mystery shift prob.

[bigben22]

Hi all,
Wow! new member here. What a wealth of information. I have a 1995 ford explorer sport 4x4. 4.0 sohc. I assume it is a 4r44e. The auto shifter has drive and 1 and 2. overdrive also of course. Anyway, using the info on this forum I dropped the pan on my tranny and put in new gaskets and the superior shift kit. I ohmed out all the solenoids and they were good. I also had to repair gear on vss because it was so worn out that it made the odometer jump all over the place and caused the o/d light to flash and not go into overdrive. The problem I am having is what seems like the tranny starting out in drive and then going into overdrive. It is driveable but what happened to 1 and 2. I can manually downshift from drive and 1 and 2 work and then shift back up to drive no problem. Are the shifts so smooth now that I just don't notice. If I go from a dead stop in 1 or 2 it still starts in 3rd and then goes to overdrive after reaching cruising speed. There are no check engine lights fllashing or o/d light flashing. I am confused. Is there some sort of sensor that tells the tranny to shift back to 1st from a dead stop??? Are my 1 and 2 solenoids not working at all? Would I get an error code if the wire harness was broke. It doesn't blow fuses ever. Any help would be great. I may have to drop the pan again and replace the harness. Thanks!

Big Ben

 

[bigben22]

problem misdiagnosed, solved...arrrggghhhh!

Sorry for the useless thread here. upon checking out tranny further and after some sleep. The tranny starts in 2nd and then goes to overdrive. Those are the only gears I have. I understand 2nd gear only is the oh crap my tranny is gone please get me home mode. It shifts from 2nd to overdrive and back depending on speed and o/d light is indeed flashing again. drive is non existant. Anybody got any ideas let me know. It did the same thing before and after shift kit and gaskets. I wonder though if the wire harness is suspect since a shorted solenoid would keep it on all the time and the wires did look a little brittle and cracked like they got hot.

bigben