I have had some random issues with, I'm assuming, my transmission. A few days ago I drove a short distance to the end of my street and stopped at a red lite. Tried to turn right-on-red but it acted like I was in Neutral. Not sure what I did to get moving again. Might have shfted to Park and back to O-Drive, or O-Drive to Regular-Drive - but I got moving again. So I have been on alert for it to happen again and to pay more attention. What I noticed is that it now takes a bit more rpm to get 'er moving. Seems like I used to get immediate movement when stepping off the brake and onto the gas. Now I step on the gas, watch the tach climb to 2K or more, and then I slowly move foreward. Sometimes it works a little better. Last nite I had a similar issue at a red lite. This time I shifted to "1" (being in a conjested area) and got moving. Kept it there for a bit more red-lite-to-red-lite driving before shifting to O-D and, luckily, things got back to "normal".

By this time I am having less and less confidence. When I got close to home (so I could walk there if needed!) I pulled over and engaged 4WD since it was drizzly and the roads were wet. It seemed to get rolling more quickly (but it was thoroughly warm by then) at my first corner I could swear I heard a rubber-squealing "chirp" emanating from a rear wheel. Did not hear this chirp again during the next couple corners but there was a noise out back (kind of a grinding sound - sorta loud) as I braked and attempted the slow-speed turn into my driveway. This caused me to brake to a stop. Time to take it out of 4WD I figured, so I reversed the 10' or so, shifted back to O-D and, finally, in the driveway.

I'll try to check for any fluid issues but anything else is beyond my skill-level. I envision a trip to the mechanic is in the near future but I am hoping you smarter loggers will offer tips to keep the repair to something other than a rebuild or other way expensive fix the mech might suggest.

Thanks

 

Update:
Checked the trans. fluid level per the manual's instructions. It was low. Very low. Added nearly an entire quart and drove for a bit. Nothing seemed to have changed much. Got home and rechecked. Still low. Added rest of the quart and 1/3 of another. Rechecked. Level is just touching the criss-cross area. Was parked on a slight incline and do not want to over-fill so I'm calling it full enough for now. Will hope for improvement next time I drive it and will keep re-checking to fill it to the brim.

 

Yeah that is a symptom for Auto's that are low on fluid, It won't even engage a gear or you'll even hear it slip like a *****! My Neon did that it sounded like it was mashing gears. Drive for a while and check again and pray it doesn't keep doing that.

 

Yah, I hope the re-fill solves the problem. I did a little research on tranny additives (Slick 50, Z-Max) on this site and on the 'net. Just a little searching led me to believe that the manufacturer's claims are totally bogus. Lawsuits have even been brought against them! Just bought this low-mileage (for a '94) Ranger 5 months ago and don't need a major repair right now.

 

Have added nearly two quarts of fluid. Seems to have done the trick. But it is still inconsistent when pulling away from a stop. Sometimes it moves right away, other times it revs to about 2000 rpm before it starts moving. I see no puddles in my driveway so I don't know what happened to the fluid that was inside. I also would have thought that I should have heard some "whining" sounds or something that indicated a low fluid situation well before it got nearly two quarts too low. I have noticed that - after the morning start-up (and before adding the fluid) - I'd shift into reverse and the motor would rev quite high before clunking into gear. Now it gets in gear without all that revving. Maybe this was a sign that the fluid was low ????