Recently I've read a few threads about the AODE shifting to neutral between the 2nd and 3rd gears when on the throttle hard. Ironically I started to get the same problem on my new tranny at the end of last week. The tranny would shift fine at normal to moderate throttle but at heavy throttle it would drop to neutral before shifting. So I did some research on the MLP (Manual Lever Position) sensor which seems to have a tendancy to fail. At Autozone it's referred to as a neutral safety switch and I think at Ford it's called a range sensor. This part is a $19-$25 part and took my mechanic today only 15 minutes to install and only cost me $30 labor. After the install I drove the car for a few hours using light, moderate and heavy throttle.......PROBLEM SOLVED!
So if you've got the same problem you can try this cheap fix to see if it works. One shop I brought the car to last year tried to charge me $200 for the switch with labor! Here's the link from Autozone that shows you the switch and how to install it http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/0a/3c/ce/0900823d800a3cce.jsp.
So if you've got the same problem you can try this cheap fix to see if it works. One shop I brought the car to last year tried to charge me $200 for the switch with labor! Here's the link from Autozone that shows you the switch and how to install it http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/0a/3c/ce/0900823d800a3cce.jsp.