Wrench light, trans issues. Help!

BackwoodsFiero · Feb 22, 2015

Hey all,

Just tuned my truck yesterday with SCT Livewire, IDP canned tunes. I'm only running the Street tune.

Problem is: accelerating light throttle, when I get to 3rd or 4th, it seems like it misses a gear and revs up and then possibly skips that gear and shifts when I let off slightly. Wrench light came on and then it seems to shift better but I'm stuck in 4th? gear and it won't shift any higher.

My Livewire isn't showing any codes which doesn't seem to make sense to me if the wrench light is on.

Backstory as to what might have caused this though...last night we got quite a bit of snow and I bit off more than I could chew and almost got stuck. I had to "rock" the truck D>>R>>D>>R a couple times and at one point it seemed to miss going into drive and then the shifter harder than normal to move.

The truck only ever saw snow and spinning the tires since I tuned it yesterday so there were no WOT shifts under much load.

Could I have damaged one of the shift solenoids when I was rocking it?? I pulled the dipstick and fluid looks fine and theres no grit or anything on the stick. How could I tell which solenoid it is if there are no DTC codes?

Lipka101 · Feb 22, 2015

Sounds like it's the common shift flare that the 5r has when the direct clutches are on their way out. I don't think rocking it would have damaged anything. Tuners and more horsepower /torque always magnify small things that aren't really noticeable at stock power levels. Also I'm pretty sure sct can't read trans. codes.

Take it to ford or a shop and get codes pulled and go from there. It may be time for a rebuild.
How many miles on the truck?

BackwoodsFiero · Feb 22, 2015

I was afraid of that...

That's the shi**y part...only 65k miles. Not doubting you but with that low of mileage and the fact that it hasn't seen dry pavement since I tuned it makes me hope it's something else besides the clutches.

Powerstroke Man 6.4 · Feb 22, 2015

BackwoodsFiero said:
I was afraid of that...

That's the shi**y part...only 65k miles. Not doubting you but with that low of mileage and the fact that it hasn't seen dry pavement since I tuned it makes me hope it's something else besides the clutches.

My trans fried itself at 60K with spartan 275-310hp tunes as DD. F-350 CCSB DRW 4.30's. Clutches were gone and broke a few other things also. If you beat on it a stock trans won't live very long remember with higher tunes were doubling the HP a stock trans was designed to handle.

Also when you pull the codes it should have a solenoid D code if the trans is that far gone. If the wrench light is on a code is stored in the PCM and the truck is in limp mode maybe the SCT can't pull trans codes?

Mark Kovalsky · Feb 22, 2015

BackwoodsFiero said:
Could I have damaged one of the shift solenoids when I was rocking it??

Rocking won't damage the solenoids. It can destroy clutches, though. You need to find somewhere that can read codes to be able to fix this. A good independent shop or a Ford dealer can do it.

BackwoodsFiero · Feb 22, 2015

I can understand a trans frying with high hp tunes but I was only on IDP's Street tune for less than 2 hours of driving and those 2 hours were 100% on snow...I hoped these trans were stronger than that. To be fair though, I don't know what this truck saw before I had it. It has a 5th wheel hookup so maybe towing did it in early.

Odd thing is, when the wrench light is on, it doesn't feel like it's in limp mode and then it shifts fine other than not going into higher gears, which wasn't where I was getting rev flare...

I'll get it to the local Ford dealer and see what codes are showing up.

sootie · Feb 23, 2015

reload your tune. then do a proper relearn. 0-80 25% throttle, 0-80 50% throttle, 0-80 75% throttle, 0-80 WOT

Mark Kovalsky · Feb 23, 2015

BackwoodsFiero said:
I can understand a trans frying with high hp tunes but I was only on IDP's Street tune for less than 2 hours of driving and those 2 hours were 100% on snow...I hoped these trans were stronger than that.

I don't know what the tunes do, but tunes CAN damage or destroy the trans. If the tuns change the relationship between transmission line pressure and engine torque a clutch can fry in a couple miles while not producing high power. I wouldn't expect them to do it, but a simple mistake in a trans tune can cause a dead trans.

BackwoodsFiero · Feb 23, 2015

Well, the check engine light finally came on today AS I'M PULLING INTO THE FORD DEALER. Good thing it did, they wanted $50 just to read the codes because it was a diesel. :shrug:

Anyways, I checked it there in the lot on my SCT and the only code I'm getting is P0766 - Shift Solenoid D Performance/Stuck off.

Is my trans toast? Maybe. Probably. But I ordered a "D" solenoid from Rudy's anyways. Worst case, I waste $250 on that and fluid/filter to find out it's the clutches. But hey, what's $250 when a trans is looking to be $3k minimum :cursing:

In a last ditch effort, tonight I went under the truck and checked plug connections and loaded the SCT Tow tune instead of the IDP tune. One thing I did find under the truck was a pyro lead still plugged in but ripped out at the leads and the leads were touching. I must have miss that one when I dropped the stock exhaust and it got ripped out. I doubt that would cause any problem but figured it be worth mentioning.

Powerstroke Man 6.4 · Feb 25, 2015

BackwoodsFiero said:
I can understand a trans frying with high hp tunes but I was only on IDP's Street tune for less than 2 hours of driving and those 2 hours were 100% on snow...I hoped these trans were stronger than that. To be fair though, I don't know what this truck saw before I had it. It has a 5th wheel hookup so maybe towing did it in early.

Odd thing is, when the wrench light is on, it doesn't feel like it's in limp mode and then it shifts fine other than not going into higher gears, which wasn't where I was getting rev flare...

I'll get it to the local Ford dealer and see what codes are showing up.

The truck could have been tuned before and beat on. (well if your not the original owner anyways) trans was slipping returned to stock and sold. Stock 5R's can take a good beating my stock trans lasted 30K with spartan 300,310 DD getting beat everyday towing WOT BO's etc and everybody knows spartan don't got the best trans tuning LOL,also to answer your current post yes if the solenoid doesn't fix the problem yes you are going to need a rebuild or a new transmission and usually solenoid D codes means the trans needs a rebuild.

BackwoodsFiero · Feb 28, 2015

Shoulda just listened to ya'll...

Put the new solenoid in today and it made no difference. Same symptoms, same code.

Ordering a Twisted Diesel Lvl3 this week!! Blessing in disguise? :evil

Powerstroke Man 6.4 · Mar 3, 2015

BackwoodsFiero said:
Shoulda just listened to ya'll...

Put the new solenoid in today and it made no difference. Same symptoms, same code.

Ordering a Twisted Diesel Lvl3 this week!! Blessing in disguise? :evil

You should be happy with that transmission.