LamLamb
New Member
- Joined
- October 3, 2015
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Georgia
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Ford Explorer
The truck has a 3.0L V6 with the automatic transmission. I'm pretty new to it and never drove a ranger before so I have a few questions to ask. I think these are just quirks but I want to make sure.
1. It's supposedly a five speed automatic transmission but it never goes into 2nd gear. Is it only supposed to go into 2nd under full throttle? Basically, I know the gearing is really close from 1-3 but spreads out more from 3-5. The shift points under light throttle are 15 mph, 25 mph, then it shifts into overdrive at about 39 mph if I go easy on it. That's 3 shifts, 1-3-4-5. Seems weird to me that it would skip over 2nd gear.
2. This is very minor, but does the torque converter lock up late in these trucks? The earliest I've ever gotten the torque converter to lockup was at 40 mph, but most of the time it needs to be going closer to 45 mph before it locks up. Most Fords I've driven lockup at or before 35 mph in some cases.
3. For the first minute of driving while the engine is cold, the rpm seems to hang whenever I accelerate up to about 15 mph. Basically there is a stop sign at the end of the street, I accelerate up to about 15 mph, and the engine revs up to about 2000, then I let off the accelerator and it still revs at 1600 rpm when I let off, and I let it coast for a solid 5 seconds or so off both pedals and it just continues to rev at 1400-1600 rpm. It only drops down to its cold idle (1000 rpm) by the time I'm almost completely stopped. Then I accelerate up to about 25 mph, it shifts into third (remember it skips over second) just fine, but when I let off at 25 mph, the revs drop from 2000 to 1600, again feet off both pedals. Its down a slight hill so I maintain speed just fine while off the gas, and it just hangs there until about a minute after driving and it shifts and drops to 1100 rpm. I don't feel any engine braking effect whatsoever while the revs hang, so it seems like its just burning extra gas. It does this regardless of whether the air conditioning is on or off. Is this normal, or is something not right?
I'd very much appreciate any responses, and thanks for your time.
1. It's supposedly a five speed automatic transmission but it never goes into 2nd gear. Is it only supposed to go into 2nd under full throttle? Basically, I know the gearing is really close from 1-3 but spreads out more from 3-5. The shift points under light throttle are 15 mph, 25 mph, then it shifts into overdrive at about 39 mph if I go easy on it. That's 3 shifts, 1-3-4-5. Seems weird to me that it would skip over 2nd gear.
2. This is very minor, but does the torque converter lock up late in these trucks? The earliest I've ever gotten the torque converter to lockup was at 40 mph, but most of the time it needs to be going closer to 45 mph before it locks up. Most Fords I've driven lockup at or before 35 mph in some cases.
3. For the first minute of driving while the engine is cold, the rpm seems to hang whenever I accelerate up to about 15 mph. Basically there is a stop sign at the end of the street, I accelerate up to about 15 mph, and the engine revs up to about 2000, then I let off the accelerator and it still revs at 1600 rpm when I let off, and I let it coast for a solid 5 seconds or so off both pedals and it just continues to rev at 1400-1600 rpm. It only drops down to its cold idle (1000 rpm) by the time I'm almost completely stopped. Then I accelerate up to about 25 mph, it shifts into third (remember it skips over second) just fine, but when I let off at 25 mph, the revs drop from 2000 to 1600, again feet off both pedals. Its down a slight hill so I maintain speed just fine while off the gas, and it just hangs there until about a minute after driving and it shifts and drops to 1100 rpm. I don't feel any engine braking effect whatsoever while the revs hang, so it seems like its just burning extra gas. It does this regardless of whether the air conditioning is on or off. Is this normal, or is something not right?
I'd very much appreciate any responses, and thanks for your time.
