4F50N on a yo-yo string

Brad Clayton · September 24, 2008

This is not a technical issue but more of a sharing process of the long journey I am having with this auto. There are alot of threads in the "on th job" section so I though I would put it in here. The vehicle is an '04 Taurus 2v 4f50n. The car comes in with no 4th gear and code to support no 4th gear. The funny thing about the whole deal is another tech was working on it to begin with and asked for some help then I ended up with it. Funny how that works. So we check the basics and the electrical and all is well, pointing torward some worn or broken hard parts. We pull the pan and bingo all the clutch material is in the sump. Customer is trying to get home to Boston (did I mention they were waiting on this?) so the advisor talks them into staying in town with some friends while we "black box" it. I mean after all the turn around will be fast and it comes with a kick ass 3 year 100,000 mile warranty. SOLD!

Trans shows up next day and unit goes in without a hitch. Test drive goes ok, rechecks ok. Here's where things go south. I usually put some serious miles on trans, engines, dif overhauls, ect. But for some reason I cut the drive short and I also noticed a little tiny ity bity slightly firmer than normal 1-2 upshift. Well I wrote it off and the alignment guy didn't alert me of anything out of the ordinary. Against all better judgement on my part I released the vehicle to the customer. They come to get, quite pleased to be back in it the next day, which turns to displeasure, leaving a sour taste in their mouth due to the fact that they made it 30 miles out of town and the check trans message came on the cluster.

Now they are back at the dealer and out a couple of grand and have no faith in the product. We give them a loaner and send them home. I check the car out and find p0718. TSS intermittent. I swap the sensor hoping it could be so simple, but no go. I then drive and monitor pid data and the TSS dips out every once in a while like a false activation event. Looking at the pinpoint test deals with a lot of electrical. This problem wasn't ther before so I went straight to the step dealing with the sensor and tone ring. The first tooth on the exciter ring I measure is 22 mm from the case, spec is 18.65. Uuuhhmmmm. I pull the trans and tear down to find the tooth laid right over and the others are fine. I fill out prior approval and get another unit.

Alright twice is nice. I change the unit out again and all looks good. Eehhh.....until I start it up. Upon start up the car knocks like a freight train. I thought a rod was gonna come out of the engine. What the hell is going on here? By now everyone in the shop has taken an interest in what's going on.....great. Trans comes out and apart, the timing chain got right into the case. I fill out another prior approval and they send another trans.

OK three times a charm!!! Not here it aint. I get the new unit in and go for a rip and guess what? Three miles into my test drive the check trans message comes on. AAARRRGGGG. Pull codes and p0718 is back. Oh jeez what the hell is going on here? Kinda having some experience with this I go straight to the TSS sensor and measure all the tits on the tone ring. All 4 are at 20mm. UUMMMM, how acurate is the spec? Well now I am questioning myself and so is everyone else. I hook up BOB and load test the wires from the TSS to the PCM good. I hook up a lab scope to the TSS and monitor what the sensor is doing while watching the datalogger on the PDA. They both read the samething, a signal so weak and garbled, that is totally useless. Now I am curious, so I take an old TSS sensor (I have quite a few laying around by now) and grind 2mm of the seat. I stick in the hole and hold it there, while someone else runs the car, and she works like a charm. It seems the thrust washer under the driven gear got left out.

Now I am back at the computer and filling out prior approval for a 4th unit. They right back and want to talk to me on the phone thinking I am a retard. It seems that when I filled out the form I put in p0178 instead of p0718. This raised a little red flag on there end. I don't no what p0178 is but it aint trans related. I talk to the gang and they decide to send one more unit and they want me to check the TSS exciter ring before I install it. Imagine that.

Who the frick is building these things, a blind man? This things' like a turd that won't flush.

Brad Clayton · September 26, 2008

Well, it looks like 4 is the magic number on this one. I drove the car home tonight and she runs like a champ. Now to help smooth things over with the customer, one of our "retiree" used car jockeys is gonna deliver the car to the owner in Boston and bring back our loaner car.

Mekanik · October 29, 2008

Brad, That makes me never want to sell a re-man trans agian. Things like this happen from time to time. One time I replaced 3 injector pumps on a 7.3L IDI till I got one that would work.

Brad Clayton · October 30, 2008

Yea, it really sucks when you praise the product with gusto to the customer and then it turns out to be a dud.

LARRY BRUDZYNSKI · October 30, 2008

Remember were still the same guys here in the U.S./Canada that have to pitch buy American/Canadien. It's still reman'd nowhere near us by guy's that don't even speak English.

Jim Warman · November 4, 2008

For us it IS rebuilt near us..... by guys that don't speak English... brought to this country as near slave labour.... screwed over by guys from their own country... who can conveniently blame it on white male, heterosexual, middle aged, wage earning, tax paying, married men with 2.3 children, a mortgage that is paid on time and a retirement savings plan decimated by lousy government crawling into bed with greedy business.... that give government grants to guys that promise to bring more near slave labour to this country and have them rebuild things that are way beyond their abilities....

Gad....ain't I a sour old bastuhd....