OK..well it moves...but not quickly LOL. I have a '93 Explorer and this is the problem I'm having. Me being a girl and knowing NOTHING about cars, I'm taking my best shot at trying to explain this to you guys. It goes into reverse just fine, no problems....but when I shift into drive it takes a few seconds for it to shift into gear and go. So...do y'all think it's the transmission or could it possibly be something much more cheaper to fix? It was having issues before about switching from gear to gear and my dad changed out something and it was working like a charm...until now. In January some of the vaccume hoses blew off, but those have since been fixed...now this in April...any connection? So guys...can you help a girl out here. I don't want to be taken advantage of if I have to take it in anywhere. Thanks for any advice.

Jennifer

 

With the car running and in park, check the tranny fluid there is a dipstick that is like an oil dipstick but says transmision under the hood. Pull that out check the level of the fluid, wipe it off and put it back in, look at the fluid on the dip stick then wipe it a little with your finger, look at it closley see if you have any metal shaving in it, you have to look close, also what color is the fluid it should be red. Thats a quik test to see if the tranny is gone, but sometimes you cant tell from doing that. What exacly does it do, when it moves slow does it rev up to the red line? if it does rev then just floor it but dont let the rpms go into the red, let up just before, see if i will shift, make sure the road is pretty flat, Sometimes what will happen is that the tranny will skip to 3rd gear if second is broken. It sounds like your tranny is done, but try those things....you might also want to take it to a few tranny shops in your area, they can give you a price and tell you whats wrong, most of them will diognose the problem for free for you, but some do not so make sure you go to the free ones..... Go to a few places and see what they say...

 

could also be the vacume modulator on the side of the transmission. You said your dad replaced it and then the vacume lines blew off. That is what happens when the module goes transmission fluid get sucked up into the vacume tree and the oil breaks down the rubber lines so they weeken and then don't hold anymore. So maybe a lot of tranny fluid got sucked up and so your running low on oil. These fords are very finicky for tranny fluid level for proper performance, I have found out with my 2 fords.

good luck

you might want to check the tranny fluid in both park and neutral to get a propper reading. I might take a couple of tries to get a readding with the oil in the tube, the readings gets altered when you go to pull out the dip stick. It should be a clear red colour, smell it to see if its burnt, and yes run your fingers on it to see if you can find any metal shavings in the oil. you could alos give it a tranny oil change just incase its never had one before

 

YAY! Just wanted to update you guys...it's FIXED!! I took y'alls advice and checked the transmission fluid....and that was the problem. There was like ZERO in there! My dad says that when the vaccume hose thingies blew it probably blew out my transmission fluid too (if this is possible). So I heated up the car, checked it, replaced it, and so far it's running as usual! Thank you guys for your advice...Y'ALL ROCK!!

 

ya got to like a happy ending
and cheep at that

congratulations

 

It's probably not the ending. If the vacuum modulator wasn't replaced the fluid will continue to go down (and the engine oil up). The modulator is only about $12 but not fun to get to. Leaking modulator will cause late shifting when cold and fouling of engine components.

 

Is there an easy way to tell if the modulator needs to be replaced? I don't see anything leaking from the engine.

 

you said your dad changed something, I was thinking that is what he changed. If the module is broken all you have to do is pull the vacume line off of the vacume tree on the back of the plemum. ( follow the vacume line that goes from the brake booster to the tree ((to find it if you have to)). )

pull the vacume line off that goes down to the tranny if its full of tranny fluid then you will need to replace the module, which is located at the other end of the vacume line. lol