Seems like the tranny won't shift into first, it kinda gets hung when it's cold. Once the tranny warms up it upshifts and downshifts fine. Any ideas?

I have heard stories of trannies that worked fine (well at least worked ok) and never had the fluid changed and as soon as some one bought it and changed the fluid and filter it went to crap. Myth?

It's an 86 F150 302 EFI 4x4 with 115,000 miles on it. I just got it last weekend and am working on getting it more reliable.

 

What's the temp. where your at? If it's cold don't worry about it. Just let the truck warm up cuz you possibly have a trans cooler and it will take longer for the fluid to heat up so the trans can operate properly

 

It is about 35 degrees in the mornings. When I drive it a couple miles it will shift normally, but for the first couple whenever I come to a stop i have to kinda goose it a little then it will clunk into gear.

Any opinions on if I should do a filter/fluid change? Or is it better to leave it all crappy so the gunk holds the tranny together?

 

IT MIGHT BE A GOOD THING TO SERVICE THE THING. Don't believe that bull about gunk holding stuff together. If you or someone else does it properly then it'll be fine. Just remember to change the filter and tighten everything back properly. At least if you change it you'll know when it was done last and have an idea when it will need to be done again. It's easy to do and you should have no problem. And yes that is cold enough to affect the shifting of it. It might do it after the service to but it just needs to get warm. It's not a problem, just the way it is.

 

FIrst check the fluid level if you havent already

 

yeah I will just change it. It doesn't smell bad but I didn't have the truck running at the time so I didn't check it.

 

I know its an old post but im having the same problem but it wont shift even when its warm. Just would like to know what happened with yours

 

Your truck will have a vacuum modulator on the back of the case. If the diaphragm develops a leak you will only get an upshift at very high speeds.

Can you get 2nd gear manually? If not, then you may have a problem with the front band.

 

yes, it shifts through all gears manually & feels strong. just feels stuck in 1st when in drive. Thx

 

The C6 in My '80 does this, when it is below 32 degrees.When I put it in reverse,or drive it takes about 30-45 seconds before it will go. If above 32 it goes in gear right away.It was serviced last December. Trans works well otherwise. Fluid level ok

 

this one don't matter if its cold or hot same thing everytime & won't shift even if I gun it hard. i'm gonna look into that modulator cant hurt for $10

 

does this only happen in 'drive'? Mine does the same thing, only in drive. Stone cold in the dead of winter I can jump in and throw her into reverse and I'm on the move. Back out of the driveway into the middle of the street throw it into drive and nothin'.... a good 40-45 seconds go by when it's really cold and then eventually goes into drive.

If so, you have a failing forward clutch seal. Don't worry too too much, I drive mine daily and it's been like this since november-ish. The fluid leaks around the cold seal. Once it warms up (and yes 30 seconds is crazily enough to warm up the seal) the seal swells and seals again. Now I could be wrong, you may have another problem with a similar symptom but do a little more research on the c6 I believe this is a common problem.

Hope this helps...

 

it would go in drive just felt like 1st gear. I replaced the modulator & the hoses to it & it works good now. Thanks for everyone's input

 

Glad it's fixed. The modulator is a common problem on many transmissions.

 

Mine does something like yours does, but it's in reverse,and drive, when below 35 degrees and lasts only 30 sec.