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2003 F250 Hard shift out of Second

6K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  matthewd11 
#1 ·
Hi all! First post for me here. I just bought my first Diesel on Saturday and off course it test drove great. 118k Miles with a lot of performance parts and "bullet proofing". Jasper transmission. SCT x4 tuner tuned for Warren Injectors. When shifting out of second the first couple times on the road it hill spike 150 to 250 RPMS quickly and then go into third. The second any consecutive time it is less and less noticeable until it is gone all together for that leg of the trip. Next time I go anywhere, it is back. Any Ideas? Transmission was replaced December 2015. Any help diagnosing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
As always, the first thing to do is to read the codes.


There is a good chance that it is something wrong with the tune. He said it spikes 150-200 RPM during the shift. That is very, very bad for the transmission. If it keeps doing this the transmission WILL fail. Harder is NOT always better.
 
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#6 ·
I checked the codes with the SCTFlash unit. I followed all the instructions on the screen, although I do not think the firmware is up to date as it will not connect with WIFI and the website does not have the correct driver for windows 10.

I took it to a local shop that I trust to take a look at it today, I will let yall know what he says.

If it is the PCM not retaining the KAM, is it as easy as a reset or should I purchase anew PCM? Thanks Mark. I appreciate the Community support from yall.
 
#7 ·
*** CORRECTION **** It is spiking out of the shift from third to fourth NOT second to third. That is my fault... for some reason I thought it was 2-3.. tired I guess. Does this change anything?



The mechanic says he thinks it is an transmission accumulator spring. Also he said there were no codes as well. Any thoughts?
 
#8 ·
*** CORRECTION **** It is spiking out of the shift from third to fourth NOT second to third. That is my fault... for some reason I thought it was 2-3.. tired I guess. Does this change anything?
No, not really. The 3-4 can flare if the timing of the shift is wrong.

The mechanic says he thinks it is an transmission accumulator spring. Also he said there were no codes as well. Any thoughts?
I have all kinds of thoughts. One that you may (or may not!) want to hear about is that I think it will be amazing if your mechanic can find an accumulator spring in your 5R110W transmission. Why? Because there are no accumulators in the 5R110W transmission, so there are no accumulator springs.

Maybe you should take it to someone that knows what he's doing.

If the KAM is the problem it's often a bad power feed to the KAM circuit of the PCM. And if that is the problem it's going to clear all codes as soon as the key is turned off.
 
#10 ·
The trans does shift 3-5. But many people call it the 3-4.

I don't know what backpressure is for a shift. I've never heard of it. And I developed the factory tunes on the 2005 5R110W diesel F-Series. So I don't know what to tell you about that.
 
#11 ·
UPDATE. I got the truck back from the AC shop and that is good as new. I was driving it around and the 3-5 flare was even harder engaging. I decided to FLASH the truck to stock to see what that may fix as I didn't want "performance specs" pulling at the transmission if it were going out. I drove it around and the shifting was even more erratic, in fact the tow haul light began blinking in fourth gear. I noticed it was shifting (through the SCT) 1-2-3-4-6 vice the 1-2-3-5-6 that it was with the other tune. I decided to clear the KAM memory after reading other forums. The truck is still shifting 1-2-3-4 and the shift is seamless. However the light is still blinking on the TOW/Haul and I do not think it will come out of 4th gear as I was at 55 MPH and about 2100 RPMS in 4th. It was shifting to overdrive before these numbers before I returned it to stock? What do you all think? Trans shot? I am taking it to the shop in the morning.
 
#13 ·
Well after returning it to the stock tune last night it eventually would shift out of second at all. This morning I flashed it to the Warren street tune in hopes of getting it to the shop. It shifted flawlessly. No flare from 3-5. I ended up not taking it to the shop. As the day wore on it started a small flare from 3 to 5 again and the more times it cycled through those gears it ends up going away like before. Bottom line, immediately after the flash to the warren tune.... there were zero issues until I turned the key after the initial drive. Starting to think maybe direct drive solonoid? Let me know what you find out please custom. Thanks for the reply.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
Orderred Jasper transmission. My guys are yanking mine as I type. Seems early build trannys had alot of issues. I now can remember a pop in reverse that was hard. Im betting a snap ring or pin broke. Bottom line, my direct clutch was not engaging I take it. I installed go go solenoid yesterday. Too late. Mine got worse when I took the Innovative tune out just like yours. Sorry to say, but your gonna have to yank yours as well.
Lasted 19,000 miles. Thats built Ford tough.
 
#15 ·
***UPDATE*** The shift flare was noticeable when I had Warren 190/100 injectors but tolerable in the "tow tune". Last week, my fuel sending unit went out unexpectedly and it ruined my number 8 injector. Rather than keep those big injectors in there I replaced them with stock and returning the tune to stock (minus the EGR). The truck ran great short drives for thirty miles and I drove it for an hour today and it began a shift flare from 3-5. Then it did not want to go into 5th gear at all (warm), it would momentarily go into 5th and then slam into 4th. Then it would shift into 6th, sometimes coming back down to 5. It went back to first on its own all the way up until the street to my house then it wanted to stay in 5th. *This was all more than 30 miles after the new injectors with the battery disconnected for a long period of time. I then tried the relearn process found on this forum with no joy. At the time of the slipping my Trans temp was ~177 F. I let it sit, and then went for a drive when the trans temp was ~80-90 F. It has been 30,000 miles since the fluid has been changed (when the new transmission was put in the truck). Could there be a correlation between the hotter trans temp and the beginning of the poor performance? Would a simple transmission flush from ford and new filters be the fix? I just need a dependable DD.
 
#16 ·
Drove it again this morning, TFT started at 65F. It shifted flawlessly. Drove for about 20 minutes trying to get it heated up and got in to 168F. I got a haircut and and got back in the truck, TFT was at 142F. It then couldnt get itself into 5th again. It tried and then slammed into 4th then into 6th and then back into 4th. To me it seems to be related to when the TFT it hot and sits for a while. It seems to run waaaaaay better when the fluid is cold. I dont want to get it flushed and spend the money if I am just going to have to get it torn apart.
 
#17 ·
Does it have any issues going into reverse once it warms up? Are there any codes stored?

If it goes into reverse smoothly with no delay or slam then I would try replacing the direct clutch solenoid. If you have issues with reverse there is likely an issue with the direct clutch itself rather than the solenoid (clutch is applied through manual valve in reverse and via solenoid for 5th gear).

Does it have any issues with any other gear or any other shifting concerns? It may not be a bad idea to remove the pan and inspect for any metal debris.

And not to scare you but I have not seen one jasper reman anything that is reliable and long lasting.
 
#18 ·
There are no issues going into reverse after it is warmed up. There is maybe a 1 second delay sometimes when it is cold. I have heard about jasper.. i wish I had before I had bought it, the previous owner put in in 12/6/2015

There are no other shifting concerns other than 3-5. I removed the pan and changed the external filter this afternoon. I then added 7.5q of Motorcraft Mercon LV. Pictures attached of the residue. The magnet was covered in sludge and the filter looked like in was obstructed and black.

I took it for a test drive to warm it up.. I drove for twenty minutes shifting 1-6 (5 times) getting the temp to 167F but I have no where to push it and was having a hard time getting it higher on my roads. I then ate dinner and let it sit. I started up again and the temp was at 142F I drove it again shifting it 1-6 7 times. The last time, while I was sitting at a stop light, the TFT actually dropped from 166F to 162F. There were shift flares from 3-5 in the beginning but they seemed to go away it was shifting smooth. Overall it wasn't a comprehensive test drive but it seemed to help a lot. Fingers crossed it was that simple. If it continues to shift pretty smoothly I am going to put another 7.5q of Mercon LV through it and change the external here in a couple of weeks.

Thank you very much for your input on this thread... hoping the next post I have is a follow-up that things are in fact working out. Now to figure out my long start after these new injectors.
 

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