fshowtr

Folks,
Can some one here shed some light on an issue that I am having with my 2003 F150 5.4L V8? This is my 3rd F150 from Ford in the last 8 years so I am a repeating customer of Ford. I started seeing my Overdrive light flickering when it should not be, and it does this whether it is in the on position or off position. The OD still works but the light flickers… I noticed that the shifting started to get a little rough so I decided to take it in and get the transmission fluid/filter changed. I was informed by the mechanic that he pulled the following diagnostic codes: P0712 and P1783.

Here’s what the codes mean:

P0712 TFT, wiring, PCM 157°C (315°F) indicated TFT sensor circuit grounded Voltage drop across TFT sensor exceeds scale set for temperature of 157°C (315°F). Firm shift feel. WIRING OR TFT SENSOR


P1783 TFT Transmission over temperature condition indicated Transmission fluid temperature exceeded 127°C (270°F). Increase in EPC pressure. WIRING OR TFT SENSOR CLOGGED COOLER


I was told that the codes and symptoms were indicative that my transmission needs to be replaced which obviously did not make me happy with only 63k miles on the vehicle. The dealer wanted another 1,200.00 to tear apart my transmission so they could fully diagnose the issue and I said no way! That’s just to tear it apart not fix the problem. (I was quoted like $3000.00 for a rebuilt transmission.) I then contacted Fords Corporate Customer Service and explained the situation. The Ford customer service rep and manager then told me they will not consider assisting me until they completely diagnose the issue, meaning I pay the money to have the dealer rip apart my transmission to tell me its bad. Makes absolutely no sense to me as a re-occurring ford customer for almost a decade.

I spent time on-line researching the codes (P0712 and p1783) and found numerous of posts were Ford owners were having the same issue. Most of them were either told to replace the Sensor/wiring kit for the transmission as that is what the codes refer to as the problem. It appears that when they replaced the sensor, the problem went away and then came back??? Seems to me that this is a defect issue and ALOT of Ford owners are very UN happy about this issue from what I have read all over the internet. Why doesn't Ford address this issue as it seems to be a very wide spread problem in ALOT of different vehicles using this transmission. You would think that FORD would want to assist or Help re-occurring customers when a major issue like this is brought to there attention.

If anyone has any information regarding this issue, I would surely appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your time and comments.

Tallmantom58

went through similar problem with my F-150 tranny "99 had to have it rebuilt by a reputable transmission specialist for 1,900 , he beefed it up a little with a heavy duty torque converter etc. I still continued to get the troublr code sporadically and returned it to him and he tore it down completely and could not find anything wrong with it. It now has 160,000 miles on that rebuild . the code will come up now and then even still. i'm sure it must be a software glitche that the Ford scientists haven't figured out yet. I wonder how many trannys have been replaced because of this?

fshowtr

Update...
After doing research on-line with the codes I believed that the codes were indicative to the sensor needing to be replaced. I contacted the original mechanic who performed the transmission fluid change and who also detected the codes. I explained to him that the Ford dealer wanted me to pay 1200.00 to tear apart my transmission just too fully diagnose the issue, and NOT fix it. I told him that I believe he was correct when he originally thought it was the sensor and I asked to perform the replacement of the sensor. I took the truck into him and he dropped the transmission pan/fluid and replaced the sensor. After replacing the sensor and putting new fluid back in the transmission, all is working just fine.
So the bottom line here with my issue was NOT a bad transmission like the mechanics at the FORD dealer in San Juan Capistrano CA. suggested, it was the 40.00 sensor. I ended up paying about $270.00 for the sensor, fluid, and labor from my mechanic. All the codes are gone and the Over drive light is working normally now. I have driven over 1000 miles since the sensor replacement and it is running just fine.

I just hope that some one else who is less fortunate then me, who has this issue does not end up forking out 1800.00 to a Ford dealer that says they need a new transmission and actually only needs the sensor replaced. Fortunately I had the resources to research the issue on-line and saved myself over 1800.00 since you know they (the Ford dealer) would have charged me to put the Transmission back together after they realized that there was nothing wrong with the transmission.

Hope this information is helpful one day for someone…

Best to all!

trev0006

Thanks for posting this.