This has been discussed before but I can't locate it, so I'm posting again.

My truck won't shift into 1st/2nd gear when it's cold. That is the lever will go into D or 1 or 2, but the transmission won't engage. My understanding is that a gasket blew, but I'm trying to figure out what gasket has blown and what would be entailed in repairing it - assuming it's a gasket that is.

Once the truck has warmed up a touch it will readily go into gear just fine, although on very cold mornings it will shift balky from a stop light until it's reached normal operating temps. When I say cold I mean less than 50 F.

 

How is the tranny fluid level & condition of the fluid???

Has the tranny fluid & filter been changed on time, or has it been changed lately????

I'm thinking maybe low fluid level, or gum, varnish, or sludge has something fouled up.

If you think deposits may be the culprit & you know they aren't too heavy, maybe consider trying a half dose of Seafoam "Trans-Tune", to see if it would wake it up.

I recently had a similar problem with my 94 Taurus AXODE tranny acting up, but not to the point that it wouldn't go into gear, but it would hesitate for an instant on take off & sometimes hang up on a 2-1 up, or down shift, or when coming to a stop sometimes it would grab 1st gear, so the 2-1 downshift was rough.

The first time it began to act up about 10 years ago, it wouldn't go into gear when you shifted into "D", so thats when it got it's first dose of Seafoam Trans Tune.

All this even though I've always changed the tranny fluid & filter at or before Fords severe service call out & always with the specified Motorcraft fluid & filter. So even if you've serviced your tranny on time, don't rule out a deposit problem.

Anyway these shift problems have happened 2-3 times over the last 10 years & a 1/2 dose of Seafoam Trans Tune has always cleared it up after a few days, to a few weeks of driving.

In most cases I'd begin to get results in a day or two, but in some cases it took several weeks for it to completely clear up & when it did I'd do a pan drop, filter change & full fluid pump out.

It's happened once on the 99 Rangers 5R55E tranny about 3-4 years back & a half dose of Trans Tune & driving until it stopped acting out, then changing the filter & doing a full tranny fluid pump out, took care of it too.

In the case of both trannies, the fluid smelled, felt & looked ok, very light deposits in the pan & on the magnets & NO signs of varnish, gum or sludge was noted anywhere, yet they began to act up without prior warning!!! It seems our trannies are extra sensitive to deposits.

A bunch of thoughts for pondering. Let us know know it goes.

 

Hmm, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have to admit I'm not one to believe adding chemicals to the engine/tranny/radiator/power steering pump, etc.. beyond the required fluid is doing anything but masking the real problem.

I also have to admit that I don't follow the scheduled maintenance for the tranny. I have noted is says every 30k, but my experience with other Ford trannys jades me into thinking the manual was just being way conservative. Instead I flush at 50k and 100k. I guess in that regard I'm sleeping at the wheel...

I guess it could be a big blob of goo jammed in one of those twisty passages of the transmission - and a little heat thins it out enough to open up the passage. In which case flushing the tranny again might dislodge it - or not.

Well it's a place to start anyway.

 

Yup I don't normally do the afterarket additive thing either, but Ford does have some they have the Dealers Techs use with specific proceedures, for problems.

Like their engine decarb proceedure, using Motorcraft PM-3 for engine combustion chamber carbon buildup!!!! It's a messy one that requires an oil & plug change afterward & had been done by my Dealer back in 00, onmy 4.0L Ranger, to try & address a cold start up engine knock problem, that turned out to be a mechanical one!!!!

Anyway, I don't usually put additives in any of my fluids either, unless I suspect a partcular problem may be addressed by that particular additive & I'm persnickety about who makes the additive, how much & for how long I use it.

Seeing as how I'm easy on my equiptment, serviced my trannies at or before Fords 30K severe service call out & still had problems that sure seem to be deposit related & you've nearly doubled that figure, I'd guess you may be high on a switching valve or solenoid gum/varnish/sludge deposit suspect list!!!!

If the tranny seemed to be clean when you serviced it, no heavy pan deposits or signs of large sludge or varnish deposits, maybe consider trying the Seafoam, or the more expensive Auto-Rx for trannies, which is a good Ester based lube, with slow cleaning/dispersant properties, that could slowly soften, disolve & disperse any deposits & maybe yield positive results.

It may be a blown valve body gasket & there is a "how-too" link in the "Tech Info" thread atop the forums thread listing page, for replacing it.

Let us know how it goes.