Auto trans rpms drop when put in reverse

[Shadowfax]

A little background info, I just bought this 02, it supposedly has a new trans with some extra things done to it. The trans was working fine, it had an aftermarket trans cooler mounted but i thought it looked bad with the factory one sitting there with the hoses hanging off.

I removed the aftermarket cooler and reconnectrd the factory one. I also mounted and connected an in line filter, then added 2 qts bc it looked low.

The bad part was the fluid that drained from the lines when I was working. It was gross, black looking.

The problem
Before I did any work the other night my od light came on for no reason a couple times. This morning when I went to back in my spot I shifted to reverse and the rpms dropped to about 400 and then went back to normal. I shifted it back and fourth a couple times and it dropped every time in reverse. My od light also flashed for a minute. I also noticed that the filter and all the lines were cold but the pan was hot.

So far it has not given me any problem on the road hopefully I'm not ginxing myself.

What could the problem be? I have read about the bypass valve but would that cause the reverse and od light issues? The trans temp guage reads normal.

Trans is supposed to have 30k on it so I hope theres no serious problem.
It took forever to type this on my cell phone.

[CHUCK]

Hope its nothing expensive!

[Shadowfax]

after work today I tested every hose connection starting with the trans return. Needless to say I lost a lot of trans fluid when I found the spot. Apparently trans fluid was not passing through the filter I installed. I tried a new filter and it still didn't work so I just bypassed the filter for now.

The rpms havent dropped since shifting into reverse since this morning, and it still drives and shifts perfectly.



After all this I found another weird thing. My od light on the shifter flashes for a split second when I put backwards pressure on the shifter, I can find the sweet spot and it will stay on. It does it in every gear except neutral and 1. The light sometimes will come on when I pull back on the shifter and stay on until it is set in a gear. It has even stayed on then too but if I flick the end of the shifter it will go out.

It is kindof acting like there is a short in the button or something. If the button stays on in a gear it will also go off if I just push the od and usually if I tap the shifter itself.

I don't know about this, it seems to have just started and I haven't noticed anything strange while driving.

I'm going to drop the pan this weekend and change the internal filter and get a bunch of fresh fluid in there. The fluid I have been seeing makes me nervous.

sorry kindof long winded

[CSIPSD]

Wire harness is shorted... Quite common.

[Shadowfax]

hmm. I have the steering column out of my 96 bronco, I wonder if the shift levers are the same. I know they look pretty identical.

That would explain alot but it doesn't explain why it was bogging when I put it in reverse. Hopefully that had something to do with the fluid only circulating through the bypass.

[JJR]

I would be leary of the factory cooler. They like to plug up. Probably was bypassed for a reason.

[Shadowfax]

Yeah I was thinking that too. The one that was added was pretty cheap, I'm going to shop around for a 6.0 cooler.

I noticed that I had the ports mixed up on the filter. I wonder if oil filters are directional and that was what was causing it not to flow.

[Shadowfax]

I think my best bet is going to be to drop the pan, clean it and replace the filter and do a full flush. I'm going to get a 6.0 cooler or similar and get rid of the external filter mount.

Then ill mess with the shifter wires.

[justinlogue5_0]

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

Yeah I was thinking that too. The one that was added was pretty cheap, I'm going to shop around for a 6.0 cooler.

I noticed that I had the ports mixed up on the filter. I wonder if oil filters are directional and that was what was causing it not to flow.

If your a little short on cash you can get a trans cooler from Jegs or Summit that handles 30,000 lbs vehilcles and comes with a built on cooling fan for less than half of what a 6.0 cooler cost. I put one on mine and LOVE it. I did have to make my own brackets to make it work though where I believe the 6.0 one is a direct bolt on.

On a side note, You said you hooked back up the factory one with the hoses just hanging there? Did you flush the cooler first? Probable FULL of road grime.

[JJR]

I got my 6.0 cooler new from Keystone automotive for about $260. It is great and is the larger 32 row cooler.