Reverse gear hesitation...
 

I have noticed, in the last week or two, a hesitation of my truck going into reverse gear. When I put it in R, there is a delay of a second or two before I feel the drivetrain lockup...anyone else experience that? I used to put it in R and it was immediate drivetrain engagement. The truck drives just fine, tranny shifts normal and no delay going into Drive. No rattles, low tranny temperatures...last fluid flush less than a year ago (about 10K miles)...external tranny filter.

Mine has always had a hesitation. The BTS does it less, but there's still a slight hesitation there.

just bought a 2001 f-250 and had the same hesitation about going into reverse and then the reverse went out. dealer is replacing the transmission now(within thirty days so lemon law applies)

I've always had at least a second, maybe two's, hesitation, and consider it normal. I always wait until I feel engagement before adding ANY power.

Pop

i've heard about that. simply relating my personal experience. had no hesitation out of my '99 f-350 with the same tranny. also the reverse never goofed up until it had been under a load for about half hour( I pull a 6,000lb utility trailer)

Mine did that, just flushed the tranny and changed the filter and that fixed everything, you might want to check the the fluid level though.

I think they all have at least a second of hesitation due to the torque converter locking up.

Well, if it is a change from previous behavior, something happened.

That is my feeling too Dan...something has changed...the delay is definitely longer now in going into reverse. I am going to drain the tranny (rather than flush it this time) so I can pull the pan and look inside a bit...I was hoping that someone would say "you need to tighten the thigamajigger to 25 in-lb and check the parallax of the muffler bearings" and it will be fixed :-X20. No such luck :-X15...I have a feeling that a trip to John Wood Transmission is in order before fire season starts, if changing the fluid has no positive effect. Thanks guys for the input...much appreciated.

Neal,

I found this earlier when I was searching Dieselmanns technical bulletins

Reverse Engagement Stall:
Some trucks with the 4R100 transmission may stall upon shifting into reverse. This is usually caused by the torque converter clutch being engaged at idle. Engineering is investigating. Broadcast Message 1222.
If this condition occurs under cold temperatures only, it may be due to increased viscosity of the ATF. Ford is recommending changing the ATF to synthetic in this case. Broadcast Message 1435.

I know yours doesn't stall but it may just be a fluid thing.

mine stalled in reverse for first few winters I owned it
now since rebuild and new torque it has the hesitation in reverse but no stall

The torque converter does not lock up in reverse. Ever! It also never locks when the truck is not moving.

I'm going to flush and change to synthetic as soon as Mr Winter gives up his grip on northern Nevada OR when I go to my southern New Mexico digs next month :-D. I've got nothing to lose by trying that as PM on the tranny...but after corresponding with Mark K I am budgeting for a John Wood rebuild in the future.

My original trans had a small delay, but never seemed to have a problem (with reverse). Since having it rebuilt and upgraded there is no delay.

I noticed that my truck only did it when the air temp was in the 30's or lower. Once the truck warmed up I did not notice it. I would fire up my truck to get something else out of the garage and put it in reverse and nothing for about 2 to 5 seconds. I took it to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong.