1998 Ford Explorer Sport 2WD auto transmission. In cold weather, back out of driveway, put in drive and takes 5-10 seconds before it goes into gear. This is tough when I back out and face up hill, it rolls backwards until it catches. Only happens first time in morning and longer when it is colder out. Fluid level is fine. Could it be a weak solenoid?

 

I have had this happen when valve body bolts are loose....and separator plate does not seal correctly between the valve body halves....but valve body bolts never become loose on their own..these are always "oopsies" made by rebuilder working on them during an overhaul...

Hopefully, it is due to combo of age and cold....and not a more serious issue....

ill go from best case to worst for this symptom

The rubber components inside unit get less flexible when it is cold and they have mileage on them..usually lip seals...

Does this hesitation go away once it warms up? if so then you might be able to service it and add a conditioner to improve performance in cold weather.

do not try and take off and let it slide into gear when cold...you are probably making a clutch pack slip during that time...putting a relatively large amount of wear on the clutch pack that has the hard lip seal in the clutch drum....

if this symptom also happens when tranny is warm then you could have a worn out rubber components which might be helped with a conditioner (worth a try).....that is the best case scenario...

You could have a Rear servo bore that is worn out (common in A4ld 4R44E/55E, 5R55E transmissions) bad tranmission fluid pump, bad pressure regulator...worn low/reverse band or servo (reverse gear has much more pressure than drive and can only act up in drive)

It is very rare to have a shift solenoid problem on these units......

I would service unit and adjust bands and add a conditioner...and also get a chance to drop the pan...

once you get the pan down you can see if you have particles larger than grains of salt in pan....if so..then you are in for an overhaul very soon....the larger the particles..the sooner the rebuild...

good luck..

 

Only happens when cold (I mean <30 degrees F outside) and first time in the morning. I live on a hill, so when you want to go up it, it is noticed most. My daughter drives it mostly, so I have told her to run it back and forth once or twice in drive way before backing out. I bought it two years ago, dropped pan and did filter change and fluid, added a pint of Lucas treatment and have put 12,000 miles since. Works great after first minute.........

 

well....warm it up before you put it in drive...when you drop it in gear when its cold like you describe...you are making the forward clutches slip...and you will wear them out faster...hastening an overhaul...

since you put conditioner in it already...adding more is unlikely to help much....

if you baby it..you can make it to warmer weather and not have this issue any longer...

good luck...

 

Will give it a try........

 

digital diversion is right. soulnd like the forward clutch is slipping. also another problem with those is the epc solenoid sticking causing a "delayed engagement" either of those will cause the concern you are having.

 

How hard would it be to replace the epc solenoid? If it is just dropping the pan and replacing, that's worth a try.

 

its not real hard if you pay attention. when you remove the pan remove you will see the epc solenoid is on the drivers side i believe it is the second one down. remove a few bolts that hold the bracket that holds the solenoid in, unplug the solenoid remove it and reassemble.

 

Ralphie...only thing that makes me question your idea is that the issue goes away after it warms up. In my experience, soleniods tends to go haywire when they get hot...not the other way around...

but...its worth a try...cant hurt to swap it if you can get a replacement cheap. I would bench test it first...unplug and remove then apply voltage to the soleniod to check for mechanical operation..dunno the voltage to apply tho...(12 volts?) or are you talking about the soleniod mounting location on the valve body? He should also check the o-ring/seal on that soleniod....if its hard and cold...it could leak and then work better once it warms up...

just my two cents :-)

 

i was wrong it is on the drivers side it is bigger thatn the other ones. just did one.