and wires at 80k. Check edmunds.com to be sure."

Actually the change interval is 100k with factory platinums. The wires have no change interval but are actually good for over 150k.
 
Iszi said:
Well, the verdict on the transmission is "direct clutch failure, due to faulty hardware retained from old transmission". One of the transmission guys at a Ford stealership took it for a ride, and that's what he says. Oh yeah, and the fluid (FRESH when it was put in Saturday) is already burnt up!

I'm throwing in the towel here and handing it to the pros this time. As soon as I can find some fundage (And I'm looking) this car is going to a tranny shop or (gasp!) a stealership to either get all-new parts put in, or get a rebuild. A few people have told me to just sell the car and get a new one for around the same price as the transmission work would cost me, but I say no for two reasons:

1.) I've put too much money into this car to let it go after having it not even a year.

2.) For the same price as parts/labor might be for the repair on this car, I wouldn't trust any "new" car as far as I would this one after it is fixed.

Right now, I'm looking to get an "emergency use" credit card, that I probably should already have anyway. Wish me luck.
Click to expand...


Have to question the condition of that newer trans???
hate to accuse but thats to qucik no matter what you did to it to discolor fluid if everything was good to start
 
Supposedly, everything was good in the new transmission. It's parts that were swapped in from the old transmission (for compatibility reasons) that weren't good.

Pretty much, the guy that did the swap for me had two options: Either re-pin the wiring harness on the vehicle to be compatible with the newer transmission, or put all the electronics from the old transmission into the newer one. He chose the latter, and I'm having to eat it.
 
Iszi said:
Supposedly, everything was good in the new transmission. It's parts that were swapped in from the old transmission (for compatibility reasons) that weren't good.

Pretty much, the guy that did the swap for me had two options: Either re-pin the wiring harness on the vehicle to be compatible with the newer transmission, or put all the electronics from the old transmission into the newer one. He chose the latter, and I'm having to eat it.
Click to expand...



I have a quick question pertaining to this... I repinned my harness and all I have an 04 trans with a 93 output shaft installed so that it will work. But just curious if any of the internal electronics need to be swapped for this trans to work in my 93. I have read different things about this and am not sure which way to go right now.
 
Staffamerica74 said:
I have a quick question pertaining to this... I repinned my harness and all I have an 04 trans with a 93 output shaft installed so that it will work. But just curious if any of the internal electronics need to be swapped for this trans to work in my 93...
Click to expand...

The TCC Solenoid for a '93 model trans needs to be used.
 
unity said:
"I think Ford recommends plugs every 35K and wires at 80k. Check edmunds.com to be sure."

Actually the change interval is 100k with factory platinums. The wires have no change interval but are actually good for over 150k.
Click to expand...
After this post I went back to Edmunds. They don't say you need wires through the first 150k miles (sorry). I changed mine early, I guess. The plugs are good for 60k miles (per Edmunds) though. I do know that when my "shudder" started it was only a "slip" here and there, but got progressively worse over time. After new plugs and wires. NO miss or shudder any more. What felt like a trans slip or missed shift was really an engine miss from the plugs. I'm just saying you might want to change the plugs before you get soaked for big bucks by the Stealer. For your sake, I hope the plugs do it.
 
bullwink said:
After this post I went back to Edmunds. They don't say you need wires through the first 150k miles (sorry). I changed mine early, I guess. The plugs are good for 60k miles (per Edmunds) though. I do know that when my "shudder" started it was only a "slip" here and there, but got progressively worse over time. After new plugs and wires. NO miss or shudder any more. What felt like a trans slip or missed shift was really an engine miss from the plugs. I'm just saying you might want to change the plugs before you get soaked for big bucks by the Stealer. For your sake, I hope the plugs do it.
Click to expand...

I'll be changing the plugs allright, but it's not the shudder that bothers me. It's the lack of 3rd or 4th gear that's the real problem. Stealership wants $3k for a new tranny/TC and installation. I'm gonna have to shop around a bit, but the market near where my car is now seems pretty slim.

Anyone know a good trans shop in/near Davenport, FL? I don't want to drive my car too far in its current condition, but the closest I've found in the Yellow Pages so far is 17 miles.
 
bullwink, I dont care what Edumds says. The owner's manual and shop book say they need a change at 100k. :) I prefer to go by the manufacturer specs, if I did not care I would have a Chilton manual instead!.
 
unity said:
bullwink, I dont care what Edumds says. The owner's manual and shop book say they need a change at 100k. :) I prefer to go by the manufacturer specs, if I did not care I would have a Chilton manual instead!.
Click to expand...

fyi the 100k plugs interval was from late 95 on with the intech engines because they switched to platinums,if you dont run plats.change them sooner
 
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