1991 explorer transmission troubles

[BIG REED]

i have a 1991 ford explorer 4wd, 4.0 auto.

recently it has started taking its sweet time getting into gear. and sometimes shudders a little when taking off on an incline or shifting into overdrive.

the overdrive shudder has been going on for a while, but it just does it for a second and it doenst see overdrive very often so i didnt worry about it and wrote it off as being on old car.

it has gotten pretty cold over the last few days when the slow engagement and taking off shudder has started if that matters.

sometimes it shifts into nuetral when at a stop but not all the time.
it seems like its is just really low on flid to me.

so i checked the fluid, and it looks over the fill mark ~1/2" or so (warmed up running in ark like the dipstick says). im not sure if that could cause this, or why its that high. the wife drives it - so that may explain that.

any thoughts? i cant really spend a lot of money on this, esp now.

 

[Cobraguy]

that much over full isn't causing your problem. When is the last time the trans was serviced and the filter changed? A plugged filter (extremely rare) would cause issues. Or if the filter seal to the valve body was bad. The bands should be checked and adjusted with any trans service. They can cause some of what you are describing. But to be honest, I think you'll find that this thing has just flat served out it's life and is ready to be retired.

 

[BrooklynBay]

It could have a bad modulator, valve body gaskets, sticking spools in the valve body, bad filter O rings, improperly adjusted bands, loose valve body bolts or a clogged front cooler.