am i in need for a rebuild?

i have a 98 explorer. withe the 5 speed auto. and i am starting to notice two problem that don't happen all the time.

1st, only so far when the tranny is warmed up,some time when you go from rev. to drive there is a delay before it engages.

2nd, sometime the 3-4 shift will not shift unless i left off the throttle and then press it down to the floor for a sec. then it will shift. it only happen about twice this past weekend.

will a transgo shift kit fix these problem or am i looking at a rebuild in the near future.

thanks for any info that gets passed along to me, and that way i know to start saving for the day it dies on me lol

The shift delay is probably either valve body related, or could be the low/reverse seal's rings. They make 2 types of seals. 23256K double wiper low/reverse servo kit, Transtec viton seal kit for the low/reverse servo 23256KA. I think the part numbers might have changed, but this is what they were a few months ago. As for the shift delay from 3-4, check your bands. Do you get any codes? Do you have these problems when it is hot, cold, or both? How many miles do you have? You might need a new EPC solenoid. The valve body gaskets are known to have problems in these models, so if you decide to drop the VB, and rebuild it, go with the Ford, and Superior kits.

One thing that I just wanted to mention is that the low/reverse piston comes with standard O rings, and are the cheapest fix. The double wiper, and viton seals are made specifically to fix that delayed reverse situation. The viton seal (or otherwise known as the "D" ring) make a tighter fit than the double wiper seal. Viton has a longer operating lifespan than standard rubber, so that is the way to go.

to do the low/rev. seal can it be done on the truck with out pulling the tranny out? and as for code, no it did not flash any codes. is there a link for a place to buy the superior kits. and when i go to ford what do i need to tell the parts guy that i need for the VB. also would ford have the vitron seal for low/rev piston?

thanks
p.s. sorry for all the questions.

You don't have to remove the transmission to replace the low/reverse servo's piston seals. If you drop the pan, you will see a plate with 4 bolts in the rear corner. That is where this servo is located. You could get the seals from WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com. Other parts that you may need could be obtained from WWW.Axiom.Com. There are 2 sponsors of this site that sell parts: WWW.FastPartsNetwork.Com, and WWW.BulkParts.Com. Their links are on this website. They have rebuild kits, shift kits, and solenoids. They even sell the Ford kit so you don't have to go to the dealer! There is an updated solenoid bracket that is supposed to be replaced. It is not recommended to reuse the older style bracket.

I would recommend that you read Bigg_Billy's stairway to a diary thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154655&highlight=stairway, and Glacier991's 5R55E valve body rebuild diary: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140987&highlight=stairway

Try having it flushed first. Sometimes, Fords are typical of having blockages in the modulator that causes slow, interupted shifts. My 94 was doing some wierd things, waiting till after I came to a complete stop to shift back to first and clunking as it did, after a flush no more clunking.

Flushing out the fluid, and the modulator are two different thing. The modulator only pushes a pin in and out with a vacuum controlled diaphragm. If the fluid is dirty, maybe then I could see it having an effect. it might have had some sludge build up, and now all of the parts move freely.

The flush can remove deposits that have formed upon parts requiring the flow to operate fully. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't