I own a 2002 Fleetwood Fiesta on a Ford F53 chassis. Checked transmission fluid level before pulling out - nice and pick and full. 500 miles later, transmisison begins to not want to upshift when accelerating from a stop. On next stop about 100 miles later, transmisison would not shift out of first. Pull over unto shoulder, tranny dipstick dry as a bone.
I have added fluid but the transmission still will not shift properly. You can get it to shift by working the gas pedal but I couldn't seem to get it into overdrive. We went 5 more miles to get off at the next exit so we wouldn't be sitting on the side of the road.
Right now, thanks to Good Sam emergency road service I am sitting in a campground waiting for Monday morning. We are supposed to be towed to a nearby RV dealer. I am thinking the tranny is toast so I am wondering what I should do.
1. Use this Rv dealer or find a Ford dealer? BTW, we are on vacation and I would dearly love to get to my destination. Repair time is a factor.
2. Rebuild the transmission or get a new one? Warranty may be an issue here - I live in Ohio but am stranded in Georgia.
Thanks for your comments.
* This post was
edited 07/18/08 11:04am by cybrfalcon *
I can't tell where the fluid went. The entire bottom of the transmission is dry. There appears to be some liquid on a drum just behind the transmission where the drive shaft connects but thats all I can see.
1st, where are you ? Thst means a lot of your choices. I would definately go to a Ford Dealership, because their mechanics are more qualified than an RV dealer. If you should have future problems, simply find the nearest Ford Dealership. JMHO
Send PM if you would like, OK and Good Luck......
1997 Fleetwood Southwind 37Y / Ford 460 / Power Platform / Tag Axle
Our Crew: (1)Yorkie, Twin Japanese Chins, Toy Poodle, Chihuahua, and last, but not least, their "MOM", my co-pilot and wife.
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We had pretty much the same thing happen to our 2000 Ford tranny last year, except for the fluid loss. Turned out to be broken bands. Our extended warranty company said to replace it - and specifically wanted a rebuilt one that had been upgraded with the heavy duty components that Ford didn't put in originally. As they were paying for it, we did that. The tranny shop we took it to had told us pretty much the same thing before the warranty company got involved.
trop-a-cal wrote: Typical problem with Ford Transmissions, it's been a problem for years.
Sorry, not trying to be rude, but your repsonse wasn't very helpful at all. So what would you do?
True. If it were me I would do a factory rebuilt from the local Ford dealer providing they could do it quickly. A transmission change on a Class A MH is not a complicated thing. I personally, with the help of a friend, have changed a Class C transmission in 1.5 hours, start to finish. I'm sure there is more "stuff" in the way on a more modern coach as yours, however it should be done easily in less than a day.
Another option would be a local independent transmission shop. Ask around to see who has a good reputation. Stop by the local diner/stores/McDonalds/any place else the locals would go and ask around. Someone should be able to give you good information. The biggest issue there could be simply getting your MH in their shop.
As for the transmission itself, they are a good transmission, however they need regular fluid changes. The recommended interval in the book is 30,000 miles under normal use. When we had our gasser we did changes every 15,000 miles, as I consider RV duty to be far more severe than "normal". Banks also recommends 15,000 mile changes along with their TransCommand - or at least they used to. I suspect they still do.
Good luck!
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