6R140 Shift Diagnosis

[Brad Clayton]

6R140 Shift Quality Diagnosis


Today’s project is a 2011 F-250 with a shift flair during light acceleration. The customer didn’t know which gear was acting up (although the cluster will tell you what gear you’re in) he just said it “shifts funny”.
 


Transmission fluid level was verified and then a proper test drive was executed to verify the concern.



A visual inspection was performed and there was nothing to report as being a problem.



A vehicle session was started in the IDS.



No codes were reported. Oasis was consulted and no known issues or prior history came back.



Now it’s time to gather some more data using datalogger and selecting transmission specific pids and retest driving.



All the shift solenoid amperage pids were selected and when the vehicle shifts into 4th gear, solenoid B has a sporadic pattern and the RPM’s flare up as indicated by the arrow.



The shop manual confirms that solenoid B comes back on when shifting to forth gear.



The next step is to replace the affected solenoid and recheck. The solenoids in this transmission are rather finicky and must be ID’ed and replaced with the correct part number or problems will arise (similar to a 6.7 injector). The IDS can easily identify the needed solenoid band. First go to programmable parameters and transmission and select the tick button.



The next few screens will get you to here and this will identify the band and whether the solenoid is normally high or low.



The shop manual has this nice little chart with the part numbers. Once you have the band number and the high or low designation then you can take the part number to the parts counter and avoid a lot of frustration.



Now it’s time to install some parts.



Solenoid replacement is pretty straight forward on this unit.



After getting the pan back on, it’s time to fill the sump. We had a few good years of a vertical trans dipstick but unfortunately we are back to a horizontal unit. Draining the pan will require a minimum of 8 quarts of fluid, this one took 10 to top if off.



Although it isn’t necessary, I like to reset the trans tables.



A transmission drive cycle must be completed and to do so requires the trans temp to be above 196 degrees F. The cluster can be utilized to monitor the temp. Getting a 6R140 up to that temp is not an easy task as they run rather cool. This truck was driven 10 hard miles and only reached 160 degrees.



A trick I like to use in order to get the temps up quicker and with less effort, is to use IDS and datalogger to shut the converter off so it will not lock up. This will allow for a continuous fluid sheer and will heat the trans up pretty quickly.



The last step in the repair is to verify it’s fixed. This truck only acted up cold, so it was parked in the shop overnight and retested the next morning. It performed flawlessly and the above data capture shows a much better amperage ramp up.


 

[Keith Browning]

Not sure why you would say it is not necessary to reset the adaptive tables and I agree that you should always reset them any time a hard part or control component is replaced.  I am of the OPINION that the TCM/PCM (which ever is applicable) as been adjusting to a malfunctioning solenoid in this case you wrote up here.  So not only do you need to verify the solenoid band numbers when replacing them, I would take a quick moment to verify the solenoid body IDN on the tag matches what is in the module and reset the adaptive tables. Of course if you update the module you wont need to reset them manually. I know you said there was no history of repairs so I can see skipping that but sometimes you could get a kick in the ass if you discover a discrepancy - especially when shift concerns are involved.  Just sayin. The Hot-Line always recommends resetting the tables when I get them involved.

 

As usual - nice write up Brad!

[tonybullitt]

Nice write up and pics. Remember when we had to drop pan and get the id to order a solenoid when these trucks first came out?