under normal acceleration, 1st gear seems rough, when it shifts to second third and fourth, its smooth all the way. Im not sure if this is how all explorers are, or if my trans is messed up. I have the extended warranty plan and would somehow like to get a new trans out of this if something is wrong. i shifted the trans into reverse about 10k miles ago, so im not sure if that has anything to do with first gear? Any suggestions. thanks!:D

First gear should be no rougher than any of the other gears. Have you dropped the transmission pan to check the condition of the fluid? I've never completely gone into reverse from 1st, but the time or two that I have came close, all it did was made a horible grinding sound. That was enough to make me stop. If you went hard enough, it's possible that you might have grinded some metal away, not sure though. If you find metal in your pan, get all of the fluid out of your transmission and replace it with new. Also change the filter as well. How many miles since your transmission was serviced? If it has been over 30K, it wouldn't hurt to do it now.

Does it sound rough only when accelerating or also when cruising at a steady speed in 1st? Try putting the transmission in 1 and drivng at a steady speed at about 5-10 MPH and see if it still sounds the same. You'll have to determine if it is RPM dependendant or not. First gear lets your engine get to a high RPM easier than the other gears so it might be a factor of running at a higher RPM that is causing it. If it does it in 1st at a steady speed, try putting your transmission in 2 and running at the same RPM as you were in 1st. See if the problem is still there.

It might not be the transmission at all. It might just be that since the engine will rev up quicker in 1st than the other gears, it is more noticeable. If that is the case, how does the engine sound when revving it up in neutral? If it sounds normal when in neutral versus 1st gear, it might still be engine related that only shows up by a load on the engine. Are you sure it isn't your engine pinging? How does your MAF sensor look? A dirty MAF will cause the engine to ping. That would be a cheap/easy thing to try first.

Finally, it is hard for someone to "visuallize" if you first gear is rougher than usual without acually being there. You are the best judge if it doesn't seem right regardless of what any Mechanic might tell you. I have experienced far too many times when a Mechanic was telling me something that I felt was strange about my Explorer was "normal". I have put 82K miles on my Explorer. I know what it used to sound like and I know how it sounds now. If something is different, I don't consider that normal. You have put at least 10K miles on yours. If the noise wasn't there 10K miles ago, but is now. Something has changed.

Something saying 66k was written on my transmissin

It's possible that someone already changed out the fluid at 66K and wrote it on the tranny as a reminder. I did that to my battery when I put it in. Unless you can find an old work order or have been told by a previous owner, you can't know for certain. You can check the fluid on the dipstick and get a general idea as to the condition. If it is cherry red and smells new, then it is probably in good shape. If it is dark maroon or smells burnt, I would get it out of there. The other thing is the previous owner may have dropped the pan and changed the fluid and filter in the pan at 66K, but they might not have done a complete fluid service. From the way it looks, you have had the Explorer since at least around 71K. If the previous owner paid to have the transmission serviced at 66K (no more than 5K miles before getting rid of it), I doubt if they went all out and did a complete service job on it.

i got the guy's name and number, because he left the his "prefered card" in my truck from the dealership. it was a business car. so basically i think it was treated pretty bad. it was leased out, and then he brought it back in at 70k or something. at least im pretty sure of that

Just because it was a lease doesn't mean it was treated pretty badly. On all of my company leases, I took excellent care of them since it got me a half a day off work whenever I had to take it in for maintenance and all maintenance was billed to my corporate AMEX :)

i read your pm, im using amsoil trans fluid and i dont have 19 quarts to spare what should i use before i put the good stuff in, crappy atf fluid?

That I'm not sure about. Most people get by with like 14 or 15 quarts. That was what I started with but I found that the fluid was still too dark for my liking so I ran back up to Walmart to get 5 more quarts. Check your Owner's guide to see how much fluid your tranny holds (probably around 12 quarts). Get that much plus a couple of extra. You could probably start off with cheap fluid first. Put in as many quarts of cheap fluid that you loose when changing the filter. Then add about 14 quarts of Amsoil when you replace the rest. That should get it coming out nice and clean and ensure that you have nothing but Amsoil in there.

I had the same problem on my 92 and it turned out to be the diver side motor mount. Since this mount is constantly being pulled apart by the engine toque it will fail quicker than the passenger side mount which is under compression. If you lead foot your vehicle a lot like I do it might be worth checking out. The symptoms were a lot of rattling and vibration when starting out in first, once I hit second it would go away. I swore up and down that it was the transmission. Good luck.

Tim

Interesting, Thanks Tim

And Robert, I am going to order complete synthetic fluid today hopefully, if my funds transfer into my Paypal acct