98 Tranny Problem, PLEASE Help!!

[enoloc]

I recently started to have a problem with my tranny. When I go from reverse or stop to first my ex barely gets going and my rpm's stay low. If I try to press on the gas it feels like my truck is going to stall. I need to press on it very light and gradually get firmer on the pedal and it gets going ok. Once it does get going it feels like its not shifting into the other gears, i tried OD off, 1, and 2 and they are all the same. I can put it in drive and let off the gas and my truck wont move at all. Me and my dad did the fluid and filter change a few days ago and it barely helped if any. There were no metal shavings in the pan and the fluid looked ok. One thing that was weird is the old filter was not even bolted on, it was just laying in the pan, so I dont know how long its been like that. Last took it in to Ford for transfer case replacement over a year ago. Reverse works perfect and in park the truck will idle ok. Please help me out because our mechanic wants $1800 for a rebuild and if we can fix it for less we would rather go that route. Truck has 100,000 miles on it 1998 XLT 4WD, dont know what tranny it is.

 

[Opera House]

So did you bolt the filter back on?

Was there even a bolt in the pan? Were there O rings on it? The 5R55E has a history of blowing out valve body gaskets. When I got my used 97, I found a number of bolts loose on the valve body. I even bought a spare '99 tranny that had valve body gasket problems Never heard of a bolt comming completely out. Make sure the bolt doesn't bottom out before it tightens down. Some are provided with special hardware if it didn't come with a very large washer. Valve body tightens with about 9 ft-lb which is only a good twist. You could do the two gaskets yourself for abput $25. Never turn a valve body over, things will fall out. Manual is only $16 at www.bulkpart.com suggest only getting gaskets at dealer as there have been updates. If you didn't have a lot of sediment, and there is always some, you may be ok.