Hello-

I have an 85 E150 300-I6 with an AOD transmission. The transmission shifts normally into 1st and second. Manual shifts into first and second are normal. Reverse is OK also. Occasionally when I am going downhill with a "tailwind" it sounds like it is freewheeling and when throttle is applied it kind of slip-slides a bit and drops back into 2nd. The TV cable came loose and was driven around 150 miles b4 the TV problem was found and fixed. The van was sitting in a pasture for almost a year also. The fluid is old and dirty but it doesn't smell bad. I have driven it up to 55 after the TV cable was reconnected to try to get it to shift into high/3rd or OD.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

When the TV linkage came off it normally causes low pressure up shifts if it shifts at all which will damage the direct clutch very fast (this clutch is on in 3rd and 4th gear). It's likely overhaul time now, sorry.

 

Oh well, I have a couple of likely replacement candidates, one even supposedly rebuilt. The original tranny that is in there now has always been a source of trouble since the first fluid change. It was one of those that would go into never never land in the middle of an intersection or worse yet shift into two gears at the same time while traveling 55 mph on the highway. When the rear tires lock up at that speed it is real fun. I am just glad the first time I had the fluid changed it was under warranty and was done at the dealership. They had to pull that tranny five times and take it apart b4 they finally got it to "kinda" work. Ford wouldn't just replace it. The first few times they took it apart I don't think they believed me when I told them what it was doing. Every time it did it I was alone. Before the next to the last time they removed the tranny it happened when a friend was with me. I took him to the dealer with me and he repeated what he had told me when it happened. "Two gears hell, -Forward and reverse!!" It knocked him clear out of his seat and on the floor. He had taken off his seat belt to grab a pop out of the cooler and had just sat back down. Thankfully he hadn't opened it yet:-)

 

I have been driving this transmission on a few short trips. I shifts normally from first into second but then it stays in second. The only time it ever does any slip-slide is for a brief instant when I back off on the throttle quickly at ~35+ mph and the transmission should be engaging overdrive. Even then it pops back into second when I apply the throttle again. It just will not even try to go into third. This van sat for almost a year. I put in a can of transmission seal conditioner, and cleaner solvent with no luck.

Any ideas why it will not go into third? I really don't want to spend much money or effort on a temporary vehicle I will be driving only a short time b4 it gets scrapped out. I am only going to use it while I am working on rebuilding my 78F250, but I would like to be able to make parts runs.

 

i had a similar problem on my 84 f 150 last time i took it muddin. I drove off and was headed home and it didnt shift into 2nd much less any other gear. This is an AOD by the way. Reverse , park and neutral would work fine. I drove it home in first and the next day i drove it it would stay in first until the trip back from work. It caught 2nd and the next morning when i was going to work it caught 3rd. Now it goes into all gears but slips alot. I checked the TV rod to make sure it was ok and it was attached without any binding. I guess a valve got hung up with all that 1st gear high RPM wheelin in the mud. I ordered a new tranny from Phoenix remanufactred transmisions for about 600 bucks delivered and am gonna drop er in this weekend. The tranny i got in the truck right now is original with over 250000 miles on it. Just goes to show ya that Ford power rules. I'm just gonna swap it out cuz it slips alot off the line and between shifts, barely holds overdrive, and leaks like a sieve. One thing i was told that's importatnt with the new tranny is to check TV line pressure with a guage. The tranny came with a booklet that shows the specified pressures at different RPMs. Where can I find a TV pressre guage?

 

Any professional parts store will have them. I have seen setups offered on eBay also. Try a search like:

(transmission,trans,tranny) (gauge,gage) (tester,test) in the eBay motors section.

I wish people would watch the spelling better in their listings. It makes it kind of hard to find things listed like: tansmissy gaje teestr -hehe

I hear the new forum software will have a spell checker built in!!

I am rebuilding a C6 (the last good tranny Ford made) for my F250 so I don't want to go spend time/bucks on this POS AOD van transmission. Maybe I should dump another can of a different brand transmission conditioner in. Maybe someday I will get third and OD back!

If the transmission was shifting 1-2-lala land I could understand the direct clutch is out etc. But it does not even try to go into third. Seems more like a valve is stuck in the valve body. Maybe I should get going about 50 mph in second, shift into neutral, rev the engine till the valves clatter, then drop it back in gear. Then call for a tow truck (or just leave it beside the half dozen chebbys already there).