I am looking to get a 2000 F-150 XLT 4x4 with the 5.4 V8 with the overdrive auto transmission.

The truck has 180,000 miles and is in excellent shape. The trans shifts and works fine in 1st and 2nd gear but does not always go into 3rd or overdrive. I guess it rarely leaves 2nd gear.

Can this be an electrical/ECM issue or is it possibly a bad transmission?

Also, if a bad trans, are these hard to change? How involved is changing a transmission on the 2000 F-150 4x4?

 

It's not a big deal to swap in a new tranny or have the one in it rebuilt.
You could find a used one on ebay for about $1200.
Or a rebuild will cost you about $2000.

So fugue that in on the price of the truck when buying it.

Phil

 

Mine did this crap a few months ago before the o/d just died, the band broke finally. Between that, the forward clutches bieng well "seasoned" and accumulators and this and that, it got a rebuild. She runs great now, even got a higher stall converter, slightly higher. All said and done with labor, $1700. It was built with a supercharger in the plans.

 

With 180k on it, I'd plan on a full tranny rebuild.