I recently bought a nice 1987 Motor home which was built on a John Deer chassis using a ford 460 carbed with a C6 trans. 89,000 miles. Motor has been rebuilt, trans original.

When I place it into drive, there is a slight hesitation going into gear. Not a hard bang, just a slight hesitation ( about 1 sec or less sec ) It only does this at first start for the day. Once I take off, it doesn't to it again until I drive it again the next day. All shifts seem smooth, no slipping noticed. I have drove it a couple time for 70 miles on the freeway. Is it safe to think it just needs a fluid/filter change? I have heard of too many people having huge problems after changing fluid/filter once a problem has shown itself. I have no idea if the trans has ever been serviced or not.

 

Yep, my C6 does this every time I shift into drive from park/neutral... takes like 1-3 seconds to go into gear. Not sure why, but even after a complete rebuild and shift kit it still does the same.

 

That's normal for a C6. They all do that.