I bought a 96 explorer just a month ago and i am having trouble with the trans shifting when cold i have already changed the oil in it i used Mobil 1 Syn Mercon V thats all i have been using in my other cars and truck for years . I doesn't shift into thid until it is warmed up. I live two miles from the highway and i let it warm up about 5 minutes before i even start to drive it. It will shift about a third of the way out to the highway. Now the fourth to fifth doesn't shift until i am almost out to the highway. I hooked up a trailer that i pulled behind my F150 which is a little to big for this car and a little to heavy it is a 25 footer. But anyway it didn't have any porblems pulling it and it didn't slip at all, i done this to see if the trans was going to slip it would have done it then. So i know that the trans is at least in good shape. Has anyone else had this problem with the trans in a 1996 explorer. I look up un the TSB's and it was saying something about having this problem, just wanted to know is there anything i can do before i cook this trans thats what i am afriad of. Oh by the way this explorer has 96,000 mile on it and i am the second owner, it doesn't look like it has ever been driven but it has th eguy who had it before me took very good care of it inside and out. The oil i got out of the trans and trnasfer caes didn't look really that bad at all and the oil out of the trans was not burnt either. Any help on this??????

 

Did it do this before you changed the fluid? I have heard that Syn fluid with higher miles on older trannies can introduce problems. Many shops will tell you that if the tranny fluid was not changed that often, it is sometimes better to stay with what is in there, but then some people swear by Syn replacement - esp for high heat... I guess nothing with trannys is an exact science.

Did you do a complete flush? or just drop the pan and change the filter? if you didn't already do a complete fulsh, that might be a good option and then use something like a Lubegard product to help keep it solid.

Maybe all this is a lame answer - sorry - just didn't know what you tried yet.

 

are you sure you are supposed to use mercon V in your trans?

 

You can always go up on spec (just don't go down).