sickandtired

04 Heritage XLT 4X4 Supercab 4.6L, 82,000 mi., experienced low level vibration at speed for a couple days,changed oil in transfer case and differential.Replaced front brake rotors and pads, checked u-joints.Two days later started it and dropped it into gear,the sound of metal,"I guess it's metal",is heard bouncing around in trans.The sound is worse in reverse,in forward gear it's sporadic,the hotter the engine gets the more frequent but only sitting still,there's no loss of power at the moment.Had 2 diagnostics done,one say's it's the torque converter due to burnt smell of fluid,$2400 to fix,the other says it's the planet gear,$3000 to fix,still paying for truck,Ford says tough luck,either way this is probably a rebuild.Does anyone have any thoughts,Thanks.

847alexc

I am sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I would say that the smell of burnt fluid and metal noise are bad signs for sure. It makes me wonder though why this got worse after changing other fluids, not the trans. Given the info, I would tend to think torque converter as well. I might ask how much attention you've have given the trans fluid (level and quality). While it may be too far gone, I may be helped yet. With a metal on metal noise I would recommend not rebuilding the one you have but rather trading it in as a core to a rebuilt company, there may be metal damage.