I hope you guys don't mind, but this is an AOD in a Crown Vic, not a truck. Same powertrain as a lot of our trucks though:

1987 Crown Vic, 5.0FI, AOD, 87k original miles.

This is my dad's car. Last week, I gave him my five kids and my van for a week, and he sent me home with this car. That was Saturday. On Monday, I noticed the transmission shifted very hard from first to second under light to moderate throttle. On Tuesday, we drove it maybe a total of 10 miles. It was acting VERY badly. Here's the symptoms:

Slipping, shudder, or a hard shift from 1 to 2. Very early shifts, and no desire to downshift. It will not downshift from 3 to 2 under full throttle unless the car is going less than 20mph! Shifts from OD to D are present, but slip horribly. To give it enough throttle for it to shift out of OD, it will shift to 3rd, but not engage completely, i.e. it keeps slipping.

Fluid is full and pink. I have no idea how long it's been since a filter or fluid change was done, if ever, but the fluid looks great. When I called dad, he said that he had noticed the occasional hard shift, but never had noticed any slippage. Of course, I just drove it 350 miles...

Now, here are my questions:

I haven't had the time to look yet, because of the dark last night, but I'm wondering if the TV cable is broken or disconnected. I know there was at one time a problem with the retaining clip at the throttle body. But if it were that, I wouldn't get any downshifts, right?

I know that a stopped up filter can cause slippage, but would it also account for the other symptoms?

I seem to remember someone once saying that the seals in the valve body an rot and crack, causing problems. Would that cause the low transmission pressure? Would it explain the problems?

Lastly, what would you do now? I'm thinking: 1. Check the TV cable, and
maybe tighten it up a bit just to see what happens. 2. Change the filter and fluid in the pan. I'd drain the converter too, but the fluid has no signs or smells of burning or contamination. 3. I'm wondering if a person could replace the seals in the valve body without removing the transmission, or maybe even a shift kit. Anyone know?

By the way, I'm supposed to drive it back to him, all 350 miles, on Saturday...

Thanks,

 

There are no seals in the valve body. Most likely the direct clutch is destroyed.

 

I'm done!

Guess what? It was the TV cable bushing at the throttlebody. I was so glad to see that cable loose when I looked under the intake tube. The thing that confused me was that it still downshifted some. I didn't think it would do that at all without some feedback from the throttlebody. When the cable popped out of the rotted bushing, it hung in part of the throttle body linkage, and so it moved a *little* bit when you moved the throttle. That probably saved it from frying the tranny.

I've had that same drivetrain in two other Panther body cars, so I knew what to look for. It's just that the symptoms were not quite what I expected, and it got worse over a period of days, instead of all at once like I would have expected.

The only "bad" part was that the dealer didn't have the brass bushing, but another rubber one. This one is almost clear in color and looks more like silicone instead of the old black rubber one. I figure if the old one lasted 21 years, this new one will probably outlast the car.

Thanks