Recently bought a 2000 Ranger with AT and 3.0 V6. It appears to have been somewhat neglected, maintenance wise. Mostly what it needs is new fluids, shocks, spark plugs, probably ball joints, etc. So anyway, first thing I'm doing is replacing all the fluids. But as we all know, a full replacement of ATF is not always wise. It shifts hard out of 1st. It may even be skipping 2nd. Not sure. The OD light does not flash. So I have a few questions.

1. What transmission do I have?
2. Is there a resource (a page here or elsewhere) I could study to learn more about this tranny, and what problems are common?
3. If not, what problems could cause the hard shift? It also runs quite rough. It has two active fault codes, 302 (misfire on cyl 2) and 306 (misfire on cyl 6). Could a misfire cause a shifting problem? I've read here that some AT's have multiple sensors which can affect shifting. But since I don't know which AT I have, I don't know if that applies to mine or not.
4. The ATF is not black. It is brown with a little pinkish tint. Not indicative of a fried transmission, but it IS indicative of a need for new fluid. I'm leaning toward a full flush. I know it's a bit risky, but if it kills the tranny, then that means that it was on it's way out anyway. Anyone absolutely recommend against a full flush?

I would like to get any sensor problem fixed first. And I plan on getting the misfire fixed before a fluid change. I want to be able to evaluate the full effect of the new fluid.