Hesitation to shift into drive
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From: Austin
Hesitation to shift into drive
I have had my 99 5.4 E.B. expedition in my family for about 4 years now, I have been driving it for the past two. I have noticed that recently after I started driving it the car began to hesistate when shifting into drive, it gives a long pause and then sorta jerks into gear. I have a friend with a 97 that just had his tranny replaced (I think at like 160,000 or so), his used to do this until he got his replaced. I know the transmission is the weak link on these cars after a good amount of miles, mine is at 104,000 right now and I know this transmission issue is a common one, I was wondering if anyone had any sort of fix for this, and any good tips on maintenance to keep my tranny from flaking out on me over the next couple of years.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Grand Island, NY
My Ford Explorer would do that especially from Drive to Reverse very annoying in shopping centers with people wondering why you are not moving. My truck had about 100k on it and people told me all kinds of horry stories about changing transmission fuild in old vehicles that it would ruin the transmission. I did not want to spend $1500 + on a tranny so figured what did I have to loose by changing fluid. I am not a snake oil believer but from a local mechanic I trust said to put some " SeaFoam Trans Tune" in it found at NAPA stores. Drive it for the day and then change the fluid. I would disconnect the front rubber hose to the tranny cooler and let the truck idle this would pump most of the fluid out. I would then drop the pan change filter. The fluid I pumped out into old 1 gallon jugs so I knew how many quarts to put back in. The truck would shift like new again and wife would be very happy. This would last about 6 months and start again. The truck ran another 60 k miles with this process until we traded it in on a Expedition. Basically give it a transmission fluid change and see what happens.
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From: Long Island, NY
Do a full tranny flush. Either do it yourself and make sure to drain the torque converter or go to a place with a T-Tech type machine that drains all and refills all of the tranny fluid. Also, make sure you refill with the correct fluid. If your tranny calls for regular Mercon then DO NOT use Mercon V ans vice versa.
BigMan69
BigMan69
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From: Austin
I did a tranny fluid flush a few months ago, mostly just because it needed it, but also I had hoped it would fix that problem. I dont know what I used, my dad just picked up the tranny fluid for me, hes done a bunch before and Im sure he got what was necessary. However all I did was drop the pan, change the filter, remove all metal scraps from the magnet, clean the pan, and refill fluid, I did not flush the torque converter as far as I know, Ive never heard of a job like that. If anyone wants to give me some slightly more detailed info on torque converter draining I would probably be capable of doing it myself. I am also generally very skeptical of some of these mystery fluids that some people use, I dont like to put things that I dont really know all that well into my cars, however if enough people tell me to trust it (and I have heard good things about that seafoam stuff), then I guess my opinion could be swayed. Anybody else have any suggestions? Thanks for all of the responses
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From: DIXIE
If you did not drain the torque converter then you still have 75% of the old fluid in the vehicle. I replaced 17qts after I flushed mine. As for the fluid. Make sure it was Mercon V only. If it was Mercon III it will not work properly on your transmission and may damage it. You will know if you bought Mercon V because you will have pent aboot $80.00 for the fluid. Its reaaallllyyyyyy expensive! I would drain the fluid again, (including the torque converter) and replace it with Mercon V. There is also a fluid you can buy that makes Mercon III into Mercon V. Many shops use it. Its called Hartland Mercon IV additive.
http://www.tri-maxx2000.com/trim2stagpre3.html
http://www.tri-maxx2000.com/trim2stagpre3.html
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From: Long Island, NY
Sk8tingsmurf,,,
I see you have the 5.4 in your 99 Expy. That has a 4r100 tranny which ONLY uses plain Mercon NOT MerconV. This is very important. If you look around on here, Ford issued a TSB which says that Mercon & Mercon V have different properties and are not interchangeable. On the main page, go to Tech Articles and there are specifics on how to change all your tranny fluid.
BigMan69
I see you have the 5.4 in your 99 Expy. That has a 4r100 tranny which ONLY uses plain Mercon NOT MerconV. This is very important. If you look around on here, Ford issued a TSB which says that Mercon & Mercon V have different properties and are not interchangeable. On the main page, go to Tech Articles and there are specifics on how to change all your tranny fluid.
BigMan69
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From: DIXIE
Bigman69- I was told by a Ford Service Technician and a local transmission mechanic that Mercon V could be used in ANY Ford transmission but that Mercon III could not be used in transmissions that require Mercon V. He said that Mercon V is synthetic. Is this not the case? Not trying to argue, just wanting to learn. Thanks...
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