1990 ranger wierd a4ld problem

[cruiser5001]

I wanted to see if anyone has had this problem with the a4ld trans. let me say first that I am going to rebuild this in a few weeks following glacier991 excellent rebuild diary. already ordered the parts I intend to change may need more once I open it up for inspection.
my problem is when I get below 30 mph the tranny drops out of gear when the selector is in od position. I have to shift into regular drive to take off from stand still, then when I get up to about 40 mph I can return to od position and it will shift normally into 4th. have to do this every single time I stop and go or slow below 30 mph
I have changed the solenoids and cleaned to valve body while I had it off. I also changed the wire plug going through the case to the solenoids.
now when I had the pan off. I noticed a stiff wire with a spring end on it hanging down by the back corner of the valve body. I haven't seen that on any other pics I have looked at. wondering if anyone knows what this is? if it's something broke that I haven't ordered i would appreciate the input. thanks for reading this far

 

[cruiser5001]

I wanted to see if anyone has had this problem with the a4ld trans. let me say first that I am going to rebuild this in a few weeks following glacier991 excellent rebuild diary. already ordered the parts I intend to change may need more once I open it up for inspection.
my problem is when I get below 30 mph the tranny drops out of gear when the selector is in od position. I have to shift into regular drive to take off from stand still, then when I get up to about 40 mph I can return to od position and it will shift normally into 4th. have to do this every single time I stop and go or slow below 30 mph
I have changed the solenoids and cleaned to valve body while I had it off. I also changed the wire plug going through the case to the solenoids.
now when I had the pan off. I noticed a stiff wire with a spring end on it hanging down by the back corner of the valve body. I haven't seen that on any other pics I have looked at. wondering if anyone knows what this is? if it's something broke that I haven't ordered i would appreciate the input. thanks for reading this far

also changed the speed sensor and boo switch

 

[JK080]

Your symptoms are consistent with a problem with the input sprag in the front of the transmission, usually you will lose reverse as well be depending on how it failed it is not nessesarly true.

You should always have a forward gear and reverse no matter what the electronics are doing, so if it quits moving forward completely in the overdrive position the problem is internal and you will need to take it apart to fix it.

Snap a picture of the wire spring thing and post it, I should be able to ID it if it came from the transmission

 

[cruiser5001]

thanks for clearing that up for me in relations to the electronics and for your input jk080 ! today I have no forward gears in the overdrive position at all. but still do in the D position and reverse. I ordered the parts I think I will need on top of the regular rebuild parts including the input sprag you mentioned, and more for the overdrive section, and a new torque converter. it's 26 years old so I can't complain about it needing to be done. I will be taking it apart in a week or so. have to make room in the garage for it. I will post some pics of what I find when I get it apart. thanks again for your reply.