I put it in drive, and nothing happens.

[deamon3]

Ok my car won't move.

It was literally working fine yesterday , But now today it won't move. I start it , starts fine. I put it in drive , and nothing happens. It stays in a neutral like state. Only if I floor it and give it a lot of gas it will jerk in the direction I set it in. Whether it be forward or backward. I also tried 4x4 mode , low range , and D2 and D1. Basically it's undrivable.

What could have gone wrong over night? Was it like the shifter cable that broke or somthing worse? I gotta borrow parents car but that can't happen long.

 

[deamon3]

I just drove it around the block and it periodically slips in and out of drive. I get 4 seconds of drive , then 4 seconds of neutral , then 4 seconds of drive , and so on....

I also meant to put this in the stock section , feel free to move it.

 

[mrboyle]

Sounds like you are going to need a tranny.

 

[deamon3]

Really? Thats it? The whole thing is ruined?

 

[deamon3]

Any one else have any ideas? A transmission can't just break itself overnight can it? Maybe it needs fluid or something?

 

[chetzar]

Check the fluid level, but other than that, it sounds like your tranny took a crap on ya, I dont know much about transmissions, but fluid is a good place to start.

 

[sledgehammer1990]

Sounds like the tranny to me. They can die out of nowhere. My dad drove his F-150 to the airport fine. Parked it, came home a week later to the truck, got in, backed out of the parking spot and put it in drive. Nothing.

 

[924dr4x4]

smell the fluid..if it smells burnt,ur trans is toast

 

[deamon3]

Ok , I talked on the phone to a very nice mechanic I found on craigslist. He said that what I experienced can happen if it's just low on transmission fluid. Sure enough I checked and it actually didn't have any transmission fluid at all. So I put about 3 quarts in it and now it works perfectly again. Yay!!!!

I also looked underneath and it doesn't appear to be coming out of the bottom so that's good. Lately I've been smelling a burning smell coming from the car and I guess I know why now. lol

I'll keep looking for puddles though and if I find any I'll know I'm leaking

 

[924dr4x4]

if u smell it while ur driving,its burning/leaking when its running,i'd still get the trans checked,could be a pan gasket or could be the front seal for the trans,either way get it checked to be safe

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check the bell housing area for leaking transmission fluid. A bad vacuum modulator could cause fluid to get drawn into the engine through the vacuum line.

 

[pachakutek]

I'm gonna piggyback on this thread since I have similar symptoms (posted originally in: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248944 ):

The truck seems to shift without problems once it gets moving. However, sometimes it doesn't want to start moving. What I mean is that: from a stopped situation I put the lever on "D", step on the gas, and the truck behaves like in Neutral - it doesn't move. After the engine reving a bit the truck abruptely shifts into gear and it start moving. Started happening sporadically, but it's getting more frequent now.

Once it started moving no abnormal behavior is observed. Only when starting from a stopped position.

What can it be the problem? I was tempted to change the transmission fluid
(no idea when was last done), but I heard scary stories about changing the fluid in older cars (massive slippage due to the slick new fluid).

Any help/opinions will be greatly appreciated!

The truck:
Ford Explorer 1992 - V6 4.0 4x4 Eddie Bauer
182K mi - Auto transmission


Also ... how do I check the transmission fluid? I don't remember a seeing a dipstick for that? What fluid to use?

 

[BrooklynBay]

It sounds like it's low on fluid. The A4LD has a dipstick fill tube. It's possible that the filter might be partially clogged if you still have this problem after filling the fluid up to the proper level.

 

[pachakutek]

Thanks... I will look for the dipstick and check the level....
If low what kind of ATF to use? I'm guessing I need one of those funnels with a hose...

 

[BrooklynBay]

Add regular Mercon fluid.

 

[deamon3]

Mine is pretty much still looseing fluid , very slowly though. If I keep adding it though it's cheaper then getting it fixed. lol

 

[BrooklynBay]

It's not good to always run low on fluid.

 

[deamon3]

It's not good to always run low on fluid.

Really?

 

[BrooklynBay]

It will cause the internal parts to run hotter than usual since the fluid keeps everything lubricated in addition to controlling the hydraulic parts.

 

[deamon3]

Yea I know I was being sarcastic , honestly theres nothing I can do about the leak , except just keep putting fluid in when it runs out.