2010 Auto trans. Slips from 2nd to 3rd just bought car ... uggggg

[deezdrama]

Just bought this 2010 auto gt monday. Has 80k miles .... I thought about going for a newer coyote 5.0 but always wanted this body style and own a couple 2v 4.6's that i always wanted to mod in my vics but never could because theres not really much for tunes for vics etc..... So figured id get the body style i wanted and be able to do the 4.6 modding ive wanted to do.

Anyway, i got this 2010 gt and been running/shifting fine since I got it monday. On the way to work im grannying it and when it shifted from second to third rpms jumped from about 2k to 2.5k and then it grabbed. Happened 2 more times on way home from work at cruising speeds.
My work is only a mile or so from home so if it was low on fluid would it do this so soon before warming up?
Doesnt do it if I get on it just when cruising. Ive worked on cars/motors my whole life but never been a transmission guy so dont know whats going on. Not sure if its slipping or just engaging sluggishly.

I see theres no dipstick on these (why ford?) and dont have a lift and not putting it on stands just to check fluid.
Supposedly dealer checked or replaced all fluids but maybe they didnt have it to temp I dont know. Probably the reason the last owner traded it in.

This really sucks .... They wanted $14,500 but got out of there at $13,500 which is still close to what I could of got a early coyote with 50-100k miles for.
I was going to order sct tuner and start ordering headers/exhaust but now have this to deal with.

Any easy driveway method of checking fluid? The one good trans shop we had that didnt rape customers is closed now and dont trust the other shops around here but not a trans expert either..... Ive replaced filters/seals and dropped/installed trannys but thats the extent of it.

so what do you guys suggest? Whats likely going on ? Im pretty bummed

 

[skwerl]

I'm not sure but I think the Ford transmissions now require a special tool or fitting that you screw into the drain plug to fill them. Pretty much a dealer only item or a good shop that specializes in transmissions. I was going to suggest just changing the fluid but ford doesn't allow it to be that easy.

Therefore the next best option would be to buy an aftermarket pan with a dipstick, filter and fluid. Change it yourself and put a real pan on it with a real dipstick. Or pay a dealership several hundred dollars to change the fluid for you and still not be able to check it.

Another option might be to run it by the dealership where you bought it. Depending on the integrity of the dealer you might at least get a fluid and filter change out of the deal. I hope it's nothing more serious.

 

[deezdrama]

Just drove it around for 2 hours and it didnt slip at all. Wtf.

I didnt know there was an aftermarket pan with dipstick. Might look into that and do it myself so I know it gets merc v fluid and not cheap crap.

Any additives i should add?

 

[deezdrama]

http://www.brenspeed.com/pa27456.html

ouch...thats half the price of some headers!

How much do you think ford will charge me for a flush/filter/fill?

 

[deezdrama]

I dont want to pay $200+ for a pan but do want a dipstick and usually on every used vehicle I buy I replace coils,plugs,air filter,fuel filter,clean maf, trans filter and fluid, coolant flush, then seafoam it and change oil. Costs a bit and may not be needed but that way Im starting out knowing all maintenance items where completed at least at that point..... anyway, so I planned to at least drop the pan and change trans fluid soon, so guess I just need to get on that and see what the bottom of the pan looks like.
Ive also read that AC condensation leaks right into the trans electrical connection there and can cause shifting problems and that it needs cleaned and filled with dielectric grease.... could that be a possible problem?
I have a rebuilt trans with precision industries pony torque converter in my 2007 vic thats just sitting but i think its a 4r70 or 4r75 - cant remember.

 

[Gabe]

Start with a flush. Most Ford dealerships can do a flush with BG fluids, a pretty good setup

 

[deezdrama]

Too late... i just ordered filter, fill adapter, and oil suction gun.
I want to see what the bottom of the pan is looking like..... and just planned on doing partial changes with each oil change.
Will have to pick up some merc v from ford.
Do you think its ok to drive for a week untill parts come?
It did a half second slip going from 2 to 3rd this morning and twice after work but then later this evening drove errands for an hour or so with no issues.

Also... any additives i should put in or just stick with merc v?

 

[dre256]

My 94 Cherokee I had for about 10 years started slipping at 145k miles. I put Lucas stop slip in it (it's ultra thick). Stopped slipping with in 500 miles. Changed fluid a few years later and forgot to add stop slip back in, started slipping again. Put Lucas back in, with in 500 miles was great. Just sold that jeep last year with 183k miles and transmission was still fine

 

[deezdrama]

There was some other additive alot of people swore by on crownvic.net was called black-------something. Cant remember , but they all swore by it. Anyone know what it is? Had "black" in it i think.... but i wouldnt of guessed about the lucas , i always assumed it was an AZ snakeoil

 

[07gts197]

Its a 4r75e in your vic. Imo if its a dd Id stick with the 5r, swapping in a 4r is something only drag racers do though they are a lot more durable than the 5r.

Im also on crownvic.net but I cant think of what youre talking about. Ive used seafoam trans tune in my 98 vic and can tell you it does work.

 

[tjm73]

A filter change and flush won't hurt but be aware it is not a full fluid change. Only partial. About 5 quarts out of the 11.8 it takes.

There is a possible way to change all the fluid without going to the dealer, but it is involved.

Drop the pan and change the filter. Refill the missing fluid. This fluid will also get changed.

You will need:
Two clean 5 gallon buckets.
A 12 foot (or so) length of clear tube cut into two pieces.
14-15 quarts of your favorite fluid. Will explain why the extra in a moment.
Jack the car up off the ground as high as you can. Use jack stands.
A trusted friend to help.

Someplace on the trans is an output to feed fluid to a cooler and another place to return it into the trans. You disconnect (or tap into) the output between the output and the cooler and connect a tube to one of the buckets to act as a collection bucket.

The other tube is connected to the line headed to the cooler (or the inlet port) and is dropped down into the bottom of the feed bucket. Fill this bucket with all the new fluid. All of it.

With your friend watching the buckets....

Start the car and run it through the gears several times. As the trans runs it will pump the old fluid out into the collection bucket while drawing the new fluid out of the feed bucket.

Here's the part about why to have the extra quarts.

As the trans draws the fluid in from the feed bucket you run the collection bucket past the 12 quart (3 gallons) mark to make sure you changed all the old fluid out. If the old fluid has a different color, watch for it to change to the new/fresh color.

You should be done before the bucket of new fluid runs dry. And your friend should help you know when to stop.

If you put an aftermarket extra capacity pan adjust the number of quarts accordingly.

This should change all the fluid in the trans and also the convertor. I think the 5R55S fluid path is internal so the convertor fluid is continually flowed through the filter with the fluid in the rest of the transmission.

I have not done this, but read about it and plan to do it to my F150.

 

[tjm73]

I would definitely put an added capacity pan with dipstick port on the car. Stupid that they got rid of that.

Now you can check the trans fluid level and fluid condition.

I wouldn'd use additives with this change process I read about. No need fo rthem if you put all fresh fluid in.

 

[deezdrama]

Only aftermarket dipstick pan Ive found is standard capacity.
I almost ordered the pan but decided to investigate the fluid condition first.

Wanted to get my handheld and start ordering exhaust.... hopefully this trans doesnt get expensive

 

[Pentalab]

Perfomance automatic used to sell the deluxe version of their auto tranny pan. ( they still do for the 6r80 used on the coyote, holds an extra 3 qts). It was triple the weight of the oem steel pan, (10.2 vs 3.1 lbs) and the flange was 5/8" thick aluminum...also used a new gasket. Held an extra 4 qts. Came with a locking style dipstick and also the drain plug. 3/8" longitudinal fins on the underside of the pan. To hold the extra 4 qts, it was exactly 2.1" deeper on the inside. They stopped making it, then came out with an oem style steel pan..with a drain plug + dipstick.

The locking style dipstick comes out on the firewall, just to the right of the battery. It's also big enough to easily add ATF fluid, if required...with just a funnel.

Beware, the 5r55s auto tranny on the 2010 will puke ATF fluid when u start flogging the car real hard. It ends up on the ground. You could easily be down 3 qts and never know it..until its slips, like you are experiencing. The fix for that is the JDM engineering auto tranny catch can.

http://www.teamjdm.com/2010-mustang-trans-fluid-overflow-catch-can/ OK, it works superb, but, it mounts on the firewall, next to battery. The dipstick for the tranny pan HAS to go in that location, so the catch can can't go there. Instead, the catch can is located on the driver's side, but on the fender, close to the firewall. Longer tubing is required, so we used an inline splice made for this purpose. Problems solved, no more ATF fluid puking all over the road. With my VMP tune, the auto shifts are both firmer and faster, and line pressure is built up quicker. Read the JDM info on the above url. There are 32 adjustments in software for that auto tranny. With my VMP tune, VMP has unlocked some of the adjustments. I can adjust / fine tune each shift point +/- a bit for the 1-2 shift, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5. With any forced induction, esp with PD blowers, the shifts have to be firmer + faster, and line pressure rises quicker via the VMP software. If that isn't done, the poor 5r55 won't last very long.

I had another issue with the 5r55 auto tranny. Normal operating temp is 170 deg F... which takes a while to arrive at. It will only get up to 80-120 F if just idling. You have to put a load on the tranny and drive it to get it up to 170 F. Mine would go from 170 to 202 F in just 4-8 secs with blower on. My fix for that was a 2nd auto tranny cooler..plumbed in series with oem tranny cooler. I used a B+M tranny cooler, they are cheap at aprx $75 from any of the popular vendors.. like summit or jegs. Popular item. http://www.jegs.com/i/B-M/130/70268/10002/-1 Model 70268 is only 3/4" thick, and easily fits directly beneath the oem rad. The B+M is a bar + plate design vs the older tube + fin type rads. Problem solved. With blower on for 10-12 secs, tranny temps now only rise from 170 f to 171-172 F.

I use 100% synthetic ATF fluid, (royal purple...'max ATF')... and lots of it, since with my setup, it now holds an extra 4 qts. The synthetic runs a lot smoother, doesn't get as hot, + shifts better vs the ford atf. https://www.americanmuscle.com/royal-purple-max-atf-transmission-fluid.html
Simultaneous suction on one side of tranny cooler..and some air pressure on the other side of cooler, ensures all the old crap is removed, including what is in the tq converter. If you use just the drain plug assy, you will get some of it, but not the portion inside the tq converter.

With eng + tranny cold, the level on the PA dipstick will read on the high side. Once up to temp, the level will DROP....and it's when tranny is up to temp (170 F) that u fine tweak the atf level. (do this on a dead level surface) If level is too low, your shifts will lag a bit.

I suspect your atf has never been changed since day 1..or the level is too low. I can see all of the auto tranny parameters on my aeroforce brand digital gauges..which plug into the OBD port, and there is a bunch of them, including temp, tq, you name it.

The 5r55 is an ok auto tranny, but you have to do all this bs to make it last...and shift correctly, and not overheat + puke atf.

 

[deezdrama]

Hmmm didnt know about these transmissions spewing fluid out.
That catch can is expensive for what it is.... couldnt someone just attach a old wiper fluid resevoir or something similar with hose and clamps and mount it to firewall?

Ive heard alot of good things about the royal purple atf. Is it mixable with the ford atf?
Going to just drop pan and change filter and as long as the fluid that came out isnt super bad then just going to add back what i drained but if royal purple is mixable then would like to add it back and start draining/ adding back royal purple atf with each oil change from here on out.

 

[deezdrama]

Got a filter, adapter,oil gun, and 6 quarts royal purple max atf coming.
Debating whether to shell out for the pan or not. I plan on draining the pan and adding back royal purple 3 times over the course of a year when I do oil changes.
By third time most of the old stuff should be out.

 

[07 Boss]

These 5R trannies are inherently weak. 3rd gear bands are usually first to go. I bet it tends to happen more during light cruising, huh? For some reason the 2nd to 3rd shift seems to take more pressure to complete. During my numerous transmissions I have found that at higher rpms the slow shift goes away and assume it has to do with the pump speed in the tranny. BUT it is the first sign that some work has to be done eventually. Adding thicker fluid and raising pressure will cover or mask the issue but it still is going to need a partial or full rebuild down the road.

When you do get in there be sure to us the alto Kolene steel red or blue bands.

The catch can is nice because once you get the fluid level correct it should be correct as the catch can drains it back into the tranny when it cools. I have had a pan with dipstick but have a stock pan on there now. It is a weird process to check the fill level but it's not that difficult. I also bought a little one way tube that screws onto the tranny fluid bottle and you can literally just squeeze the fluid up into the tranny. Then you let it drain till it starts dripping and put the plug back in.

There are some other things you can do to improve the tranny like servo bores and valve body but aren't totally necessary.

 

[deezdrama]

These 5R trannies are inherently weak. 3rd gear bands are usually first to go. I bet it tends to happen more during light cruising, huh?

When you do get in there be sure to us the alto Kolene steel red or blue bands.

Yep... happened 3 times in one day at cruising speeds but hasnt done it again since.

"When I get in the be sure to" what?

 

[Wes06]

"when you do get in there be sure to"

he's telling you which bands to put in the transmission if/when you pull it out to rebuild it

 

[Pentalab]

Yep... happened 3 times in one day at cruising speeds but hasnt done it again since.

"When I get in the be sure to" what?

IOW, Use the correct HD bands when rebuilding the 5r55. You don't want a repeat performance of the oem bands.

On a side note, while on about catch cans, I installed one (JLT) for the engine, located on the drivers side..on my 2010. It would end up being 80% full after a few months. It looks like a chocolate milkshake. It's a mixture of condensation, eng oil, and misc other crap. Without the eng catch can, this choc shake mixture ends up inside the blower elbow on my Roush M90 blower, then all over the blower rotor's, then also into the roush aluminum intake manifold, where it collects in the corners. It's a real mess without the eng catch can. The 'choc shake' that ends up in catch can was when using oem Ford 5W-20 eng oil... ( semi synthetic, which is 2-5% synthetic, and 95-98% dino oil). Once I switched to Royal Purple 5W-30 HPS, the amount collected in the eng catch can was reduced to hardly anything...and it was clean, no choc shake...go figure. Several other folks have noticed the same results, but were using other brands of eng oil, but they were all 100% synthetic.

http://shop.bobsautosports.com/Catch-Cans-Oil-Separators_c13.htm These folks make a better eng catch can than the JLT version.

I also used a Bobs auto sports catch can for the rear axle, installed on the pass side of the rear axle. http://shop.bobsautosports.com/Mustang-2005-14-axle-reservoir-KR-style-axle-reservoir.htm

It's plumbed to the oem axle vent. Without the rear axle catch can, differential oil will puke up through the vent..then all over the axle, and onto the ground. There is not much differential oil in there to begin with, which lubes both axles + differential assy. There was enough slack in the supplied tubing to allow the suspension to be at full droop, when car is up on a 4 x post lift. The catch can fit perfectly, and with rear lowered 1.25", still allows for plenty of clearance, when hitting bumps. (rear end suspension loaded, and lower height rear bump stops used.