2001 Explorer Slips in D and R

[Explorer Buff]

Hello folks,

My 2001 explorer XLT, 169k for the last month or so was slipping every so often when cold in drive (usually when starting out at low speeds accelerating). The other day I went out to drive it and both when in D and in R the it doesn't want to go. If I rev the engine up it will move, but not much. When in 1 & 2 things are perfectly fine. The fluid level was a little low, so I put in Mercon V and some AT Stop Slip. Fluid level now is fine and even warmed up and going through the gears a bunch in the driveway it still has the same issue.

The fluid is still nice and red, doesn't smell burnt and there's really no strange noise when putting it into R or D (I can feel the trans going into each of them but it is far less pronounced than it was before).

I believe it has been a while since the trans was flushed and fluid replaced (maybe around 75k).

Any thoughts you guys can give would be appreciated. As you can figure, financial times are not good (isn't that when everything goes wrong) so I'm really trying to avoid a full rebuild if possible. It's sad to see the truck with the explorer forum sticker on it sitting outside not being used. Thanks as always folks!

 

[SoNic67]

75k since last flush... It should be done every 35k. Saved you $100.
I learned the hard way that I am too poor to play Russian roulette anymore with car maintenance - my Sable transmission failed at 89k with no maintenance done till then. I am now at 190k and no issues, but now I do drop the pan every 35-40k miles.
On the other hand the 5 speed transmissions in Explorer are not known for being reliable anyway (if that's what you have). Maybe that's the normal lifespan for them.

 

[Explorer Buff]

75k since last flush... It should be done every 35k. Saved you $100.
I learned the hard way that I am too poor to play Russian roulette anymore with car maintenance - my Sable transmission failed at 89k with no maintenance done till then. I am now at 190k and no issues, but now I do drop the pan every 35-40k miles.
On the other hand the 5 speed transmissions in Explorer are not known for being reliable anyway (if that's what you have). Maybe that's the normal lifespan for them.

Yes it's the 5pd, and thanks for the advice. At this point I'm worried about taking it to get flushed/filtered etc and it's something I've never done myself. Definitely accept full responsibility for what has happened but now I got to figure out what can be done. Thanks again!