I recently bought a 95 Bronco with a E4OD. The tranny usually slams into gear and jerks the truck when making the 1->2, 2->3 or N->R shifts. It helps to get off the throttle when the shift is coming so the engine doesn't windup as much between gears, but that can make it hard to accelarate quickly. Some days are worse than others, especially when it is cold out, but it never really shifts as smooth as I would like. I had pretty much decided to let it die - it's closing in on the first 100k.

I had to park on the roof of a parking garage yesterday and when I was coming down the ramps I decided to manually hold it in 1st so I wouldn't need to ride the brakes. Once I got down and onto the street, I moved the selector back to OD with the truck rolling slowly. As I accelarated I babied it through the first shift, but it didn't buck like I expected. Pulling away from the first stoplight I floored it and the truck shifted up just like it should. I didn't have any trouble the whole way home.

Has anyone else experienced this with an auto or the E4OD specifically? Could anyone with a good understanding of how this tranny works throw out some theories of what may be wrong that could cause these symptoms? I'd really like to avoid a rebuild/replacement if there is some maintenance that I could do instead.

The PO had the fluid changed by the Iffy Lube clowns shortly before I bought it. Would Mercon V in a Mercon III tranny have this effect. I am planning on a fluid swap anyway after payday.