Automatic tranny slips in drive when cold


OldSchool

10+ Year Member

Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
8
Points
3,001
Vehicle Year
1983
Transmission
Automatic
My grandpa gave me his 1983 Ranger 4x4 with a 2.8l engine, a C5 automatic tranny, and manual locking hubs.

When I fire the truck up in the morning it works fine in reverse but won't move in drive (sometime it will move an inch or two then stop moving). If I warm the truck up for 20 minutes, the truck drives great (I managed to drive the truck home 500K from my Grandpa's without any trouble).

It looks like the truck is leaking a little fluid down the passenger side of tranny.

* The fluid level is good.
* The fluid/filter were changed recently and my grandpa thinks the problem got a little worse after the change (it used to only take 10 minutes of warming up to drive).
* We tried adding the 1/2 Quart of Lucas Tranny additive (bringing the fluid level a little over max) and it seemed to help a little.
* I get the same results in 2H, 4H, and 2L
* I get the same results in D,2, and 1.
* I don't think the bands have ever been adjusted.
* The leak was noticed when the truck had sat for a week, the fluid level was normal and the lucas fluid hadn't been added yet.
* The leak was very small maybe 100ML landed on the tarp under the truck.

Any thoughts?

Is there a vacuum hose that needs pressure for the truck to go forwards but not backward? Maybe a hose that is only used when cold is leaking too much pressure...
 
Last edited:
I drained out some tranny fluid, added some transX. I've tried to drive the truck atleast 1h each time, I drive it. The tranny seems to be working a little better each day...
 
I drained out some tranny fluid, added some transX. I've tried to drive the truck at least 1h each time, I drive it. The tranny seems to be working a little better each day... Today, I was able drive forward it (with a fair bit of sliping) after a minute and the truck was running as per normal after 5 minutes. I'm going to try to do long warm-ups and long drives most days because I think the slipping may damage the fluid/other parts of the tranny...
 

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