Twice in the past week my '96 Explorer V6 Eddie Bauer edition has had problems engaging the transmission when I shift into "drive"...Both times I've backed out of a parking space, reverse was fine, shifted to drive and nothing has happened, I've shifted back to park and then back to drive and the problem has resolved itself. I've called Ford and spoken with their techs and also spoken with another mechanic in town that I have used before and both have assured me that although it is not a normal issue that it is nothing to be concerned about, rather they have pointed to how the car is running as an indicator of the vehicle's health. It's easy for them to say that there's nothing wrong and that all cars can and will periodically do that, but I was hoping that you all might have a suggestion of something to check/try...searched the archives here and didn't come across anything that quite addressed what I'm experiencing...Thanks in advance.

Check the shifter linkage.