Tranny not wanting to shift from R to D in morning

[Strickland0811]

Tranny not wanting to shift from R to D after sitting for a while

I've got a 99 4.0L 4x4 with auto trans. It's the 4 speed version. Truck has 113k on it. I bought it with 81k on it. Looked to be a pampered truck when I picked it up.

I recently had a ton of maint work done by the dealer, including a trans flush / clean.

Now, I am having shifting problems in the morning after it sits all night.

I have to back out of my driveway. Pretty much regularly, by the time I hit the bottom of the drive, the trans slips out of gear and the engine may or may not rev slighty. Putting the shifter into D does nothing. Not engaged. Won't even go back into R.

I have to get the engine RPM to ~2k for the trans to engage. And then it still feels like it slips a little until it warms up.

Also, once I drive around and go places and stuff, it doesn't happen again, only first in the morning (and once when it was real cold and I didn't drive but a few miles).

I sort of relate it to a pump loosing prime over night because all the fluid settled to the bottom. It's like I have to 're-prime' the fluid.

I've put the truck on a level surface and checked fluid level (warm and in park). Fluid level is spot on, still a nice burgundy as new tranny fluid should be. No burnt smell or anything.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Strickland

 

[Explorin94]

Although the truck had been pampered by the previous owner the transmission takes the worst beating. You have the 4r55 or 4r44s trans and it is just plain wore out. The seals start to leak by and the only fix is a rebuild. Probably not what you wanted to hear but I am going through the same problem with my wifes 03 Explorer.

 

[Bruce]

Theres a possibility that if the filter was changed, either one of the orings got cut when filter was put in or someone didnt put the orings on the filter.

just my 2 cents

 

[1stHand]

i have found out that these AT dont like to get flushed.
rebuild ~1200-1300 bucks

 

[Strickland0811]

UPDATE:

I wish I would have heeded Bruce's advice above. It finally got bad enough that i took the truck into the local Firestone dealer and we pulled the pan and dropped the filter.

The filter was missing BOTH orings.

We installed a new filter and the truck shifted fine this morning. Problem solved.

The pan had a lot of silver in it and the magnet was had a good bit stuck to it. So I know damage was done, how much is not known. But we will see how long it will last now. Should be fine from here on out.