'04 Transmission Question

I have an '04 Explorer, purchased in April. Up until now everything's
been just fine. However, cold weather is upon us and the transmission
is beginning to do something weird.

When I leave for work in the morning, I immediately hop on a strech of
road with a 55 mph speed limit for about 5 miles or so. Lately, the
morning temperature has been in the upper 20s. I notice that the
transmission doesnt "torque lock" anymore until I'm pretty near the
end of that stretch of road, even though I'm going 55 mph. During the
summer, the transmission would lock right away when I turned onto
that road.

it seems to me that as the temperature is dropping, it's taking longer
and longer for the transmission to "lock". It's almost as if the
engine has to get up to operating temperature before it lets the
transmission lock, and because of the cold weather, the engine is
taking longer to heat up.

Do I have a problem here, or is the transmission designed to do this?
I figure it could be a government mandated emissions reduction kind
of thing. You know, keep the engine revolutions up until engine
reaches operating temperature to minimize pollution.

So it this normal, or should I be taking it in for service? Any advice
is appreciated

dickm

This is normal.... engine coolant temp signal and trans fluid temp signal
are part of the information used to determine if converter lockup is
appropriate..


"dicko" > wrote in message
...
>I have an '04 Explorer, purchased in April.

It will not lock until fluid temperature is over 140 degrees. Lockup at
cold engine temperature could cause bearing failure. Also your engine's
max power is not reached until temps are 180 degrees and above. Have a
gear ratio higher than 3:73 and it will take even longer. 99% chance you
have no problem except that you live in one heck of a cold place. Move
to Florida if you want quick lock up's and 5th. or 6th. gear on cold starts.

Ron

dicko wrote:

> I have an '04 Explorer, purchased in April. Up until now everything's
> been just fine. However, cold weather is upon us and the transmission
> is beginning to do something weird.
>
> When I leave for work in the morning, I immediately hop on a strech of
> road with a 55 mph speed limit for about 5 miles or so. Lately, the
> morning temperature has been in the upper 20s. I notice that the
> transmission doesnt "torque lock" anymore until I'm pretty near the
> end of that stretch of road, even though I'm going 55 mph. During the
> summer, the transmission would lock right away when I turned onto
> that road.
>
> it seems to me that as the temperature is dropping, it's taking longer
> and longer for the transmission to "lock". It's almost as if the
> engine has to get up to operating temperature before it lets the
> transmission lock, and because of the cold weather, the engine is
> taking longer to heat up.
>
> Do I have a problem here, or is the transmission designed to do this?
> I figure it could be a government mandated emissions reduction kind
> of thing. You know, keep the engine revolutions up until engine
> reaches operating temperature to minimize pollution.
>
> So it this normal, or should I be taking it in for service? Any advice
> is appreciated
>
> dickm
>

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 14:44:37 -0600, dicko >
wrote:

>I have an '04 Explorer, purchased in April. Up until now everything's
>been just fine. However, cold weather is upon us and the transmission
>is beginning to do something weird.
>
>When I leave for work in the morning, I immediately hop on a strech of
>road with a 55 mph speed limit for about 5 miles or so. Lately, the
>morning temperature has been in the upper 20s. I notice that the
>transmission doesnt "torque lock" anymore until I'm pretty near the
>end of that stretch of road, even though I'm going 55 mph. During the
>summer, the transmission would lock right away when I turned onto
>that road.
>
>it seems to me that as the temperature is dropping, it's taking longer
>and longer for the transmission to "lock". It's almost as if the
>engine has to get up to operating temperature before it lets the
>transmission lock, and because of the cold weather, the engine is
>taking longer to heat up.
>
>Do I have a problem here, or is the transmission designed to do this?
>I figure it could be a government mandated emissions reduction kind
>of thing. You know, keep the engine revolutions up until engine
>reaches operating temperature to minimize pollution.
>
>So it this normal, or should I be taking it in for service? Any advice
>is appreciated
>
>dickm

Thanks for the answers. I kind of suspected it was normal operation.

dickm

20 is cold???? Hell, that's when I wonder where the loving bride put my
jacket....


"Ron" > wrote in message
...
> It will not lock until fluid temperature is over 140 degrees. Lockup at
> cold engine temperature could cause bearing failure. Also your engine's
> max power is not reached until temps are 180 degrees and above. Have a
> gear ratio higher than 3:73 and it will take even longer. 99% chance you
> have no problem except that you live in one heck of a cold place. Move to
> Florida if you want quick lock up's and 5th. or 6th. gear on cold starts.
>