aod problems

[dewme5]

I've got a 96 4.6 Auto. I was getting on the highway the other day, mashed the gas, and it downshifted to first, and rapped on the rev limiter. I let off of the gas, after about a second, it shifts, and seems to run fine. Now.. when i take off from a stop, the tranny wont shift until at least 2500rpm, and thats with me feathering the trottle. otherwise, anything above 2500, I have to hold a steady rpm for about 2 seconds for it to shift. it's just first gear.. all the others work find.

I'm thinking linkage... but, what about downshifting to first gear.. even with messed up linkage, it shouldn't do that should it?

 

[SPKMustang]

Sounds like it is slipping a little, I had this problem took it to the dealer the only thing they did was add some tranny fluid. They also ran some dye through the system to check for leaks but found none!

 

[nyuk98gt]

dewme5:

You have a broken accumulator spring or broken accumulator. It is pretty easy to fix but somewhat messy (12 quarts of Mercon V coming at you...).

Read "Transmissions 101" (Chapt. 12, 13, 14, if I recall correctly) at TCCoA.com. The articles by "A-Train" are very good, too, but you only need the part where he explains how to swap out the old stuff for new stuff. You will have to buy about $50 in parts and about $60 in Mercon V (springs, accumulator pistons, a new filter -- all from Ford and surprisingly not too pricey!) and invest about 2 hours to swap out the old stuff and get things back together nicely. The accumulators and springs were upgraded in 1998 (and the springs again in 2001, I think).

Good luck.

 

[Arnolds97]

On tccoa. jerrys mod Transmission 101 you can read about a possible problem you may have with your 98 back aode trans. Jerry states that the Accumulator pistons which are part of the shift mechanism that were an aluminum piston with an O Ring were a bad designed part by Ford. They tended to gall the Accumulator piston cylinder and can cause our Stangs to have shifting problems at above 60k miles. I did his shift kit on my 97 with only 35k on it. While you are in there changing springs he suggested to chain the Accumulator pistons to the newer and now, superseded part, 99 up piston. After only 35k I already had some light cylinder scrapes or galling already. I just took Scotch Brite to it like he says to do and fixed it. There is not much mentioned about this problem i the forums but i myself can attest to it after seeng it on a low mileage car. It makes sense that if you are getting blow by here it could be your problem. But make sure it is not low fluid first.

This above fix will only cost you in parts like 50.00 plus fluid. GO to the site and read it. If you have an Auto it is a must read and do. I now get 10 -15 foot of rubber on my 1-2 shifts. Running below 3000rpm you would never know it is modded.