MJ2010
New Member
I had an interesting transmission fix, hopefully this will help somebody someday.
tl;dr – if transmission goes into limp-in mode and/or you get a solenoid code, drop the pan and check for broken valve retainer clips.
The transmission on our 2010 Expedition when into Limp-In mode, 3rd gear only. Had P0975 code for a shift solenoid. For that code, the factory service manual says to check the mechatronic unit (TCM on the valve body) for metallic debris. If metallic debris is found, clean the unit, put it back together and see if it works. If there is no metallic debris, then replace the mechatronic unit. Apparently metallic debris will cross up the signals on the electrical contacts.
The vehicle has 257k miles on it with the original transmission and I’m thinking the fix will be either a new mechatronic unit or a low mileage used transmission. But first, I dropped the pan, and found clean transmission fluid. The magnet was pretty clean, the filter was clean. Took a close look at the valve body, and noticed a broken retainer clip on the end of one of the shuttle valve bores. It’s an R type clip about ½ inch long, like a miniature receiver tow hitch pin clip. One leg of the clip was broken off, and the other leg was barely keeping the valve plug in the bore. Found the broken off leg rattling around in the filter, which I was able to dump out. I ordered 8 replacement clips from the local Ford dealer, they come 4 in a pack at about $10/pack. There’s a pretty good You Tube video by Transmission Digest showing the retainer clips (search for “6R80 valve body clips”). I dropped the valve body, and it was pretty darn clean, just a very light coating of grey stuff, but no metal glitter. I had to separate the valve body to replace the clips, and went ahead and replaced all the clips while I was in there. Put it all back together and so far it’s been working fine.
tl;dr – if transmission goes into limp-in mode and/or you get a solenoid code, drop the pan and check for broken valve retainer clips.
The transmission on our 2010 Expedition when into Limp-In mode, 3rd gear only. Had P0975 code for a shift solenoid. For that code, the factory service manual says to check the mechatronic unit (TCM on the valve body) for metallic debris. If metallic debris is found, clean the unit, put it back together and see if it works. If there is no metallic debris, then replace the mechatronic unit. Apparently metallic debris will cross up the signals on the electrical contacts.
The vehicle has 257k miles on it with the original transmission and I’m thinking the fix will be either a new mechatronic unit or a low mileage used transmission. But first, I dropped the pan, and found clean transmission fluid. The magnet was pretty clean, the filter was clean. Took a close look at the valve body, and noticed a broken retainer clip on the end of one of the shuttle valve bores. It’s an R type clip about ½ inch long, like a miniature receiver tow hitch pin clip. One leg of the clip was broken off, and the other leg was barely keeping the valve plug in the bore. Found the broken off leg rattling around in the filter, which I was able to dump out. I ordered 8 replacement clips from the local Ford dealer, they come 4 in a pack at about $10/pack. There’s a pretty good You Tube video by Transmission Digest showing the retainer clips (search for “6R80 valve body clips”). I dropped the valve body, and it was pretty darn clean, just a very light coating of grey stuff, but no metal glitter. I had to separate the valve body to replace the clips, and went ahead and replaced all the clips while I was in there. Put it all back together and so far it’s been working fine.
