99 F150 4.6 V8 with 265K miles, been shifting hard into second last 100,000 miles. Doesn't do it if I go easy on acceleration. I have read that this is usually a broken spring in the 1-2 accumulator. I'm due for a fluid change so I will be dropping the pan. How hard is it to do this repair while on the truck? I would need to drop the valve body to get to the spring. Just wondering if it is risky to do this repair from under the truck

 

If you can keep track of the little check ***** and where they go if they fall out and know where the spring is you need to change.
Then Torque the casting to spec with an inch pound wrench.

 

That's what I was worried about, the check ***** falling out. The hard shift is not a huge deal, I generally accelerate easy off the line, but on those times when I don't it really slams into 2nd. That's got to be hard on the driveline. Maybe it's better to do a simple fluid change and call it good. I don't want to create a new problem by pulling the valve body while underneath the truck

 

I changed out a broken 1-2 spring years ago on my 99… I don’t recall it being a very big deal, although I do recall carefully using a bottle jack to hold the piston in while I install the snap ring. While I’m mechanically inclined, I am by no means a mechanic…

 

The valve body does NOT have to be removed to replace the 1-2 accumulator springs. I changed them on my 95 Mark VIII Lincoln 4R70W years ago because I wanted it to shift a little quicker. You have to use a jack to push the accumulator in enough to remove the snap ring and then everything comes out. I thought I had a broken spring on my 02 truck because it was shifting hard but it was my mistake playing with the superchips programmer. I bought replacement springs and there were two upper springs instead of the one the Mark had because of the tendency of the upper spring to break I suspect. I don't know what year Ford went to two springs on the 4R70W.

 

Thank you Roadie, didn't know the 1-2 accumulator is easy to access. Now I just need to find a good place to get the 1-2 accumulator kit

 

The 1-2 accumulator is located on the front driver's side. After removing the pan, you will see it. The Ford dealer can supply the springs. You may have heard people refer to the J-mod. I think the guy's name was Jerry who came up with that mod. He used to be a member of the Mark VIII forum and he recommended some other springs to me to quicken the shift of my Mark VIII that had a very slow soft shift. My truck shifts quick enough and I presume it has the stock springs. I think I still have the springs I bought from the dealer for my truck around here somewhere.

 

Found the 1-2 accumulator kit, planning to do a fluid change and install the kit this Saturday