'98 Windstar transmission shift hesitation between 2nd and 3rd gears

[lidation]

My '98 Windstar has 86K miles. The transmission has been fine all along. I got it 6K miles ago so I don't know whether the previous owner had changed the tranny oil but I am planning to do it this week.

This past weekend, I noticed that the tranny is a bit hesitating between 2nd and 3rd. when you accelerate from a stop sign, between 2nd and 3rd, the gear seems to be shifting back and forth a few times before settling into 3rd.

Is it bad? Should I go ahead and use the drop pan method to change the transmission oil (Motorcraft Mercon V) or just wait till it's dead?

[huskerdooo]

I would change the fluid, its easy and not too expensive. The winnie's trans overheats and cooks fluid in relatively few miles. Fluid should probably be changed every 30k miles. I'd change it and hope for the best.

My 96 transmission hunted and slammed from 90k miles until 146k when I sold it. Then again, my 99 blew its transmission around the same mileage.

If I ever get another winnie, the first thing I would do is change the trans fluid and add a HD trans cooler with electric fans.