Transmission Slip???

[X24]

I've always heard people saying their transmissions are slipping. Can anyone describe what "transmission slip" is? My truck is bucking like crazy and I don't know what it is. It is also shifting differently. Under WOT it usually shifts between 5500 and 6000 rpm but today it was wouldnt rev past 5000 before it shifted. Am I looking at a transmission problem?

 

[X24]

I know someone can explain it.

 

[Hartman]

That is a good question, I'm not really sure how to describe transmission slip because I've never experienced it myself (to my knowledge). It does sound like you have a trans problem.

 

[X24]

Actually, its not my tranny. It did it again today when I was in OD so I turned OD off and it was still doing it so I put it in 2nd and it was still doing it. Then I put it in neutral and the motor was sputtering. Its almost like a fuel injection problem or something. It got so bad that I couldnt drive it anymore. I pulled over and the idle was so rough so I just shut it off. I reset the computer and then drove home and it was fine. I'm still worried about it because its one of those things that you dont know what it is or when it's gonna happen so right now my Explorer is unreliable and it sucks.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas of what that could be let me know.

Also, I'm still curious as to what transmission slip is so if there is anyone who has experienced it please post.

 

[JDraper]

What you're describing sounds kinda like a clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump or bad fuel pressure regulator. I'd try changing the fuel filter first, run some injector cleaner through the motor, and make sure your air cleaner is not clogged up.


What happens when the tranny slips is you will step on the gas and the rpm's will come up, but you won't accelerate much. It's like partially depressing the clutch on a manual as you try to accelerate.

 

[james t]

Jeff's tranny slip explaination is dead on. think of driving a manual car with the clutch pressed in halfway. the engine revs, but there is little acceleration.

i think its a fuel problem. try a few of these-

change the fuel filter

check the fuel pressure (easy... can rent guage at autozone for free) if the fuel pressure checks bad, its either a bad pump or a bad pressure sensor. im pretty sure your truck is a returnless style injection, so it wont have a regulator. it will have a sensor on the fuel rail that tells the computer what the pressure is doing... so that could be bad.

have it scanned. even if there is no CEL, someone could watch values to see whats out of wack.

 

[X24]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll have to look up some info on changing the fuel filter. I remember spas saying it wasnt very easy to do.

I know a guy down the road from me who is a ford mechanic and I stopped by his house the other day when it was doing this but he wasnt home. He just stopped by here a few mins ago, but my a$$ was still in bed. I'll have to get him to mess with it and see what he thinks.

 

[98X5.0]

98 5.0 still has a regulator (but I guess that doesn't help you much) and I think 99 up went to the setup James described.

I had a similar problem that turned out to be a bad plug wire. Truck would buck under load, especially in overdrive. It did, however, run okay at idle and very light light load, so that may not be your problem.

Guess I'm not much help.

 

[Jason_25]

The 98+ may still have a regular but they do use a returnless fuel system. If you decide to check the fuel pressure specs, make sure you get the right ones because the 97 and below have different specs.

 

[X24]

Alright, as I said before, I know this has nothing to do with the transmission, but since I have all of you here I'll see if any of you can help me.

First things first. Will having my superchip in prevent my CEL from coming on? I plan on taking it out sometime tomorrow.

Here is what I have found out about my problem. It't not much and might not make sense, but it's consistant. Everytime my truck sits in the sun or is exposed to the sun for a while it does its thing. Yesterday I started it up in the morning when it was still cool out and it was fine. I drove to work and parked in the sun and around 2 I went out and it started sputtering as soon as I started it. I reset the computer thinking that it would solve the problem like it did the other time, but after I did that it did it right when I started it up. I drove it into the shade and came back an hour later and it was fine. Then I drove to the gas station (hit a friggin dog on the way) and it was fine all the way there and back. This afternoon I went out around 2 and started it up in my driveway and it did the same thing. This was in the sun. I let it run for about 30 seconds and shut it off. When it runs rough like this it smokes a little and smells like its not getting the right amount of fuel in or something. Tonight around 11 I went out and turned the key and it fired up right away on the first crank which it never does. It was almost like there was unburned fuel or something that made it kick right away and it ran fine.

I know all that might sound weird, but I would like to hear your thoughts on all this because I have no idea. Please feel free to throw any ideas out there. I can't drive my truck like this.