93 f150 302 auto trans. Wont shift out of first gear.
 

I have a 93 ford f150. Its got the 302 with i believe its the e40d tranny. Its a 2wd 4 speed. It shifted great through all 4 gears but it came to my attention the tranny never had a filter change. I fallowed all direction draining the pan and taking off the old filter. I bought the new gasket and filter kit. After applying the new filter and gasket i put the oil pan back on. I lost a total of 4 quarts in tranny fluid durring the project which i replaced to an exact amount. After starting the truck it shifted into reverse and drive great. I took it out on the road and it now wont shift out of first gear. I looked over all the electrical connections on the truck to make sure they are all plugged in. Everything looks good from what i can see and fluid is up to its correct level. Tranny worked great befor doing this mild flush and filter change. Does anyone have any ideas as of why it wont shift now? Ive tryed manul shifting and still nothing. Please help, im without a vehicle untill i can figure this out. Has anyone had a simular problem? Thank you everyone for reading my long post.

Thanks, todd.

I am not a transmission expert but the first thing you did wrong was not draining the torque converter at the same time. That is where most of the old fluid is. However that would not cause the problem you have.
The only thing I can think of that could have gone wrong is that on the neak of the filter there is a rubber sealing ring, sometimes when removing the old filter that ring stays in the transmission and will not allow the new filter to seat properly. Check the old filter to see if that seal is still on it.
I assume that with engine at idle and transmission in Park the fluid is at the correct level on the transmission dipstick?

Yes the fluid level is exactly where it needs to be while ideling in park. I was told by a mechanic i called that sense this was the first change it had ever had and the truck has 120,000 miles on it that the new oil is to slick and can cause a gap in-between the gears causeing it not to shift any more. He said i would need a new transmision but i find that hard to belive sense it shifted great befor this service. I think he just wants my money, but i dont know? Can any one give me further details or thoughts on if this could be the problem? Should i try putting the old fluid back in? It now has 8 quarts of new fluid running through the system and the system holds 15.1 quarts.

IF it is the E4OD attempt to pull the codes. A fluid change wouldnt have anything to do with not shifting, unless you didnt refill with the correct tranny fluid, but the shift selinoid does which is in the valve body. See what the computer is saying before going much further. Possiblities could be you knocked a shift selinoid out of alignment, a big stretch, or simply knocked a wire connection loose in the pan.

You didnt really change much of the fluid as the torque converter holds a good deal of it. If you dont empty the torque converter you basically left all the old dirt and gunk still in the tranny. It isnt hard to change as the drain plug is on the side of the converter rather than the front.

Something that destroyed and AOD once for me was the kickdown came off the throttle body some how. It ran like it was in a mix of first and second but never shifted. And this is not the first time that I have heard of a trans getting a service and not working after that. the one I had in my crown vic did a similar thing to me. Worked, but not worth a crap. The harder I ran it... it seemed to get better... not suggesting that you do this though.

The AODs have a TV cable that controls the shift points, where the E4OD, and other electronic transmissions are electronically controlled based on the computer models aka MFM. Mixing transmission fluids can cause issues with these transmissions, i.e. mixing mercon III where mercon IV was used, mercon IV with mercon V was used, etc. , due to the additives being different between the formulations. Some have said that using a generic trans fluid can also be a cause of the trans failures, maybe because the quality control isnt as strict on the generic formulations. Either way pull the codes on the electronically controlled trannies for a starting point.

Does any one know were i can have the computer checked for the codes? Ive tryed some of the local car part places like advanced but they say the truck is to old for them to read the computer with thiere equitment. Does any one have any other ideas? I havent checked a ford dealer yet do to the un-known priceing. Alot of the shops i call arent to helpful they all want me to bring it in or tell me i need a new tranny right off the bat. I honostly believe it can be fixed. I checked to make sure all wires out side and the inside of the tranny were connected i actualy didnt see any wires at all in the inside from what i could see with the pan off. Where would i find the valve body on the tranny? Is it inside the tranny or outside? Can i see it with the pan off or do i need to take the pan off then more? I appreiciate all the responses like i said im out of work and a vehicle untill i get this figured out and currently to broke to buy a new transmition. Any ideas are a great help!

I did replace the tranny fluid both times taking it apart with castrols dex/merc fluid. The bottle said use for older ford vehicles and advanced auto claimed it would be ok to use. I was un-sure but went with what they said. Does any one have an opinion on this?

Read the codes yourself. fordfuelinjection.com for the proceedure.

Are you sure you're working with an E4OD? The AOD was also available in 1993 and uses a TV cable for adjustment. These are known for a need of adjustment, or the tranny eventually goes boom.

Do you have an OVERDRIVE switch on the end of the shift lever? If YES - You have an E4OD.

If no, and you have a shift pattern of P-R-N-(D)-D-1, you have an AOD.

We need to be exactly sure of what you have before we can give more detailed information.

There is no over drive button it has the p-r-(d)-d-1 options i supose it is the aod. I was told that it was the e40d tranny do to advance matching that tranny up with the correct filter and gasket kit i needed. Maybe thiere system is wrong... I wouldnt doubt it i have never been a fan of advanced, napa is a much better place to work with they are just not local to me. This is my bad for exsplaining i have the wrong tranny it is the aod. What is this tv cable your telling me about and how do i locate it to adjust it? Thank you for the correction.

The TV cable runs between the trans and throttle linkage. At the throttle end there is an adjustment lock mechanism, it's unlikely this came apart so check that the cable is still attached at both ends and that the lever on the trans moves when the throttle is moved(cable isn't broken). The most likely scenario is you knocked the cable off at the tranny when you removed the pan, but who knows.

I have checked the tv cable and it seems fine it pulls when the throttle goes down i quickly riged a way to have the wire pulled out a little further at idle as an attempt to "adjust" it but that made no difference. I saw some one say it can be adjusted manuly how can i do that? Also there is a solinoid of some sort on the same side the tv cable is on, on the driver side of the tranny and we removed it and drove the truck without the solinoid in and that also made no difference. Does any one know what this solinoid does? To me the fact that the tranny acted the same without it in means it may be bad? I dont know, does any one have an opinion? Thanks to all for the helpful responses.

My 93 was doing the same thing, in fact it still does it but I blew the engine lol. I found that if I drove it. Then stop and shut the engine off, then start it back up, it would some times start working right. I sometimes had to do this a few times, before it would work right.
Until I can afford another engine, this problem is on hold, but I'd like to know what wrong with it so I can fix it when the time comes. Oh it's the eaod tranny, with the od on the lever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L3hNzxdiYw

I had to go look the link up to the video that shows how to adjust the TV cable on an AOD. As for the selinoid on the side of the transmission, was it on the shifter lever?