On Mar 30, 7:52 am, "Paul G." > wrote:
> On Mar 29, 9:08 pm, wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Good Evening,
>
> > I found an earlier post (2004) on this topic but no clear solution.
>
> > Any ideas on why my auto trans won't downshift to 1st gear when
> > manually placed into 1st gear? It will limit itself to first gear
> > only when accelerating in 1st gear but it won't allow engine breaking
> > to decelerate on decents. It seams like it is in neutral when no gas
> > is applied, allow
> > it to coast and even pick speed on a steep decent. 2nd gear
> > functionality works fine including engine braking.
>
> > I have experimented with it enough to know that it is a real problem,
> > and not related to high-speed shifting in to 1st.
>
> > Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
>
> Here's the answer I posted previously. I should have included "5R55E"
> so you could find it...
>
> That is a known problem caused by a gasket in the valve body blowing
> out. It's fixed by replacing a plate in the valve body with a new one
> which now has the gasket permanently bonded to the plate. They
> recommend replacing a failure-prone solenoid while you're at it.
>
> Here's some great info on this problem from "Serious Explorations":
>
> TSB 03-22-10...
>
> FORD: 1995-2001 EXPLORER
>
> ISSUE:
> Some vehicles built prior to 12/1/2001 may exhibit the following shift
> and engagement conditions:
>
> No 2nd Gear
> No 3rd Gear
> No Engine Braking In Manual 1st.
> Out of specification pressures controlled by the transmission main
> control valve body separator plate may be the cause.
>
> ACTION:
> Verify the condition, the main control valve body separator plate may
> need to be updated to the latest level. Refer to the following Service
> Procedure for details.
>
> See the whole article, be sure to read the stuff way down at the
> bottom:http://tinyurl.com/yg23rj
> -Paul- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks for directling me to your earlier posting. I have yet to meet
another Paul that was not a nice guy!

I have never worked on a trans before so I may follow up with a trans
shop or dealer, if the cost is reasonable.

Does anyone know if there are any risks if I continue to operate the
truck with this condition? In normal driving the trans works fine.
It's rare that I manually shift into first. T