97 transmission acting funky

[Zachmorby]

I own an 97 ford expy EB 5.4l 183,***

I have owned this rig for about 7 months we bought it cause we need something bigger than a Jetta for my wife and new born.


So the tranny acts funny when the overdrive is off. It'll get up to about 40-45mph and doesn't want to shift till u let of the gas. And then sometimes it when your take off from a dead stop and take off like a normal person it speeds up super slow like it's in the wrong gear them you gotta let off the gas and you can feel it shift. It just started about 2 weeks ago.
We just put 780miles on it this past week and it did great on the freeway but it only acting funky when overdrive was off and at low speeds as stated above

So when you turn the overdrive on. It has none of these problems

I'm not sure where to start looking

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

well, start simple..disconnect the battery neg terminal for about 15-30 mins. this will reset the ecu and pcm's learned parameters. the shift pattern is one of them.. other things to check that will be mentioned .

fluid level and condition. should be to the proper area on the dipstick when in park and level and at operating temperature. after you reset, go for a drive of about 20 miles and go through all the gears than park on level ground leave in park and engine running and check the level.

 

[Zachmorby]

well, start simple..disconnect the battery neg terminal for about 15-30 mins. this will reset the ecu and pcm's learned parameters. the shift pattern is one of them.. other things to check that will be mentioned .

fluid level and condition. should be to the proper area on the dipstick when in park and level and at operating temperature. after you reset, go for a drive of about 20 miles and go through all the gears than park on level ground leave in park and engine running and check the level.

I have done the battery trick already still not change. Fluid don't smell burnt and I'll get a good reading on the level this weekend when I drive it longer than a mile to work

 

[toms89]

Can't really answer your question but why are you turning overdrive off ?

 

[FordandPolaris]

Does your O/D light flash when acting funky? Honestly if it runs fine with O/D on, drive with it on haha. Unless you are pulling one very large trailer towing with O/D is not a big deal. Basically it is available to prevent hunting for gears while pulling heavy loads.

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

there is a road I drive myself that is better with od off. sometimes (more so if you have the 4.6) the truck will switch between 3/4 constantly. that road I mentioned only needs 2nd/3rd but it will still go to 4th when I go downhill for a second. it's just habit now to turn it off when I make the turn to that road.

the point in the question is, the transmission should act normal in or out of od.. I would be interested in knowing the fix myself.

 

[FordandPolaris]

there is a road I drive myself that is better with od off. sometimes (more so if you have the 4.6) the truck will switch between 3/4 constantly. that road I mentioned only needs 2nd/3rd but it will still go to 4th when I go downhill for a second. it's just habit now to turn it off when I make the turn to that road.

the point in the question is, the transmission should act normal in or out of od.. I would be interested in knowing the fix myself.

I agree with you, I drive with O/D off around town to have more responsiveness, instead of having to wait to shift out of top gear. But still, i would be much more concerned if it were reversed, and ran fine with O/D off and bad with O/D on.

I will try to find some info on what all changes when O/D is off and if any additional sensors are used when it is engaged.

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

To be honest, all that should change is the pcm disables 4th gear. I can view what gear is engaged in my torque app and as soon as I press the button the indicator goes to 3. then it depends on revs/speed to enable TC lock up.

TLR od off just disables 4th gear. shift points are normal outside of that..

 

[JUST4FUN]

Change the gas filter

 

[Zachmorby]

Can't really answer your question but why are you turning overdrive off ?

Why would I need over drive on when I'm in town doing 10-40 mph

 

[Zachmorby]

Change the gas filter

It has brand new fuel filter I out on last month

 

[Zachmorby]

Does your O/D light flash when acting funky? Honestly if it runs fine with O/D on, drive with it on haha. Unless you are pulling one very large trailer towing with O/D is not a big deal. Basically it is available to prevent hunting for gears while pulling heavy loads.

No the light does not shift... And yea that a simple way around my problem to drive with if on 24/7 but at the end of the day it's not gonna fix anything. I just was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I think I'm gonna sale it if I can't figure it out

 

[vigman]

Have you done a simple service on the trans? Drop the pan ( inspect for metal ) replace filter & top off as needed??