Strange Shifting

[mustang69]

I have a '97 Explorer XLT 5.0 with the 4R70W transmission. My problem is, sometimes after 40-50 miles of driving, it does not want to shift from 3-4 & the TC dosen't want to lock up. I have notice that when this happens if I pull over and put it in park, that the RPM's are between 1000-1300. I can turn it off start it back up and the RPM's are still about 1000, but the 3-4 shift is fine, but still no TC lock up. I have also notice that when this happens, that all shifts happen at a very high RPM. After it is parked for a while and cools down, everthing is fine and may not happen again for days. All fluid levels are fine, and I have already changed the filter and it did not help. This does not happen evertime that I drive it.
I would greatly appreciate any help you could offer.

 

[NHale623]

Have you scanned for codes?

 

[mustang69]

Not getting any codes

I bought it used 2 years ago. It ran fine at that time, and for the following 15,000 miles, then started acting up. I changed fluid and filter. In doing so I found the "lollipop", telling me that it had never been changed. There was much build-up on the magnet in the pan. After changing it, it did better, it now only does 4 or 5 times a month. But it has never given any codes.

Is it possible that maybe the valve body could have the same build up as the magnet in the pan, and need to be cleaned out?

 

[BritinMN]

Hi everybody!
I posted a response to a similar thread in the 1995-2001 stock Explorer section. This sounds like it is very similar to my problem. Here's what I posted:

I have a 97 XLT, AWD with the 5.0, 132K miles. This is my winter beater that I've had for around a month. (while the Mustang is sound asleep for the winter )

My symptoms are the same as previously described - intermittent, and only happened once in the last month, then 3 times in the last 2 days!
High revving before shifting 1-2 and 2-3, with 'hard' shifts when they finally happen.
One thing I noticed this evening while having this problem is that the car 'feels' like you are giving it more gas than you really are. When I got home after a 45min drive, it seemed to be idling higher than usual, and if you blip the throttle a little the revs take longer than usual to come down.
I re-checked the Transmission fluid, looks good on the dipstick, looks relatively fresh, no burning smell. When the car is 'behaving' it runs and shifts great... smooth shifts with no aparent slipping.
I'm going to try to pull OBDII codes tonight and then take it to a Transmission shop tomorrow to see if there's any that my generic reader can't pull.

Any recommendations on where to start? Depending on the codes (if any) I get, I was thinking about changing the TPS - but then not sure what to try next?? One other thing I thought of was the battery - a Range Rover I used to have was VERY sensitive to a marginally bad battery, with lots of weird codes/issues, including transmission issues, that suddenly went away with a new battery.....

Thanks for everyone's help! This forum has been a great source of info over the last month, and was actually one of the big reasons I bought the truck!! This is one of the last issues I have that I haven't resolved yet, so fingers crossed!!