I recently bought a 2000 Ranger XLT with a 3.0 and automatic transmission. Shortly after I picked the truck up, I noticed it seemed like it did not want to accelerate, almost like it had a misfire. I had to hold it to the floor to get up to highway speed. I've been running premium fuel in it and have used a couple of cans of Sea Foam.

That problem seems to have pretty much gone away, but now it seems like I'm having some shifting issues. When accelerating, the RPM's go way up in first gear, and then it shifts fairly hard into second. Then, it almost immediately shifts into third. Also, sometimes when I'm already moving, if I floor it the RPM's spike and it will bounce off the rev limiter for a second or two until I back off the throttle. Any suggestions on what this could be?

 

Anyone?

 

is your o/d off light flashing?

 

Do a fluid and filter change, and possibly add Lubeguard. You are probably looking at a rebuild down the road, but this corrected my 95 Explorer for about a year, then she bit the dust.
Other than that, I'm not too familiar with the newer electronically shifted trannys. Such misbehavior in the past used to often be a vacuum modulator, but that's old tech.

 

The O/D light hasn't been flashing, but I did have an interesting encounter with that. On my way to work one morning, it was raining so hard you could barely see to drive in it, and the light did flash then. The guy I bought it off of said it does that sometimes during a downpour, but that's the only time.

I was planning a fluid change in the near future, Mike. I'm not sure when the last time was that it had one. I've only had the truck a couple of weeks, so I haven't had much of a chance to do anything with it.

 

I'm sure you've thought of this, the OD light flashing only during a downpour tells me that water is getting into a connector. Pulling apart connectors, checking for and cleaning out any corrosion, and putting a little dab of silicone grease made for this purpose on the metal conductors and around the connector seal should rectify it.

 

I did think of that already, but I haven't tried to do anything about it yet. I wouldn't think that would have anything to do with the problems that I've been having.

Judging by some of my symptoms, I suspected a possible blown valve body gasket. I'm not really sure though because the issues don't seem to be noticeable now. It actually shifts about as smooth as any Ranger that I've driven, but it's still pretty much shifting straight through second gear.

With that being said, I know that I still need to address my sensor issue. Any idea what sensor might be most susceptible to water getting inside and where it might be located? I'm not even going to pretend I'm a master mechanic. I'm a shadetree mechanic at best, and I learn as I go.

Thanks for the advice!

 

Well, my problem is almost solved. My tranny pretty well bit the dust today on my way to work. It looks like it has a blown gasket or something. There is a coating of fluid all around the case and it leaked quite a bit in the parking lot during my 12 hour shift. My dad's best friend owns a transmission shop and I just talked to him about it a couple of days ago. He's going to take a look at it. Hopefully it'll just cost me parts and a case of beer.

 

Did you ever figure out exactly what this was? I am having the same exact problem with my 99 Ranger 3.0 4x4 right now.