2008 Explorer 5R55S Issue-Easy Fix or $$?
 

Hello folks,
My 2008 Exploder 4x4 has 192,000 miles on it. Everything works, engine is smooth. But, the 5R55S 5-speed transmission hangs in 1st gear, so that unless I baby it and let off the gas it will rev above 3,000rpm before it shifts to 2nd gear. The Wrench warning light is on and it will occasionally throw a P0731 OBDII Code.As if that wasn't enough, I typically drive around town with the O/D turned off. Normally, the light stays on in the instrument panel. Now, sometimes I can hit the O/D button while in gear and the light fails to come on. However, if I place the gearshift in Park, the light will come on with the O/D button selected. I checked the wiring at the gear shift for a short, but all wires look good.
Basically, I am wondering if anything jumps out at you that can be inspected, repaired or replaced without a total rebuild, since this tranny was removed and rebuilt about 50,000 miles ago, and has worked well until lately. This has been a case of taking the truck to a transmission shop, and waiting for them to drive it, hook up the OBDII gear, then wait for them to "diagnose" a total rebuild for $2200 or more. I bought this truck from an estate sale, so other than the last tranny rebuild receipt, I have zero knowledge of the maintenance history, other than receipts for oil changes every 3,000 miles, a new A/C Condenser and Radiator a few year back, and oh yeah, the guy ran original spark plugs with a gap of > 0.085" until I replaced them. Normal Gap is 0.052". It runs good now.:D
If I do indeed need a rebuilt tranny, does anyone have any positive outcome with buying a remanufactured unit and having it installed? If so, what company made it? Ford sells one with a nice warranty, but they are a couple of grand higher cost than anyone else. Gotta pay for that warranty, I suppose.
Thanks for the help from Newbie to this forum Jordan.

I can only presume Ford has their own remanufacturer.
There have been times when other reman folks transmissions fell short of operating without problems.
If at all possible consider a Ford Remanufactured Trans.


There is a good possibility one of the wires going to the OD sw is separated when moving out of the park position. Continuity testing when tugging on the wires might reveal the location of the possible break.
Something else that is important and that is , who / where was the last rebuild done?