I had the same exact problem with my 04' a few months ago and my truck only has 53k on it. I took it to a local transmission shop and told the guy what was wrong with it and he knew right away what the problem was. This guy has been building/rebuilding/fixing transmissions for 30+ years so I had a feeling he knew what he was doing. Turns out the OD band was just burnt up and it can be replaced without dropping the trans. The OD band basically a metal band with a inside layer that is almost like a clutch plate and over time it basically becomes smooth and won't grip to shift into OD. It is fine to drive the truck with OD off but don't forget to turn it off because the go it slips the more damage it may cause internally.

He quoted me $840 out the door for the repair. I waited a few months to take it in to get fixed, because I needed to save up a little cash first. I took the truck in last month and I ended up paying $833.xx total which included parts, labor, oil & filter and he upgraded the servo piston cylinder housing and the gasket between the transfer case and trans due to weak design of the transmission for no additional cost. I was impressed with his wealth of knowledge of these transmissions and would literally talk your ear off about them if you gave him the time of day. He told me these transmissions are basically the same as the ones found in a Lincoln town car and there really aren't built for the size of these trucks especially when you start turning big tires, etc.
I was told if my truck had higher mileage it would be worth rebuilding for the later down the road but I couldn't go there with only 53k.


Truck drives as good as new now Call around and find an experienced transmission mechanic because it sounds like you don't need a rebuild and you don't need to pull the trans. Good luck getting this squared away with your mechanic.

 

I have this exact same problem and Im going to ask my transmission guy to look at that o/d band. I wonder if it's something I might be able to do myself. Anyone ever done this before and have some advice?

 

Exact same here with my 2005. 115K miles, no issues or warnings. Driving 45 MPH one second, and acted like I shifted into neutral the next. Turn off the OD, and I have a 3 speed truck that drives fine and gets 3 MPG less than it did on my last fill up. Fluid seems fine and sounds like this is an all to common issue and weak link in the trans. I've personally not done more than brakes and fluids on my F150, so I don't even own a manual on it...yet. Rebuilt a 700R4 and T-350 in the past but have no desire or time to do another, but I am getting the feeling this is going to boil down to a tran rebuild which is what you do if you have the trans ou of the car and apart already.... Curious edwards1687, what you mean by you don't have to pull the trans....without a manual, I don't know enough to guess, but all of the prices people have quoted seem to indicate the better part of a trans extraction and rebuild, vs something simpler. J

 

me too, same exact problem...Let me know what you did to repair it please.
Dave

 

Please let me know if that was the issue with yours and what was done to repair it.
Thanks Ahead Dave

 

I ended up going with a full rebuild on the trans after 6 months of driving it without OD. It is really sad that in my case the failure of the overdrive piston retaining c clip caused all of the issues. When the c clip shatters, the piston slams down a good 3/4" further then it normally could. Because the piston bore is not perpendicular to the valve body it self destructs when it hit the valve body. You can get a whole new position and shaft assembly from ford and the c clip, but there is no way to position the OD band and hold it in position while you insert the servo/piston. In my experience you need your other arm inside the trans to hold the band while you insert the piston actuator and engage them properly. $900 would cover the labor and a handful of parts to pull the trans and makes only that repair, while a full rebuild will run you $2000 to $3000 depending on what parts you upgrade, torque converter etc. Anyway, a really sad failure point. I read someone say they simply put the new piston in theirs and reinstalled the valve body, it this person was very lucky in my opinion. My only guess is that the of band on theirs stuck somehow and stayed lined up. I tool my valve body off and could see the is band through the piston hole with a flash light while lying on my back, but their was no way for me to get the band back in place and stay there. At least I removes all of the pieces of the c clip, so I didn't feel too worried about driving it until the rebuild...