Need help with my 4R55E

[Mikey2274]

Ok...so I decide to do a tranny fluid and filter swap today. I have been having some issues with getting in reverse. At first I thought this might help, but I now know that I need to test my solenoids. Anyways...I drop the pan, remove the valve body, clean everything thoughly, and very carefully reinstall everything. I double checked everything and there were no missing check balls, clips, or pins. I go to fill it up with fluid (mind you...while the truck is still on the ramps), but when I go to put it in gear...nothing. It will not engage any gear at all. I dropped the pan again to double check everything, but it is all fine. I put the remaining fluid that I had back in it. I believe that the fluid level was way too low. I ran through all of the gears, and the dipstick still looked dry. I went through five quarts of fluid between dropping the pan twice. I am now out of fluid...until the morning. But shoultn't the tranny engage some gear, ANY gear even if the fluid levels are extremely low? I reset the electrical system by disconnecting the power, but still, nothing. I need to get this fixed tomorrow! Any help would be greatly appriciated!

 

[BrooklynBay]

So you had drive but no reverse before you removed the valve body? Did you use an In/LB torque wrench on the valve body bolts with new gaskets or a bonded separator plate? Your profile says that you have a 1995, so you have a 4R55E, and not a 5R55E.

 

[Mikey2274]

I had all gears earlier today. Sometimes reverse was a little slow engaging from time to time. Usually when cold. No torque wrench on the valve body. I did my best to get it as close as I could guess at it. I have one, but I didn't have the measurements. Also, does anyone have a link they can send of the correct length bolt locations in the valve body so I can double check to make sure I got the correct length in the right locations? Also, this just has the separator plate. No gaskets.

 

[BrooklynBay]

A torque wrench is important to use to avoid problems like this. Was your separator plate new with bonded gaskets? If so, did you get the correct separator plate (4R55E separator plate, and not the 5R55E separator plate)? Did you have manual 1st gear when the reverse didn't work? The solenoids in the transmission don't control reverse. There is a low/reverse servo which controls low & reverse gears.

 

[Mikey2274]

What are the torque specs? There were no gasgets at all. Just the valve body, metal plate, and the tranny. It would go into 1st when reverse wasn't working.

 

[BrooklynBay]

This chart is one of the links in # 67 in my list of useful threads:

You need gaskets for the valve body or bonded separator plates (plates with gaskets bonded to them) for it to work properly. https://www.wittrans.com/Schematic.aspx?Transmission=A4LD/4R44E/4R55E/5R55E&Schematic=5

 

[Mikey2274]

This chart is one of the links in # 67 in my list of useful threads

Thanks! I am going to try going at it again today. Just hope I can find someone with some gaskets around here. I guess it just boogles my mind that when I take it apart, there are no gaskets and it comes apart very easily. But to get it running again, gaskets are needed. Maybe if I can't find any gaskets, I can go to a pull-a-part yard and grab me a valve body being very careful not to separate the spacer from the valve body.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You will need new gaskets. Old gaskets become fragile, and will rip while the valve body is being removed.

 

[Mikey2274]

Get this! The guy at the local transmission shop says..."Take those gaskets...and pitch em! You don't need them!" Yeah...ok. Fortunately, there is a local WIT Transmission Parts store here in Indy! They have the gaskets for less than 5 bucks. When I told the guy at WIT what the guy at the tranny shop said, he said "WTF is he thinking?!" So tonight will be round two with this issue! Hopefully this time with a better outcome!

 

[BrooklynBay]

I wonder how many successful rebuilds this shop has. Maybe he was the original shop who rebuilt it without the gaskets?

 

[Mikey2274]

Who knows! I think I will try and replace that low/reverse servo while I am at it. I saw that the car needs to be level while installing this. My truck is sitting on 31.5 tires with warrior shackles. It is sitting on some ramps right now. Think it would be ok to replace this servo as it sits, or does it need to be completely level? I read that the truck needs to be level to do this.

 

[BrooklynBay]

How much of an incline is it on? You wouldn't want the parts to shift inside. A small incline won't mess anything up. Check the bore with a flashlight, and a long phillips screwdriver to make sure that the band is lined up correctly.

 

[Mikey2274]

The ramps lift the front up about 7-8 inches. I know VERY little about transmissions! This process is making me VERY nervous! It wouldn't be so bad if I had another vehicle to get back and forth to work with! I checked the WIT site and I am not sure how grooves my servo has. I may wait until a later date to this repair. Right now, I just need it running!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Most of the time the O rings on the servo have to be replaced, and not the entire servo unless the tip is chipped. I recommend the TransTec D ring kit.