99 Explorer Sport Transmission?

[xFatcatx]

My 1999 Ford Explorer Sport, V6, Automatic with 70,000 Miles is having some problems. When the car shifts into second gear there is a pause for about a second, and the engine will quickly rev-up, jerks, and then it finally shifts. It does not happen all the time and just started about 3-4 days ago. Im worried it may be something with the transmission but i know nothing about transmissions. Any help is appreciated.

[sreve]

this is likely something simple right now. if it continues too slip it won't be!
transmission codes may or may not turn a light on. i suspect a band adjustment could be the cause, it's where i would start. a scan with a trans capable tool is something else that needs done. since it has been slipping the fluid is no doubt burnt a filter service will reveal what is lurking in the pan.
sounds to me like you need to find the transmission shop.

[xFatcatx]

Im not familiar with "band adjustment", is that actually inside the transmission? I'm going to flush and service the transmission after work this week when i have time. Ill get a new gasket and filter also. When i drain the fluid does that also drain the fluid in the torque converter, and if not can i drain that also? I have little money for a transmission shop and dont have a mechanic anymore. I need to do everything on my own i can. I really appreciate your advice.

[chuckmac]

My 2001 ST is doing the EXACT same thing!! The Ford dealer was stumped. I have an appointment with AAMCO this Monday. I'll be sure to let you know what they find - if anything.

[xFatcatx]

hey chuckmac how many miles does explorer have and have you ever had the transmission serviced? mine has 70000 and im pretty sure it has never been serviced.i started with the easiest and cheapest thing first. i serviced the transmission myself for about $50, ($23 filter and gasket) and (about $25 in new tranny fluid). all the quotes i got were from $180 to $330 for a filter change and complete flush. it was a pain in my azz cause the geniuses at ford ran the exaust pipe directly under the transmission pan so your about 1inch short of clearance to drop the pan. the exaust bolts were to rusty and stripped immediatly so i couldnt drop the exaust pipe, and i broke the tips of two torque drives off in the front drive line so i couldnt drop that eather! long story short i moved the pan over enough (towards driver side) to get an exstention up there and get the old filter off and the new one on. bad part is i couldnt proplery clean the inside of the pan and i couldnt find the torque converter so i couldnt drain all the fluid. i had it up on the ramps overnight cause i ran out of daylight the first day and that drained alot more of the fluid out. i got about 7quarts of the 10and a half it holds so i figured good enough. before adding the new fluid though i put one quart of "Lucas Transmission Fix" in and presto, the evil shifting noise has stopped. it actually sounded worse the first time i drove it but after a couple days the hard shifting completely stopped. i was worried about taking it to a tranny shop and them saying "oh blah blah blah you need a new transmission", cause i cant afford one (nothing against machanics just had a couple bad experiences). anyways if your handy and can do it yourself i suggest that unless you can afford the flush, just make sure you get that "Lucas" in there. hope i helped.

[xxgearheadxx]

i agree with xFATCATx its a pretty simple job just takes time and patients
but my father's explorer is slipping in drive and what he dose is shifts to 2 then back to drive which is not recommend to do at fast speeds.

he hasn't chanced the trans. fluid in a while but he dose not listen now i have to do a rebuild for him...

expensive when you have a shop do it

[xFatcatx]

Its always funny to read something you wrote 5 years ago.....Turned out there is a common problem in these if you have the 55re (long time ago i think thats the trans) transmission. A faulty blow off valve in the valve body causes the Valve body Gasket to blow. When you pull your pan off you can look around the edges where the valve body meets the transmission and you can actually see blown gasket. Pieces of the gasket will will get circulated all through your valve body and cause problems. I ended up getting quotes from 2500-3k for a tranny work. I ended up getting a remanned valve body for $250 and changing it myslef and it fixed the problem. 50k miles later and its still going strong. If anyone has a shift flare like this between 2-3 gears pm me and i can give you some tips, i dont think i can post any links here. I also did the same thing with my 99 dodge durango, was having some slipping in the mornings when cold between 1-2 and 2-3 gears. remanned valve body fixed it. I wonder how many tranny shops just swap out or reman valve bodys to just fix issues......