2001 D, 4.7, 45RFE tranny.
I have either one or two (or more?) transmission problems. Last summer, I drove up into the Sierras, which involves some long, gradual uphill climbing. Partway up, I got a Trans Temp warning light. I pulled over and checked the fluid level, but it was fine. When I started up again, the light went away, and I thought maybe I was running at too low an RPM, so I made sure to give it some gas going up inclines. It was fine the rest of the trip, and I haven't seen it since.
Until this week, when I was again driving up into the Sierras, this time on a fairly cold winter night. (Well, cold for us Californians, anyway.) Again, partway up a long, gradual climb, the Trans Temp light came on. I pulled off at the next exit (after the top of the climb), and let it idle while I watered the snowbank. It was still on, but I was in the middle of nowhere, so I figured I'd take a chance. I turned off OD and coasted down a couple of short inclines, and after a couple of miles the light went off. I drove around the Tahoe basin for a couple of days, and made it home again, with no problem. But none of that involved much uphill.
While this has been going on, I've also had the Check Engine light on. It's showing P0700 and P0740 codes, not always consistently. (And I seem to get different results if use the key method or a code reader. On at least one occasion the reader showed a code, but the key method didn't.) I think the Check Engine light came on sometime after the first Trans Temp issue, but I'm not sure about the timing.
After the first problem, I drained and refilled the tranny, and changed both filters. I checked the level again on the way home last night, and it's fine, with no burnt smell.
I'm inclined to think there might be some blockage in the radiator that's limiting circulation, but I don't know how to check that, and that's a bit too expensive to just throw a part at. And I have no idea if that will correct the codes issue. I rather doubt it.
One key point: I've had no problems with shifting, and the OD switch works. A few weeks ago my wife said she was stopped at a light, and the D wouldn't move when she tried to give it gas. But when she restarted it, it was fine. I have occasionally had times when it doesn't fully shift into Drive from Park, but it will always work when I put it into P and back into D, so I've figured it might be some slop in the gear shifter. Given that, without actually being there, I have to take my wife's experience with a grain of salt.
There have been some threads here about P0700 and P0740 codes, but no real resolutions that would seem to apply here, so I'm kind of stumped. Any ideas?
I have either one or two (or more?) transmission problems. Last summer, I drove up into the Sierras, which involves some long, gradual uphill climbing. Partway up, I got a Trans Temp warning light. I pulled over and checked the fluid level, but it was fine. When I started up again, the light went away, and I thought maybe I was running at too low an RPM, so I made sure to give it some gas going up inclines. It was fine the rest of the trip, and I haven't seen it since.
Until this week, when I was again driving up into the Sierras, this time on a fairly cold winter night. (Well, cold for us Californians, anyway.) Again, partway up a long, gradual climb, the Trans Temp light came on. I pulled off at the next exit (after the top of the climb), and let it idle while I watered the snowbank. It was still on, but I was in the middle of nowhere, so I figured I'd take a chance. I turned off OD and coasted down a couple of short inclines, and after a couple of miles the light went off. I drove around the Tahoe basin for a couple of days, and made it home again, with no problem. But none of that involved much uphill.
While this has been going on, I've also had the Check Engine light on. It's showing P0700 and P0740 codes, not always consistently. (And I seem to get different results if use the key method or a code reader. On at least one occasion the reader showed a code, but the key method didn't.) I think the Check Engine light came on sometime after the first Trans Temp issue, but I'm not sure about the timing.
After the first problem, I drained and refilled the tranny, and changed both filters. I checked the level again on the way home last night, and it's fine, with no burnt smell.
I'm inclined to think there might be some blockage in the radiator that's limiting circulation, but I don't know how to check that, and that's a bit too expensive to just throw a part at. And I have no idea if that will correct the codes issue. I rather doubt it.
One key point: I've had no problems with shifting, and the OD switch works. A few weeks ago my wife said she was stopped at a light, and the D wouldn't move when she tried to give it gas. But when she restarted it, it was fine. I have occasionally had times when it doesn't fully shift into Drive from Park, but it will always work when I put it into P and back into D, so I've figured it might be some slop in the gear shifter. Given that, without actually being there, I have to take my wife's experience with a grain of salt.
There have been some threads here about P0700 and P0740 codes, but no real resolutions that would seem to apply here, so I'm kind of stumped. Any ideas?
