Under any acceleration (from extremely light to full throttle) and on any grade, my Explorer shutters going into 2nd and 3rd. This only happens, however, after the vehicle has had a chance to warm up ( about !0 min.) It does it with the OD on or off and with the AWD on or off. A few days ago. I noticed that the temp gauge was climbing a little higher than normal and I suspect a sticking or partially opening thermostat, which I'm changing out tomorrow. My question is. Could these two things possibly be related or am I on my way to the transmission shop?

Jeff
98awdXLT 4.0 V6 SOHC


P.S. Where is the fuel filter? (It's not where it was on my '92)

 

Reset your ECU unit by disconnecting the battery for an hour or so. This will force the engine to "relearn" its shift points. When I swithched to 33s on mine I had the same shift problem and resetting the ECU fixed it. Have you changed your tire size lately? Also check your air filter, your engine may not be breathing right.

 

Thanks for the advice. I've already done that though. It did help some, but it's still not "quite right". I've spent alot of free time this week doing the simple things (changed oil and tranny fluid, changed air filter and fuel filter, I even washed it!). How long does it take for the ECU to "relearn"? It was driven around town for awhile then about 10 miles on the Interstate. Should that be enough?
I haven't changed tire sizes, but I did just put on a new set of the same size. I don't see how that would effect anything. As much as I hate to, I guess I'll take it to Ford and let them take a look.
By the way, how was your experience with the 4" lift? Did you do it yourself? How hard was it? How's it look? etc. I thinking of going up maybe 2" or so.

Thanks again
Jeff
98 AWD XLT 4.0L SOHC

 

The 4" lift is actually a combination of a 3" body lift with 1" Tortion bar adjustment for the front and 1.5" shackles for the rear. The lift itself was easy and I love the way it looks...
You can check out some pics of it here...
http://home.att.net/~explorerdriver/...ome.html-.html

 

Interestingly enough, I am having the same problem on my 98 Explorer. I see this happening randomly going from 2-3rd usually when it's warmed up - more noticeable when I accelerate fast. It seems to be confused at about 25mph with a rough and sluggish jump to 3rd. It was less than 6 months ago when I had transmission fluid and filter changed - 45k miles, SOHC engine.

I am interested in learning anything you run across during your search.