1995 Ford Explorer SHIFTING

SERRANC1

MEMBER
1995 FORD EXPLORER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
150,000 MILES

Gentlemen, My 1995 ford explorer while going up a very steep hills down shifts itself into first gear and will not release unless the gas pedal is slighly released, when the car shift up to second it quickly goes back to first even though the speed of the vehicle has not decreased, the same vehicle while going downhill does not downshift into second gear as required to use "engine braking" It will however downshift into first gear, One thing very noticeable on flat driving is that once vehicles takes off from a dead stop at a good speed, the first gear will also not release unless gas pedal is release for a split secod, after that the vehicle performs admirably as long as I don't encounter another very steep hill. Please note that this situation only occurs on the range of 20-30 mph while going up hill. If the vehilce is goiing up a hill at over 35 mph, this does not happen. The tranny oil is somewhat not new but acceptable, Vehicle's 4 wheel drive functions are great at work on demand. I am beginning to thing that either the bands might need adjustment of that possibly one of the valves in the valve body is sticking and not releasing at the proper pressure. What is your take on something like this.

thanking you in advance,

Carmelo.

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,269 POSTS

Carmelo:
Has the check engine light come on? Also, it sounds like a bad shift solenoid, but without a check engine light, it becomes a guessing game. Has the light ever come on?

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Thursday, April 1st, 2010 AT 10:35 AM

SERRANC1

MEMBER
2 POSTS

.

Thanks for your response, The check engine light has only come on once while cleaning the air intake, however, it went out as soon as vehicle was turned off and back on again. At the present, the light is out and does not come on. The only other thing that vehicle had was that O/D light came on (blinking) but after disconnecting the battery for 15 minutes that problem went away. One question and please pardon my ingorance, Is the shift solenoid the same as the electronic reverse switch located on the side of the transmission that hooks up to the shift cable. Again. Thanking you in advance.