having problems shifting out of first - first thing in the morning

[baehan]

this recently started happening. i pull out of my driveway, head down the street...my X will be stuck in first gear and won't shift into second. it'll hold til around 5k rpms then finally shift. i stop at the first light, put my foot on the gas, everything is fine again. shifting is back to normal. what's going on here? it only happens first thing in the morning. never happens again throughout the day. i thought that it might have to do with the engine being cold in the morning, but this is arizona and it's hotter at night then most other state's days. this never happened earlier this year when it was colder. only thing that i've done recently is...clean my MAF, reset my ecu, and put a bottle of fuel system cleaner. any thoughts?

 

[JamminG4Jim]

You might want to double check your tranny fluid level to make sure it isn't low.

Also, check all the hoses, wiring connections etc. to make sure something didn't come loose...

Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[GenerationX]

check your kick down cable too. I had a cougar that I didnt put the kick down cable on and it would redline before it shifted. Therefore, I think the tranny relies on the throttle position to help it know when to shift.

 

[Kadarom Douhrek]

A friend had the same problem.
If I remember right, inside the tranny there is a whole on one side of one of the shafts.
There is a little metal weight that slides in and out of it.
When the tranny is spinning fast enough the weight is forced outwards and the transmission shifts out of first.

What happened was the weight got dirty and would stick.
After reving a bunch the fluid would get hot enough that it would slide like normal.


Of course I could be nuts.
At which point feel free to correct me.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

Kadarom Douhrek is referring to the "speed governor," and that is most likely your problem. This should tell you everything you need to know and how to fix it:

Dead Link Removed

I'm having the same problem with mine, I just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet.

Mike

 

[baehan]

thanks guys. i called my mechanic today and he said that at most it would cost $150. that's about 3 hrs of labor. if he can do it any sooner than the 3 hrs, then he only charges me what he does. do you think it's worth it for me to take it in to get it fixed?

 

[baehan]

update...

well, i took the truck to the shop a few weeks ago, and he said that he cleaned the speed governor. in the morning (the only time the problem exists), the truck shifts out of first sooner, but still kinda sticks. i took the truck back to the shop today and i decided to stay and watch to see what they do. my mechanic said that the replacement for the speed governor is under $20 so i told him to go ahead and just change it. (today he didn't becuase i didn't have enough time to leave the truck. apparently you have to remove something to get to the governor. is this correct?) he should have told me before that it is only $20 for the part. i would have had it replaced the first time. anyway, as i was there, all that the person did was drop the transmission pan and take out a longer bolt near the rear of where the pan was. he used an air hose and put the nozzle where he took out the bolt and shot some air into it. after that, he shot some carb cleaner in the same hole. he used the air device and blew the cleaner out. they said that was enough to clean the speed governor. is there something wrong with this method? it seemed to remedy the situation a little bit, but from what the article read about cleaning the speed governor, i thought that you would have to physically clean the speed governor block/unit and get it almost completely polished off. did he actually do anything to help clean the speed governor? or is it the transmission flush that helped more?

one more thing, each time he changed my transmission fluid, he said that there was a lot of metal filings in the fluid. what would cause that? anything that i can do to help the situation? drive it til it breaks?

thanks guys.

 

[Mainfraim]

The speed governor is probably your answer. My transmission was doing the same thing as well as being completely gone. After 3 times in the shop, they finally told me that it was the governor. They replaced it, and my Explorer is finally all better... well, at least the transmission is