Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) WHOOPS! 55 mph to reverse in 0.1 seconds....

[JWareing]

so... heres a good one.....



i have my 1996 2500 in to the local shop for a few things: filler neck is all rotted out, needs replacement, sending unit all gone to crap, get replaced, fuel lines rebuilt - exhaust leak fixed, bumper spot welded after "the worst winter ever" of getting jammed into snowbanks, etc..... 14 hrs of labor to fix assorted probs..... im out of there after dropping close to 1500 bucks,,,



pick it up tonight... . after dinner, kid in car seat, cranky, needs to be in bed- its 930. blah blah blah... . so when we pull in - wife says " I'll drive the truck home" i dont argue.



she starts it up...



i decide to follow... .



400 yrds down the rd- at the same time i see a flash of white lights, i hear a "screech" as she does a momentary 4 wheel slide and then pulls to the side of the road!



i run up - "what happened?"



she says: " well when i was giving it the pedal, it was revving really high, but not going anywhere - so i tried to work the lever to make sure it was in drive!"



ughhhh- basically - she took it from partilly engaged "d" to reverse at 55 mph! i know because i saw the reverse lights briefly!



no lights alarms or leaks/noises... .....



what should i be watching for?

 

[Woodenhead]

I don't have an auto and don't know much about them so I'll let someone else give that advice but... .



About 10 years ago my Dad and I were doing about 70mph in Plymouth Voyager mini van with my buddy following behind us. A lone fly was buzzing around the van driving the old man nuts when it finally landed on his knee. He went to smack the fly, missed and slapped the shifter into rewind (at 70 mph!). The van stalled and we coasted to the side of the road, fired it up and kept on rolling. Like you, my buddy was wondering why the reverse lights came on at 70. We put another 20,000 or so miles on it after this incident without a problem. I know this is kinda comparing apples and oranges but your post brought up the memory.



If it's still driving fine and not doing anything different I'd think it should be OK but like I said above, I'm no expert on autos.



Mike

 

[JWareing]

thanks for your feedback wood... i ws crawling around underneath looking for metal bits and fluid... but found none... .





and there wre no alarms/lights the r est of the way home.....

 

[TBurow]

if anything the t/c would be damaged but i have seen it happen to several people with no ill effects. hope you are as lucky.

 

[JApol]

I did the same to this truck, it just stalled out, shifted into neutral and fired right up and kept going with no problems.

 

[Wasilla Rod]

I hit back up gear in my 96 about 5 years ago going 50ish and that slush box is still going fine. I did a fluid filter change last summer and everything was fine. I was in Okie overdrive on a long down hill and when I went to put er back in gohead gear-- to many hours of fork lift and loader operating reflex took over and I bumped it into the rewind slot. Smoked the tires and threw the dog on the floor. By the time I got it into "N" the engine was RUNNING backwards !! No - they dont make oil pressure going backwards!

 

[DonTX]

For quite a few years, transmissions were internally controlled so that it would not cause damage, won't even go into reverse at higher speeds.

We used to have fun with the old pushbutton MOPARS, go to a dealer and "try one out". Get it going a good clip forward and punch the reverse button with full throttle. Kinda like driving into a rubber band, but never destroyed a transmission.

 

[Bill Lins]

jwareing asked: "what should i be watching for?"



A new wife? ;-)

 

[Fordiesel69]

If the tires screached, you may want to pull the differential cover and pull the center pin out and inspect the pin and spiders. My buddy did this to his mustang and just a few days later the spiders shot out the cover. Center pin was scored bad. I know a mustang axle (7. 5") is nowhere near the durabilty of our dana 70's but you never know unless you look.



Not saying it IS damaged, but would certainly give you a good excuse to check it out and do a fluid change.

 

[JWareing]

thanks guys - so far so good...