"E" warning followup

[anna]

Followup to the "E" warning - steady E, not flashing.

We took our newly purchased , under 8000 miles, 03 t-bird to the dealer (not the one we bought it from) and they did the diagnostic test on it, and said yes, it has transmission problems. We are supposed to take it in next week for an estimate on the "fix".
I'm sick because I figure the dealer we bought it from probably knew about this problem, but did not inform us about it. And we thought with a car having that low mileage, we did not need the $2000 warranty on it. Wrong move.
We did not haggle them on the price, and paid top dollar for it. So here we are......less than 3 weeks having it, and now this.

So my question is.....has anyone had the "E" fixed and what should be the approximate cost we should expect???? Does the "fix" really fix it???? or will it be an ongoing problem??? Thanks for your help.
anna

 

[Sealy]

I'm always amazed, or amused, when a person buys a vehicle from one dealer and then takes it to another dealer for the problem. You've had it for 3 weeks - take it back to where you bought it and negotiate with them. You may still end up paying, but they may split it with you or they may take care of it.

E simply means that there is a problem. The error code will tell what it is. You could be looking at anything from a mis-read to a full blown catastrophe. Try not to get upset until you really have something to get upset about. And as far as will the fix really fix it . . . cars are fickle and get more fickel as they age. Spring for the warranty, it's cheap peace of mind.

Put the top down and enjoy. It really is a great car and as you get to know it, you'll become more comfortable and trusting of it.

 

[DiegoThundy]

Also, I'm not sure where you lived, but some places of "lemon laws" that protect you if you can prove the vehicle had a serious problem before purchase and weren't informed about it. I'm not sure about their extent, but you might look into that if you take it back to the same dealer and they basically tell you "sorry pal."

 

[67chevelle]

"Lemon Laws" only deal with new vehicle purchases..

67

 

[George]

Anna, less than 3 weeks? Doesn't your dealer at least cover the 1st 4-8 weeks?
Anyone I know of who has had the E problem has had it fixed with no re-occurances, so you should be all set.
Transmission....could be $2-3,000. On the other hand, I would also ask them to look up that car on their "OASIS system" and see if that problem had ever been reported before for that car. And, maybe your original dealer will help you out - That seems like a good suggestion, as sealy said.
As it relates to extended warranty, you should be able to get one for under $2000, however, I believe any problem reported into the OASIS sysyem, for that individual car would may not be covered, since it would be a pre-existing problem

Keep us posted and best of luck

 

[tbird]

Also, I'm not sure where you lived, but some places of "lemon laws" that protect you if you can prove the vehicle had a serious problem before purchase and weren't informed about it. I'm not sure about their extent, but you might look into that if you take it back to the same dealer and they basically tell you "sorry pal."

If the problem existed before they purchased the vehicle, the "E" light would have been on or came on the next day.

 

[Quickdraw]

The VAST majority of "E" transmission error messages were fixed with either a computer reflash or a fluid change - maybe it was just a special Ford additive instead of a trans fluid change. Before the cause of the problem was identified by Ford the dealers were replacing transmission valve bodies (most weren't really needed but the dealers didn't know at the time).

 

[00mustng]

....I don't think the "dreaded E" fix is all that expensive, if it's carried out by someone who is capable....history has shown that transmission replacement was not needed....

 

[DiegoThundy]

Good point, I forgot about that. Yeah, hopefully it won't be a huge problem with getting it fixed. I suspect if you have someone that really knows what they are doing, it can be taken care of for a reasonable cost. Aka, know who you are dealing with in your area before you take it in.

 

[Hatter]

I now have the re-occurring "E' problem in 2003, transmission man replaced the torque valve mentioned in previous messages and I drove it 10.9 miles and it displayed the E again. The mechanic checked it and did not get any readings . He said drive it for a week & see if it stops . I am weary about his advice . anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Willoughby]

I now have the re-occurring "E' problem in 2003, transmission man replaced the torque valve mentioned in previous messages and I drove it 10.9 miles and it displayed the E again. The mechanic checked it and did not get any readings . He said drive it for a week & see if it stops . I am weary about his advice . anyone got any suggestions?

Short answer from me is that the 2nd transmission shop I took it to rebuilt the main valve body and installed a new torque converter and problem solved.

Long answer is that I spent so much money having the first transmission shop try to diagnose the problem that I gave up on his abilities and took it to another more established shop and showed him the invoice from the first shop and told him “here’s what has been done so far, none of this solved the problem”. It’s my understanding that when the main valve body was replaced, the E code went away on most TBirds and Lincoln Ls models. Brand new main valve body’s are no longer available so the guy who ended up fixing it said he installed a “shift kit” which is a rebuild kit that uses better designed parts so it won’t happen again. My opinion is that the shift kit repair alone would have fixed the problem but he recommended we replace the torque converter too since the “E” code meant torque converter was not locking up in overdrive and if he put the whole transmission back together and valve body rebuild didn’t fix the problem, he would have to charge me again to duplicate a lot of the disassembly he’d already done. All said and done, it would have cost the same to have put a new transmission in, and afterward as I searched the web I saw that there’s a company that sells a 5r55s transmission with all the weak spots redesigned or reinforced to last much longer. This might have been a case where in the end it would have made more sense to go to the Ford dealer , but the service departments at the Ford and Lincoln dealers in my area have bad reputations for customer satisfaction

 

[Hatter]

thanks for your reply , could you give me the name of the company that sells the 5r55s rebuilds ?

 

[Willoughby]

thanks for your reply , could you give me the name of the company that sells the 5r55s rebuilds ?

The company name is Extreme Performance Automotive and the website is spprecision.com
The shift kits come from globaltransmissionparts.com

The company name is Extreme Performance Automotive and the website is spprecision.com
The shift kits come from globaltransmissionparts.com

Another one I found is www.streetsmarttransmission.com. They ship the transmission directly to one of their recommended transmission shops in your area

 

[TwoTires]

Follow-up to the "E" warning - steady E, not flashing.

We took our newly purchased , under 8000 miles, 03 t-bird to the dealer (not the one we bought it from) and they did the diagnostic test on it, and said yes, it has transmission problems. We are supposed to take it in next week for an estimate on the "fix".
I'm sick because I figure the dealer we bought it from probably knew about this problem, but did not inform us about it. And we thought with a car having that low mileage, we did not need the $2000 warranty on it. Wrong move.
We did not haggle them on the price, and paid top dollar for it. So here we are......less than 3 weeks having it, and now this.

So my question is.....has anyone had the "E" fixed and what should be the approximate cost we should expect???? Does the "fix" really fix it???? or will it be an ongoing problem??? Thanks for your help.
anna

If it ends up to very costly, I would take a little time and investigate after markets trans as they usually don't cost any more than many repairs and you can get one from a high performance manufacturer and more than likely will have a better warranty. I recently found a suppler of the 3.9 engine with a 7 yr./100K warranty for $5300. That's a fraction of what a dealer would charge. Your tranny is a 5R55S. I've located a number with 3yr/100K warranties for $2200 in worst case. Tip; never buy a car from a dealer unless they're willing to give you a 60 day warranty. Voice of experience as I got burned from an AutoNation Ford Dealer and I cost me $4200 for all the non-working issues. And it has 6800 miles on it!

2003-2006 5R55S 3.9L 2WD LINCOLN LS / FORD THUNDERBIRD TRANSMISSION​

$2,199.00