1990 Ford E-Series Van

GLENNTRIMBLESR

MEMBER
1990 FORD E-SERIES VAN
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

Hi, my name is glenn. And I have a 90' ford van E150, straight 6, 4.9, it has a push button overdrive transmission, the trans is E transmission. It will not shift right. It will not shift into other gears. Sometimes it starts in second gear. If you stick it in neutral, then drive, it will shift fine, sometimes that is. This is the third trans I put in this van in the past six months, and every trans was the same. What could the problem be?

1 Reply

DANAUTHIER

MECHANIC
156 POSTS

Hi Glenn,

Is the push button located on the end of the shift lever? Without being able to do any diagnostic testing my guess would be the switch on the shift lever has failed. I have had several very simillar cases with Ford vehicles and this the main culprit but not in every case.

There are many other things that could cause your symptoms, including a failing transmissions or transmission range sensor to name a couple, considering the age and mileage of your vehicle.

To get some background. How long have you had the vehicle? How long has this symtom been present? Does it happen all the time or is it intermittant? When you replaced the transmissions, were they new or used, did you replace the transmission range selector switch or any other sensors on the transmission or swap them over?

If you can give me a little more info I'm sure we can figure this out. Let me know.

Dan