I got my first ranger about two months ago with 35K miles, and it now has 36.1K miles. My tranny slips in first gear. In a dead stop, I have to get the RPMs up to 1000 to 1200 before it engages. Sometimes it engages quite hard too.

Also, when I gas it hard (from a rolling start) it works fine, but when I let off the gas, the tranny has a problem finding gears. It may be in second, shift to third, then to fourth, then back to third, then back to fourth. All in about 2-3 seconds.

Is there anything I can do to fix this problem myself? My warranty expired and I don't have an extended warranty. Needless to say, I don't have the funding to take it to a tranny shop.

 

Hmm you might be ou tof luck, but you can try and take it to a dealer to see if they can fix it. If not you can take it to a transmission shop and have them put a shift kit in for you. Usually rusn about $500, but it will improve the shifting over stock, or so I have read.

 

sounds like it needs to be flushed out and have the filter changed, those are some common symptoms.

also, if you take it to a good dealer, there is a grace period in the warranty that some of them can take advantage of, if you go right away and still have just over 36,000 miles, and tell them it was doing it before it rolled over but you didnt have time to bring it in. they may help you out, ive seen it before

 

Is there any adjustments (such as band tightening) that I can do in addition to a fluid and filter change?

 

be prepared for a run around. unless your transmission grabs the technicion by the gonads, dont expect them to find anything.

 

Ah crap...

 

join the club man! ive been dealling with the same issue for 20k miles atleast. i mean not with warranty or anything, just driving it and it sucks, i feel your pain.

 

I hit 26,500 miles tonight and the shifting gets worse everyday....*sigh*

 

have any of you guys done a real tranny flush and filter? these trannies start to act funny if they havent been serviced right, i do a tranny flush every 25k miles or so, its not too expensive, and way cheaper than a tranny down the road

 

mine has been done every 25k. im at 65k now. once i get to 75k, im getting a bigger tranny pan, shift kit, new valve body, and whatever else i can find for it. id really like a new torque converter.

my main issue is over use, and heat.

 

This is one of the many reasons I got rid of my Ranger

 

but you got another? lol

 

At 23k I drained the pan, changed the filter and all gaskets and rings, rtv'd it together, then filled it back up. I was thinking about doing a full flush but I need to get exact numbers before I start dumping a bunchs of quarts of (expensive) merconV into a 5 gallon bucket.

I was hoping that the pan fluid and filter would recharge it a bit and I don't think it did a damn thing.

 

You only changed the lube in the pan, which is about 4 quarts. The old lube is still in the torque converter...well was in the torque converter.

The total system holds 12 or 13 quarts I believe. Ford charges about $100 bucks to flush, clean, and re-fill the whole system.

 

Yeah I'm probably better off letting them do it. Then it's there fault if anything goes wrong.

 

All you have to do is disconnect the out line that goes to the transmission cooler.
put some plastic tubing over it with a pipe clamp.
put the tubing into a bucket.. get an assistant to start the engine..
and dump some quarts into the transmission as it pumps into the bucket
if you fall behind adding the atf you just shut off the engine until you catch up

do this for about 12-14 qts after you drop the pan and change the filter.
and you should theoretically change out upto 90%+ of your fluid.

Just be careful it can get messy if you jack up the process.. I ended up with
atf EVERYWHERE when the tubing kinked doh.

Rand

 

Yeah I know. Just kinda puttin it off and didn't really take the time to research how much mercon v i needed. Gave me an excuse not to do it =\

 

All i know is that stuff shoots out fast through that tranny cooler line. lol just be ready.

 

^ Yeah thats why i used a translucent 5 gal. bucket with a lid on it for the out line....I learned the hard way the first time.....

 

Which is the out-line?

 

i think it is the one on the right side of the cooler (passanger side) but i dont remember.

 

IIRC its the P-side line and IIRC it also says line out and line in on the cooler

 

Ok today I had a large tranny cooler and a shift kit installed in my ranger, this included a flush and filter. The guy that did the work said he noticed the oil was alot darker/dirtier then it should have been (at 29600 miles) and he suggested that I change the oil every 12 - 15k miles.

If your oil has a slightly burnt smell to it then it should be changed, if it has a sweet berry smell to it then it should be fine.

 

I just disconnected mine at the radiator.. i forget which one it was
but i remember it being mid to high on the DRIVER side of the radiator.

 

hmm... im good theoretically till 35K miles or so, since the delaer replaced all the innards of my tranny at 6,000 miles. not to mention the numerous other work related crap they have done to the tranny. and its still not 100%