On some days the transmission shifts like a new truck and other days it don't want to come out of first gear and goes in to overdrive way to early. I had a post a while back and since then I have changed the speed censor on the punkin and a couple other things. Any help would be appreciated as I am hoping it's not a big money fix. Thanks!

Not sure what type system ford uses for shifting? Maybe a valve body? Does the fluid smell burnt or real dirty? Start by flushing the trans fluid and change filter.

I'm assuming you've already changed the transmission fluid. I had an old F250 that shifted terribly. With no idea what to do about it, I changed the fluid and filter. The problems went away.

Sounds like you've got some valve body valves that are getting sticky on ya catch. Those E4OD transmissions were a very finicky animal and everything had to be right and the stars had to align to get one to behave like it should. I've got the exact same truck sitting in my yard with a 10,000 mile rebuilt trans in it and it still stutter shifts every now and then. The valve body valves were notorious for sticking and the electronic solenoids in the valve body were very picky as well. Does your overdrive light flash when it's acting up?

Handi, fluid is good. I will say that the previous owner had the trans cooling lines cut for some reason and had like rubber lines connecting them together and were leaking. So I replaced them with a compression fitting and this is when the problems started. I'm at a loss.

Haven't had a legit flush and filter change, reckon I should try that. Thing is, the computer throws up a couple codes and will not let them be erased. I know squat about all that stuff. I'm good with mechanical fuel pumps mounted on the side of the engine though lol.

Thanks Davis, she sure is finicky now but for a while, until I had some other issues with the starter solenoid and fixing leaking lines, she ran like a champ. No flashing of the OD light.

Catch-How many miles? If it is a lot of mileage on the clock I would drop the pan and change fluid and filter rather than flush. Maybe something computer wise??

Hi ratbrain, hard to believe but the truck only has 44,000 miles on it. It belonged to a Vocational school and I think they were hard miles as it was used to plow too.

I am worried that there is some kind of glitch in the computer but I don't know enough about that! I've been trying to eliminate the cheaper options of failure but have come up empty.

Is it the old body style or new???? Pre super duty


My old style 92 to 96. Had that issue. I bought parts, sensors and all kinds of stuff. A mouse chewed the corner off the dash. I forget exactly what it was but I replaced the gauge cluster to fix it

Pat, it's the same body style as the 96. Last year of the 250's with that.

I’m still thinking dirt sticking in the valve body. It may take a couple of attempts of flush and clean to eliminate all the debris.

Sure does sound like sticking valves. A good clean out could fix it or could crater it. They were kinda picky like that. I believe that's why rat brain told you to do a pan down service instead of a flush with a flush machine. A lot of time if you are having some sort of trouble a flush will do more harm than good especially on high mileage transmissions that haven't been serviced properly in the past. They used to have some stuff called transX that worked much the same way. We called it the kill or cure in a can. It would either fix it or kill it but something was gonna change lol.

And Catch with only 44K on the speedometer, if there is a mechanical problem you may find some evidence in the bottom of the pan. But with all the electrical crap on vehicles (even back in '97) it may be an electrical issue.

Did it start acting up after another repair?

Yes it did. It shifted perfect until I was out checking groundhog traps and it wouldn't start when I was done. So I tried to jump across the contacts of the solenoid and something weird happened like a short or something. So I got a ride and got a new solenoid and installed it. At first I didn't know what was going on so I was looking everywhere as I was out in a bean field, stranded. That's also when I noticed the tranny lines leaking. So after I got her running and home, I fixed the tranny lines with compression fittings, stopped the leak. Then I added 2 qts of tranny fluid to replace what I lost from repairing the lines. Hasn't run right since. I have a buddy who has a diagnostic thing and it threw up a couple tranny codes but would not allow him to erase them. Swear, some days it runs like brand new.

What Davis said. I would NOT flush the tranny. Only pan off fluid change with new filter.

Besides being low on fluid due to a leak, it sounds like some sort of electrical problem. I know some GMs had shift solenoids that went bad (our daughter had one).What did the trans codes say? I think a dealer (or a repair shop that has a computer set up) can erase the hard codes. Not just a regular code scanner.

For what its worth Catch I wish my '97 F150 only had 44K on it!!!!!!

Had a Ford truck with some tranny problems. My mechanic drained the fluid and refilled with tractor hydraulic fluid. Not sure of the difference but it sure did (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) well. Sold it soon thereafter.