1994 Ranger purchased a year ago w/130k. The tranny at the time had sluggish shifting and harsh rev engagement when cold. There was no metal in the pan at that time, just the typical gray sludgy stuff one would expect to see. I installed a shift kit, changed the servos, modulator, filter, and fluid. The transmission had been perfect since.

Last night my daughter calls, She said "it stalled as she was coasting to a stop. It restarted but the engine stalled everytime she tried to put it in Rev or OD. She kept messing with it and it stopped stalling but wouldn't move forward or reverse in any gear".

I brought it home this morning, it was 1 1/2 qts low on fluid. The fluid is red, clear & clean, and still smells like new. The pan gasket looks to be leaking a little, nothing seems to be coming from the front seal. There were no bad or unusual noises coming from the transmission. While under the truck it faintly sounds like fluid flowing under pressure from inside the pan when the truck is in gear but I can’t say that’s unusual. Regardless it doesn’t sound alarming or like anything that wouldn’t be normal.

I've topped the fluid, When I put the shifter in any gear you can feel what I can only call engagement but the truck wont move as it should. Stepping on the gas the vehicle trys to move and actually will start to move if you really rev it up but the transmission seems to be not fully engaged or it's slipping real bad. While doing this the transmission is not loading down the engine. I didn’t keep trying to make it move fearing if something was torn up I would be making it worse.

Not being a tranny person and for a lack of better ideas instinct tells me to pull the pan and look for metal. If the pan is clean drop the valve body and look for broken springs or stuck valves.
If thats all seems good pull the trans and change the torque converter and flush the cooler?

Comments or suggestions? Are there any codes I can pull or anything in particular I should try or look for?

 

Drop the pan and take a look see. Check the "z-link" while you are in there. It connects the external **** lever to the manual valve. If this lever is bent it can cause a host of problems. If you are comfortable going through the valve body (which it sounds like you are), check everything in there and use new gaskets. Also, make sure that you put the check ***** in the correct spots. Start there and lets see what you find. Let me know if you need any diagrams or anything of the like.

 

No one has seen this before? I'm surprised.

I just pulled the pan and valve body. There was some silver and brass glitter in the pan but nothing I would get to excited about.
If the torque converter tore up, what kind of material would it have put into the pan?

The Z link looked fine, I'll go through the valve body tonight.

 

just curious... what did you figure out that was wrong with your a4ld?

 

Your asking someone that posted only twice and hasn't logged in for 11 years...

 

So u must be the captain huh? Captain obvious? Im well aware of how old the thread is. I didnt know that they haven't logged on for 11 years tho. I figured it was worth a shot.

 

Oh good---just when I thought we were running low on smart azz unappreciative newbies fresh another arrives just in time.

While most here seek to be helpful it will be pointed out threads have dates of their original posting and it takes a nano-second to check when any one thread has been last updated or replied to. Patience can be high and tolerant but its not infinite----it pays to at least feign respect when YOU are asking for help.