Is transmission slip normal at low speed?

[MalcolmV8]

Hi Everyone,

My wife just recently purchased an 04 Limited Explorer with 20k miles. Very nice vehicle. Anyhow we've never owned an automatic before and I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

When going up an incline around 20 mph or so if you let off the gas and then gently push back on it the transmission slips and it kinda jerks as it engages or pulls again. We notice this when we drive slowly by houses for sale and stuff like that. My wife says it's just shifting down because we are going so slow but I don't think it feels normal. To me it feels like a transmission slip.

We made an appointment to take it to the dealer but only in two weeks time. My wife's really worried about door dings and we don't want to take it in unless we have to. What do you guys think? Normal?

 

[Fr Marquette]

My '99 (which I've only had long enough to put a few hundred miles on) does just about the same thing. I took it back to the dealer yesterday and they ran transmission diagnostics on it and found nothing wrong. The tech that test drove it also said it seemed normal to him. I personally don't remember my '97 XLT doing this, and my previous car was a Lincoln LS, so maybe I just have to get used to the fact that the Sport's tranny "feels" different.

 

[Mbrooks420]

It all depends. If you aren't stomping on it, at lower speeds it shouldn't jerk. The rpms would jump if you were going slow, let off the gas, and then floored it, but with moderate gas it should just downshift then build rpm smoothly. The only way I'd take it back to the dealer is if it had a warranty.

 

[MalcolmV8]

It does. It's still under the 3 year / 36k mile warrantee. And no we are not stomping on it. She lets off the gas going very slow somewhere around 20mph. I'll have to take it for a drive and duplicated it and get the exact speed etc. but anyway she just very lightly gets on the gas again and then it's like there's a momentary blank spot where nothing happens and then suddenly it jerks forward and continues going along slowly. Just judging from the rpm I don't think it shifted gears but I could be wrong.

 

[IAmTodd]

I would say thats the way it normally operates. I'm trying to think if ours does that. Ours was also rebuilt at 33k. So it is very possible that your's is slipping.