Ford Explorer: '92 Explorer "Shifty" Transmission

HELP!!!

com (Tgman) wrote in message news:<google.com>... 

I'm not sure what "lock out" gear is either but I must assume that we are
talking about either overdrive "lock out" (accomplished with shift position
selection) or torque convertor clutch lock up. Unfortunately, these are two
very different things.

Looking at the speed range that your concern surfaces, I'll go out on a limb
and guess that it's hunting between OD and direct (3rd)... If you have
around 80K to 100K miles on the car, I can only think that it is nearly time
for something expensive. This hunting is not 'normal'. At this point (no
service manuals at home) I can only suggest checking fluid level and
condition, the integrity of the hoses on the modulator line and be sure
there are no engine performance issues (poor engine performance can and will
manifest itself as a transmission concern).

I will suggest reserving the OD enable shift selection for highway driving
and use the drive position for urban and hilly terrain driving. I have
driven my '92 this way since I purchased it - now, with just shy of 109K
miles and no problems...... YMMV


--
Jim Warman
net

"Tgman" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 

Jim,

The transmission shop did indicate it was going between torque
convertor clutch lock up and overdrive. Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks!

Tom


"Jim Warman" <net> wrote in message news:<n8Zqb.8707$%Q5.4770@edtnps84>... 

com (Tgman) wrote in message news:<google.com>... 

My '92 "shifts" in and out of lockup at about this speed range, based
on gear lever position, throttle position, brakelight switch activity.
TPS reads the speed that you move the pedal it seems, so a brisk
application will unlock while a slow gentle push to the same end
throttle position may not. Jim may want to jump in here and add to
this. Pressing on the brake pedal far enough to engage the brake
lights will unlock the TC clutch too.

Many moons ago I wrote up a situation where a bad plug wire was
causing an intermittent miss, noticeable under load at around 55mph
(speed limit at the time...). Another poster responded that he too
had a similar problem, and that the miss was severe enough in his case
to cause the trans to drop out of TC lockup. My instant advice
therefore would be to look at all the things that might cause a miss
that would affect the trans. Based on my own car's history, about 50K
is the usable life of plug wires. If you have a lot more miles on
your plugs and wires than that, it might do you well to get them
replaced (or do it yourself) and see if the problem goes away. Wires
are ~~$25 for good aftermarket. Plugs are cheap for copper, maybe a
bit more for platinums. There's a sloew of opinion on whether you
want to use platinum plugs, but that's a subject that deserves its own
thread.


Hope this gets you headed in the right direction!


dr bob
'92 XLT auto, with 170-some thousand miles on it. Still original auto
gearbox.

Doing a little backwards research, I came upon a relevant popst fro
sometime way back in the newsgroup history:
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~singletn/web/pages/od.html has a note about
a defective throttle position sensor causing the problem you are
experiencing. Download a problem code for this and you may have found
the culprit!


dr bob

Dr Bob,

Thanks for your posts!! I will take a look at both suggestion!!

Tom



com (dr bob) wrote in message news:<google.com>...