Hello all :-) I'm new to the forum and being that I've recently been the new owner of a fantastic Ford product I'd like to as if anyone has any ideas on a problem that's crept up and become something too big for me to handle.

I have a 1994 Explorer 4WD that I purchased from my brother and he was the sole owner of the vehicle.

He had recently within the last 2-3 years replaced the transmission seals due to a leak problem. I inherited the vehicle at no cost knowing it needed to be fixed. Along with it came all of the vehicle's history and paperwork except for the previous seal replacement.

Taking it to a local shop owner who handles fleet work for a friend's carpeting company he found that the seal needed to again be replaced as well as the torgue converter. Having opened up the transmission he found no other problems.

I drove the vehicle perfectly fine for about seven months and then I began to have problems with it shifting from Park to Drive. It would sit out of gear for a few seconds then go into gear and drive perfectly fine with no loss of power or slipping in it's shifts.

Park to Reverse also works fine and still continues to this day to shift perfect but ONLY into that gear.

My vehicle recently has had to be revved higher and higher to get it to go into Drive where it then, shifts fine. All of the fluids are clear and at correct levels.

The local shop owner says it could be anything from a torque converter needing to be replaced again to the shift bands. He also instructed that it could be where they've flattened? Again, not too sure.

I'd like to know if anyone has any knowledge of this happening and of a fix? I've parked the vehicle due the high revs causing it to go into gear. I don't want to damage it any further.

Thank you :-)

 

try something simpler. You have a leak, that is a known fact. Low transmission luid will cause delayed engagement, especially when the fluid is cold. If you check it after it warms up, the fluid can expand and appear to be correct. Also if you added some, fluid can get trapped in the tube giving a false reading for a while. Check the fluid level with the transmission cold.

A common problem is a drop in pressure in the valve body. There are boost valves which increase the line pressure that can address your issue if that is the problem, and result in firmer shifts as well. However, you will do well to have the bands replaced and the torque converter. If you don't mind firm shifts, you can get upgraded bands and a heavy duty torque converter for not much more. Helps the tranny run cooler and last longer. Also B&M makes a plate type tranny cooler which is inexpensive, you could install it yourself in a weekend and it is much much better than the factory one.

 

I'll check the fluids while it's cold :-)

I didn't think it to be a leak since it hasn't spilled a drop since the seal replacement from what I could see after driving it and then letting it sit while turned over.

Will report back with the results asap!

 

Checked the tranny fluid when it was cold, well past the crosshatch line on the stick. It hasn't leaked since the torque converter, front pump and seals associated with those were replaced.

Not sure what that means to be honest, bad? good?

A friend also suggested lucas transmission oil, or that it could be a bad clutch pack seal?

 

The Lucas transmission fluid didn't seem to help. I'm still having problems with it not engaging into Drive unless revved into the high RPMs. Once it decides to go into drive it shifts perfect with no slip or loss of power at all.

The truck will go into reverse without any problems as well and fluid is steady at full.

Any new/revised suggestions?

 

You said pas the crosshatched area? If the tranny is overfilled, you can have problems stem from that. If it continues to slip, you will need new bands, and possibly some valve body parts.

 

Sorry about the lateness...

I removed some of the Tranny fluid and inserted the Lucas transmission fliuid. After about twenty minutes of letting it run in park I got in and put it in drive.

It sat there for about a minute, and with a couple of revs it went into drive. I continued to do this six times and each time it seemed to shift into gear more easily. Got it on the road and it shifted fine, nice and powerful coming on to the interstate and then when parked I cut it off, cut it back on and revved it once then it went into gear.

Could it be a worn clutch pack seal by chance?