Hard Shift issue

[macexp]

I have an ongoing issue where the transmission in my 98 5.0 explorer shifts very hard into second (whether upshift or downshift). Shifts from second to third seem to be softer than normal and it will prematurely slip into overdrive even under heavy acceleration. If you accelerate hard from a stop the shift into second almost gives you whiplash. Any thoughts?

 

[Glacier991]

Your symptoms could be related to sticking valves in the valve body, a loose valve body, sticky solenoids (the 1-2 solenoid and/or the EPC solenoid) and probably more. Does the engine RPM go up before the harsh engagement?

 

[macexp]

It's hard to tell if the RPM raises, but if it does it's for only a fraction of a second before it lunges into gear.

 

[cjbarron5]

sounds like a valve body problem or a electrical problem ran into almost the same thing with a 2000 i would look into the epc solonoid also