Shift Flare

[cereal killer]

Hi everyone. I was offered an '02 Explorer Sport Trac as a trade for my BMW 535i I have for sale and I have a few questions about this truck. My BMW is older and worth ~$2500, the Sport Trac would sell for ~$3500 here in Alberta -so it seems like a great deal right?

However, the owner says he recently experienced a shift flare. He says he got the transmission flushed and it has gone away. After reading through these forums I have the impression that this is a relatively common issue with the transmissions on these trucks and can be caused by problems with the valve body or servo bore wear - both of which probably won't be solved by a flush.

I think I can handle a VB swap or the o-ring fix for the servo (http://www.fordservoboretransmissionfixsolution.com/), but is there a good way to tell which one of these is the problem?

Should I walk away from this trade? I need a truck, but if I have to put a new transmission into it... it won't be worthwhile. Is this an issue that most people solve without dropping the transmission?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Sp0rtTr4c]

My truck did it somewhat often when I purchased it. I purchased a Superchips Cortex tuner and on performance mode it almost never happens. Maybe once a month or so. From what I have seen from researching is that the people who do a rebuild end up with the same problem a few years down the road. I am going to do a full prerunner type build on my truck after I get some good use out of it, and I plan on just swapping the tranny for maybe a c4 or whatever is solid and fits. I have learned that Ford and Automatic transmission should not go in the same sentence. lol But, I love my st and I have no regrets and I will probably keep it forever.

 

[JohnnyO]

The flare is an irritation but not a big deal. The dealer can reflash the computer, you can get a tuner as mentioned, and there is a little screw on the valve body which if you give it a quarter turn will up the line pressure slightly and usually get rid of it.