first of all im new to this sight but so far impressed.i just ruined a brand new 32 inch tire today trying to move a 48 dodge truck (unsuccsessfully) across my property .the dodge won that battle today when a chunk of glass somehow lodged into my sidewall .to the dodges advantage ,though ,it had twenty years to dig itself in for todays contest .and i will win ,next weekend .but im not here to complain i just had to get that off my chest .anyways , i have an 89 xlt w/ automatic trans ,and am having trouble with the trans . when i put it into drive it does not engage .i have to rev up the engine before it finally engages .once it gets moving it is fine .also it does not do it in reverse. a mechanic friend of mine says that the bands just need to be adjusted but he is always busy and i cant seem to get him to look in the manual and tell me how to do it. i am not a mechanic but am pretty capable, but auto trans are beyond my knowledge .if i was told how to do it i m sure i could,or at least if its to hard i could admit defeat and pay a shop,although i hope i dont have to do that.any help would be much appreciated.

 

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89 model? E4OD or AOD transmission? The E4OD is a PITA to work on and I don't believe there are provisions for band adjustment on it. The AOD may still have adjusters. Might start with the basics if you havent' already...change, check fluid, filter. The AOD may have provisions for adjusting the TV (throttle valve) cable as well. The E4OD is completely electronic in its operation and the AOD is completely mechanical, not even a vacuum regulator if I recall correctly.

 

If you have an eletric O/D button, it is an E4OD. If you have to choose O/D on the tree it is an AOD. The AOD has no band adjustment. You probably have a C-6. It is a three speed and has band adjustments. I am not sure how to do it because I have had AOD's in all my Fords. My 82 F-100 had the same symptoms, it turned out to be a bad torque converter. If it is the torque converter, change it as soon as possible. I learned the hard way, I let it go and it ran metal shavings through the tranny and toasted it.

 

thanks for your help,im not sure that it has an overdrive at all,because it neither has a button nor a space on the tree , just d-2-1 ,but i have been fearing that it was a torque converter , because thats more work than i have time to do myself ,and ive already put one kid in college for my mechanic on this truck .i guess its to be expected though , she has about 230,000 miles on her .well lets hope the 351 last at least one more year ,its been extremely well maintained and runs like a champ.thank you for your time.god bless.

 

Ya, you have a c-6. Actually, if it is the torque converter, that is better than the tranny being shot.

 

Does it make any kind of "rattling" noise when you rev it to get it to engage. If so it may be the impeller in the TC that has come loose. The C6 is a great tranny, has band adjustment, and quite possibly may not take all that much to repair. Hope it all works out on the cheap side.