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2000 SW2 w/ 1997 DOHC and tranny (auto).
I had hoped with a "new" transmission that I wouldn't be facing this issue again any time soon.
The old transmission (which I retired at 280k miles) had a solenoid go bad which I replaced with a junkyard pick.
Then the input shaft nut came loose. After waiting way too long I re-tightened it and got back on the road.
Recently the engine and that transmission was replaced with a 160k mile one from a 1997 SW2 parts car.
It has been working beautifully for the past 3k miles until today.
I had noticed a little shudder in the 1-2 shift when I left for work this morning. Halfway there I left a light and there was no 1-2 shift. Eventually it shifted into 3rd, then 4th.
When I got to work I knew I wouldn't have reverse - I didn't.
Thankfully I've been down this road before and know to pull in the lot so the car can drift backwards into its spot.
And that stupid check light is on again. Almost 2 months without it coming on (a record).
I'll have to check the solenoids to confirm it's just that. Thankfully I have 3 spare valve bodies and a complete spare transmission to pull from.
If it still misbehaves I'll be checking that input shaft nut.
Not going to let it go for 10k miles like last time
Also my Buddies boy gots a 2000 SL that is buckin likw a bronco. Did a quick and dirty check of relays and suspect it's a grounding issue, since it's his daily driver I'll git on it first because like You I had a 59 ford pick up that never had reverse and drove it that way for a while, good luck, any weirdness gice me aring
2nd and reverse gear back!
One of the solenoids was a little off when I checked it (both higher resistance and didn't make the same sound when activated).
The connector and harness looked fine.
I went through my collection of valve bodies and picked out the one that test best.
Swapped that one in and tried it out on the lift. Reverse was engaging now but slowly. After several tries it quit working.
Reasonably sure it still has a loose input shaft nut so I pulled the side cover off and sure enough it was.
Other than the nut being loose everything looked really good.
I did a repeat of the fix I did last time on the old transmission.
Pulled the clutch pack off, sprayed the shaft down with brake clean, same for the nut.
Slipped the clutch pack back on carefully so I didn't get atf on the shaft.
Then put some red locktite on the nut and cranked it down tight.
Didn't have a spare case gasket so I did the same thing I did last time, used brake clean to clean the mating surfaces and gasket and put just the thinnest amount of rtv on it and closed it back up.
Refilled the tranny and tried it again.
Goes right into reverse now.
Went for a short test drive and reverse and second gear are working fine now.
Due to all the shortcuts I took I'll have to keep a close eye on it for awhile.
You can say that again!
I still had the modified socket for that nut.
I was able to go right to it with the troubleshooting and repairs knowing exactly what to check and what to do to fix it.
Especially the part of retightening the nut.
Since the car was already in need of a front end alignment I did not hesitate to unbolt the strut from the steering knuckle so I could strap them out of the way.
Unbolted the brake line bracket so I could push the hardline out of the way.
Removed the transmission mount so it could sit lower on the engine cradle and then loosened the cradle bolts on that side (with a jack under the transmission so it couldn't drop too far).
Those steps allowed me to pull the side cover off of the transmission with no chance of bending the two tubes attached on the inside.
Putting everything back together was relatively simple and the only side effect is I know my camber is probably a little off on the wheel.
Drives fine anyway but I'll be getting that alignment done soon.
Driving it to work today the transmission worked even better than before.
Reverse works just like it should and all forward gears are shifting smooth as silk.
I guess when these transmissions start shifting hard it could be taken as a sign that the line pressure solenoid or valve is having issues with a loosened input shaft nut not far behind.
One thing I discovered while doing a little preliminary research to refresh my memory in preparation for this project is that the 1st and 2nd gen cars had a solenoid test routine programmed in. If you short two terminals in the diagnostic connector (A & B) and then turn on the ignition (but didn't start the engine) you can shift through the gears and each position will cause the computer to send a PWM signal to a specific solenoid.
(I'll put up the exact procedure shortly)
The idea is you have a quick way with just a paper clip to be able to test and listen to all 5 of the solenoids. If one (or more) doesn't sound like the others you will know both that it's bad and exactly which one.
Unfortunately they deleted this capability in the 3rd gen cars (the contacts are missing from the diagnostic connector) so I had to do it the old way (pull everything out of the way so I can put a meter on the connections).
2nd and reverse gear gone
