Hi all,
My 89 Ford Extended E350 has a "slow/erratic shift"transmission issue. It became obvious after a long trip from MO to CO. Shifting action from P to R, D to R, N to Ras been slow for many years but, now, it causes engine to die, unless I rev the engine.
I also noticed that the transmission now wants to disengagewhile in D,after making a stop.

Transmission fluid is to the right level butit has not been changed since 1999.

What would be the first things to replace or adjust?
If cannot fix at home without specialized equipment/tools, is it better to replace the trans or to ask for an overhaul?
Thanks for the help

Richard

 

Any vehicle that is used and has high mileage is prone to failure. When going on long trips - plan on servicing fluid and filters on engine and transmission. Trans. may just need a new filter - or could have dirt pulled up inside from not changing it. It's actually more important to service your transmission regularly then your engine. Transmissions can bemore viablethan engines to simply overhaul. You may try changing the fluid and filter on your own - but if that's not the problem it will only end up being replaced again if it needs to go to a shop. Honestly with any vehicle that's not had regular services performed it's a gamble that may or may not pay off. The question is: can you handle shelling out the extra $20 or $30 to give it a try?

 

Thank you for the reply.

I started looking at the condition of the fluid. Fluid is brownish. Even with the small amount of fluidpresent on the dipstick, I could see significant amount of rust particles.
I am getting ready to drain the trans.
I will replace the filter but really would like to make sure theconverter, solenoide,...are not totally contamined.
Is there something we can use to flush the system while trans. on vehicle?

Thanks

Richard

 

Nothing can totally flush a transmission, but you can get flush to clean out the tranny cooler and lines. Brown fluid indicates something burning in the fluid. It may or may not be significant. If you drop off the oil pan to change the filter and fluid and find lots of metal filings - that's not great or if you find metal chunks and debris - that's bad. If you find debris you may as well try to clear the tranny cooler and lines. If there's heavy debris in the pan you may want to consider an aftermarket tranny cooler (or a new stock radiator - which the coolers are made into) if you can't flush it easy - the one in the radiator's probably shot. I hope it's not abad deal.