harsh transmission shifts

[lking]

drive cycle procedure says to use a steady foot. the whole break-in thing is kind of null and void if you didnt follow all of the directions to a 't'

at this point, if you want it fixed you need to take it to lincoln and let it be their problem. how many miles have you put on the car since you have been having the harsh tranny shifts? have the the shifts gotten worse/more harsh? have you had any other catastrophic failures <that you are aware of>? keep us updated with lincoln's fix(es). it has been about a year since you mentioned harsh shifting, and you alluded to it being an issue for some time before you posted, so over time you pretty much stress-tested your tranny, which most people do not have the cojones to do. <ha> i think your answers to these questions will be helpful to majority of the people here who are relegating the LS to a 'bang for the buck' daily beater and are not sure if they should bother throwing time & money & effort at shifting issues.

stress tested the transmission for about 40 000 kms since the harsh shifting started and now finally after replacing the solenoid pack and updating PCM and recalibrated shifting like new again these cars have solid transmissions

 

[RigsLS]

... get the PCM updated and recalibrated and the transmission guy there said it won't fix the harsh shifting ... service person at the front desk brought back the same transmission guy and again ... already had this conversation ... now I get the quick and smooth shifts

LOL, he gone!
does he want a chance at changing his "Final Answer"?

~ it happens, not everyone is right or wrong every time.

 

[jrand]

stress tested the transmission for about 40 000 kms since the harsh shifting started and now finally after replacing the solenoid pack and updating PCM and recalibrated shifting like new again these cars have solid transmissions

i dont think 40000km is any testament to durability, though i do agree with the sentiment of your comment. this tranny gets a bad rap, but its manageable. i wouldnt say youre out of the woods yet either. deferred maintenance could catch up to ya tomorrow for all anyone knows.

i just thought your response might be helpful for someone who could live with a little harsh shifting and didnt want to drop the cash to have it fixed. 40k km hasnt killed yours <yet> and thats helpful to someone out there. in my opinion, though it can feel rough when shifting it is still within operating specs and thus no codes or E's or whatever other kind of tranny fault may come about bc of an actual issue. experience with mine tells me that something as simple as changing a fuel filter throws out the 4-5-4 shift parameter and leads to harsh shifts. pcm has thousands of miles of data accumulated while running that old filter (or any other part factoring into a shift strategy) and is weighing those obsolete miles into its calculations into the shift timing. i just clear out the old data and start fresh. the shop manual actually recommends this. 'disconnect the battery and follow reconnect procedures' is written in pretty much every service procedure description. im sure its possible to wear out a solenoid, but i think you threw a part at it unneccesarily.

Im not sure what service they actually did to your PCM or how much it cost, but I can guarantee you could have got the same effect on your own by clearing the PCM's KAM via battery disconnect and resetting it correctly (which can be difficult to do if youre not good at following directions). clearing the kam is about the equivalent of rebooting your PC, MAC, Cellphone, or other electronic device. if the PCM needed some type of ford-equivalent 'firmware upgrade' to shift properly it would have never shifted properly from the day the original owner drove it off the lot. my 2 cents

 

[lking]

i hate to bring this old thread back to life but this might be helpful to future google searches


so it turns out it wasn't the PCM update because the harsh shifting came back the guy at the dealer was right i wasted my $120.00 on the update

the problem was low transmission fluid i don't think anyone mentioned low fluid i didn't fill it to the correct level after changing the solenoid
it was low only half litre and what a difference half litre of fluid makes all shifting is much better now except for reverse is still harsh half the time i might have messed up the new solenoid with low fluid level i'll update since the shifts seem to be getting better every time i drive

 

[lking]

update turns out i was low on fluid 2 litres low

when i drained the fluid from the inner plug i got one litre of fluid out then another two from the bigger plug i added the 3 litres back plus another two after driving a few times the transmission shifts like brand new

i guess i wasn't checking the fluid level the proper way because fluid that shouldn't of drained out did which is how i ended up with low fluid level to begin with

i hope i never have to deal with transmission problems ever again! good thing the low fluid level (for almost one year) didn't damage the new solenoid pack or transmission

if you're going to check fluid level yourself make sure you know exactly what your doing otherwise fluid will drain out that shouldnt and you'll think its at the correct level


the way i checked was with the engine at normal operating temp i went trough each gear then put it in park and jack up the car which took about 15 mins and then i would open inner plug which i now realise made it pointless the gears should be shifted and checked right away but i was afraid of the skinny scissor jacks failing if i changed gears once the car was on jack stands

 

[alsa7errr]

Hi there,

I'm new here and would like to share my issue

I was reading all your thread's 6 pages trying to solve my 2004 Lincoln ls V8 Transmission problem.

I have a harsh shift from 2nd gear to 3rd gear !! its like a slam hard. I did the following with no use to solve it:

1. Overhaul the transmission.
2. Change the transmission fluid.
3. change the solenoid pack.

The problem still happen.

4. Disconnect the battery to get the relearn mode to the PCM.

The problem still happen.

5. Change the Body valve itself.

The problem still happen.

6. Change the three speed sensors.

The problem still happen.

7. Bought SCT pre-loaded flash device and tune the 2-3 shift up to 25% smother.

The problem still happen.

8. Took it to the dealer and checked the level of the transmission fluid , they said its slightly more fluid and they corrected it.

The problem still happen.

9. Took it again to the dealer and flashed the PCM.

The problem still happen.

There are no codes when using the scan tool.

I like this vehicle , I am thinking to get a new PCM , what do you advise ?

 

[joegr]

What did you mean by "Overhaul the transmission?" It doesn't mean what I would have thought it meant if changing the fluid and the solenoid assembly and so on weren't part of that process.

 

[alsa7errr]

Hi Joegr , it means maintain the transmission by changing all the seals , clutches and gasket sets .

You can say rebuilt kit for the transmission.

 

[lking]

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/fo...lenoid-pack-video&p=2037336115#post2037336115

DIY solenoid pack video

 

[alsa7errr]

Thanks for the video Iking.

Changing the solenoid pack was already done and still harsh slam shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear.


Where can I get new PCM or remanufactured one.?

 

[jrand]

"4. Disconnect the battery to get the relearn mode to the PCM."

are you sure you followed the entire procedure to a "T"? bc its not a simple as 'disconnect battery, reconnect battery, go'
check the owners manual for what youre supposed to do when you disconnect a battery, then follow the entire drive cycle procedure to a T.
i have fixed 2-3-2 shifting issues by doing this. and make sure youre doing all of the easy **** too: coils, correct gas, clean maf, yadda yadda

 

[alsa7errr]

Hi jrand,

I did exactly whats in the owner manual regarding disconnecting the battery.

the shifting problem is the same.

I got one thing new today

I had code 2195 & 2197 both are the oxygen sensors (bank 1 sensor 1 and bank 2 sensor 1) !

are those sensors related to the shifting problems ?

I cleared the codes and they never come back !

 

[jrand]

Hi jrand,

I did exactly whats in the owner manual regarding disconnecting the battery.

the shifting problem is the same.

I got one thing new today

I had code 2195 & 2197 both are the oxygen sensors (bank 1 sensor 1 and bank 2 sensor 1) !

are those sensors related to the shifting problems ?

I cleared the codes and they never come back !

off the top of my head, im pretty sure both of those codes are lean codes. they both indicate there is an overarching issue that needs to be rectified before anything else. it is likely causing or contributing to the shifting issue. i would do all of the easy slam dunk stuff before i shelled out any cash. you need to run the right fuel, you need to make sure the maf is clean, throttle body clean, coils are newish, spark plugs are gapped correctly, no intake leaks, run a couple bottles of injector cleaner (lucas or whatever you prefer), newish fuel filter too. check all this easy crap first bc its all easy and routine and can cause poor shifting in this car. the pcm adjusts iteself to keep the car running/shifting as best as it can, even with parts that are dirty or need replacing. theres a ton of sensors and calcs going into a single shift and all of those thing i mentioned (and maybe others if i forgot some) are cheap easy things that you can do to get the car running right a large percentage of the time.

also of note, the owners manual only has the battery reconnect procedure. after reconnecting the battery and doing the battery reconnect procedure you should do the drive cycle procedure in the shop manual. theyre two diff things. search for it, its been posted. i know i first commented on it around sep 2012 and its probably been discussed in this thread. you gotta follow that procedure pretty quickly after disconnecting the battery bc the first couple times you fire it up after a battery disconnect is when it does most of its calibrations and learns to shift... some people do not follow the procedure to a T and end up happy with how the car performs, but you can have the car adapt to how you drive quickly and accurately by simply running the procedure as described. 99.9% of people dont set the 4/5/4 shift sensor properly and their car shifts like crap and they think its 'normal' bc they never bothered to follow the proper procedure.

dont worry about doing the drive cycle procedure yet though, you need to make sure all of those things i mentioned first are clean/newish to get rid of the lean code before you even bother with it. just bc you cleared it and it hasnt come back doesnt mean it wont. if i had to guess i would say you need to clean the maf, get a new fuel filter, need to run the right gas, and need to run injector cleaner based on the fact that you just have a lean code and not a misfire code.

 

[2005_LS_V8]

Today in a parking lot, I was sitting in Neutral waiting for a car to pull out. They took a long time, I put the car in D4, still waiting with brakes on, then I decided to go on to another spot. I got a major slip and clunk going into D4 : ( My first trans. issue. Oh well, nothing to do right now but monitor the situation (and read threads like this to learn).

 

[joegr]

... I put the car in D4, ...

Are you normally using D4 instead of D5?

 

[2005_LS_V8]

Yes, I normally go to D4 first out of habit. Then, when the road situation opens up, I go to D5.

The only thing I did to this trans since I bought it last November with 65k is to have the trans oil pan dropped and replace the fluid that drained, also replaced trans fluid filter. No forced flush.

Oh and I disconnected my battery back in December to have the PCM relearn air/fuel ratio after I opened up my airbox. Had no idea of any extended procedure to go through that was mentioned above, so I didn't do that.

 

[jrand]

Yes, I normally go to D4 first out of habit. Then, when the road situation opens up, I go to D5.

The only thing I did to this trans since I bought it last November with 65k is to have the trans oil pan dropped and replace the fluid that drained, also replaced trans fluid filter. No forced flush.

Oh and I disconnected my battery back in December to have the PCM relearn air/fuel ratio after I opened up my airbox. Had no idea of any extended procedure to go through that was mentioned above, so I didn't do that.

just curious, why d4 instead of d5?

when it comes to clunking and not engaging right after moving the stick, i have experienced this and similar issues when seasons start to change for the first time in a long time... if its been 0-30 degrees for a few months and then all of a sudden its 60 degrees, that temp change affects the pressures in the system and ultimately how the shift lever engages. sometimes when this happens i can get the dash to say i am in R but im really in P... or... dash says P but im really in R... or... dash says R but im really in N... or.. dash says D5 but im really in N. the system just hasnt adapted to the sudden change in pressure. when it has happened (about 10 times to me personally) i have done two different things: a few times i just said 'wtf was that?' and kept driving as normal... in this situation i ended up with 'different' feeling shifts for a few days. they were not harsh but they did not feel as 'right' or 'good' as they did before the problem... a few other times i immediately put the car in park and turned it off, then turned it back on and shifted through the gears 3x (or until they start to engage correctly in a consistent fashion) with my foot on the brake. doing this did not lead to any 'different' feeling shifts after having the engagement issue. in a drive cycle procedure or a battery procedure (i dont remember which off the top of my head) shifting thru the gears with foot on brake is one of the steps

 

[2005_LS_V8]

D4 because I figure I don't need the trans shifting back and forth from 5 to 4 if I'm not at cruising speed yet and also for the engine braking effect going down hills. I move to D5 when I think I'm at any kind of extended 40+mph driving situation.

Saturday, the day this happened, it was definitely 60+ degrees here in Atlanta, after a long period of cold. Felt like the first day of Spring. I ran an errand Sunday and had no shift problems, no latency at all. Thanks for the info on the battery procedure.

 

[lking]

its been about 700kms since proper fluid level check and transmission is shifting smoothly in all gears

incorrect fluid level was the problem the whole time after changing the solenoid pack the first time

 

[szczepan]

I got a question. I got a 5r55n v6 I got all gears but if I try to go from second to 3ed or 3ed to forth, it only happens in one of the gears I don't know yet but it will slip out of gear or rev higher and higher until is shifts. but below 2000rpm no problem. any ideas?

 

[jrand]

I got a question. I got a 5r55n v6 I got all gears but if I try to go from second to 3ed or 3ed to forth, it only happens in one of the gears I don't know yet but it will slip out of gear or rev higher and higher until is shifts. but below 2000rpm no problem. any ideas?

depending how bad it is, i would probably take it to lincoln/ford for a diagnosis.
knowing how dumb these cars trannys can act when they get crapp data though.. i would consider clearing the kam, following procedures for a battery reconnect and doing a drive cycle. ive had weird clunks and bad shifts magically clear themselves by clearing out the bad data in the kam

 

[03Lspinks]

So my 03 Lincoln has the harsh shift at the 1st-2nd gears and also reverses roughly. Ive had the PCM replaced once and the car worked perfect. 2 months later it went back to the same nonsense. I recently noticed that if the 'Service Parking Break' light came on and the car worked properly again. Can the parking break and shifting of the car be related?

 

[joegr]

I suppose that they could both be symptoms of another problem, such as marginal COP(s). That could be what damaged your PCM in the first place.

 

[03Lspinks]

I suppose that they could both be symptoms of another problem, such as marginal COP(s). That could be what damaged your PCM in the first place.

What are "marginal COP(s)"? What would be your suggestion. Have ford diagnose the problem or just get another PCM?

 

[joegr]

COP = Coil On Plug, your ignition coils. The most common failure mode seems to be for the epoxy inside to experience high voltage breakdown. This causes a weaker spark and a lot of RFI. The RFI is the real problem. This fault can only be detected via a stress test. The cost of this test is close to the cost of just replacing the COPs with new OEM ones. The spark plugs must be replaced too.
When was the last time you replaced all of the COPs and plugs? What brand of COPs did you use? Did you make sure the plug gaps were exactly 1.0mm?