My 00 H.D. F150 the other day started to shift pretty hard between 1-2 gear. At light throttle it is just firm, but at WOT the shift is very hard. My o/d light does NOT flash or come on. It is a 5.4/4R70W set up. Thanks in advance. I tried searching a bit but it seems everyone has a different sort of problem in this trans, lol

 

I had a problem with my 99 having very hard 1-2 shifts, and it turned out to be the 1-2 accumulator spring in the trans. If you're handy w/ tools it's an easy and cheap repair ($10 spring). If you take it to a shop, I would hope it would be relatively cheap, but I don't know since I've never taken a car to a shop. If your interested, I could probably walk you through checking to see if the spring is broken ... this requires dropping the pan on the trans.

 

I agree definitely check that spring as it's been known to cause this

 

I also have this problem and mine is slow shifting from 1-2 and then thumps into 2nd. All my other shifts are perfet.Can we see what it takes to fix it? And also where to buy the spring? Thanks!

 

This is what I remember from my repair: Remove the trans pan, and look for a large snap ring (approx 1.5-2" across); Remove the snap ring and a piston, a lower spring (this was broken into two springs on my truck), a second piston and a upper spring will drop out; Go to your friendly Ford dealer and ask for a lower or upper (depending on which spring is broken) 1-2 accumulator spring (I had to point it out on an exploded view of the trans at the dealer as the parts guy had no idea what I was talking about); Put the springs/pistons back into the trans in the proper order and reinstall the snap ring (I used a bottle jack to carefully push the piston up into the trans so I could install the snap ring).

I believe these springs are specific to at least the motor in your truck, and may be specific to other things like 4X4 or gearing, so make sure you get the correct spring. The spring cost me $10, and they had to order it (I live in a fairly small town). This repair was one of the most satifying repairs I've ever done, as I was sure my trans was history and I was looking at big money to repair it, not $10.

20Screw01, When I had this problem, I was out off-roading 350 miles from home, and the trans worked flawlessly on the drive home with the exception of the 1-2 shift.

Long post, but I hope it helps one of you guys out. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions. Keep in mind I'm not a trained mechanic, just a guy who is a good troubleshooter, good with tools, and above all, too cheap to pay someone else to work on my vehicles.

 

I'm experiencing a smilar situation, but mine is only shifting 1-2 hard when the tranny gets hot. It has brand new fluid and filter, and while I had the pan dropped I checked the springs, which were just recently replaced during the rebuild. So I'm not to sure what to look at now.

 

any of you guys have shift kits??

 

No shift kit here, that I know of. I bought my truck used with 65K miles. It had about 80K miles when the spring broke and has about 93K on it now. When I dropped the pan, the factory dipstick plug was still in it.

 

No shift kit here either. Thanks fair Ill be checking it soon.

 

check the accuators, they can be slamming up causing the shift to be harsh

 

I have the transgo kit, but I think the actuators are still stock. This truck has done alot of shifting from 1-2 and 2-1, with the service work I used the truck for a couple of years back. I will see about picking up an actuator that sounds like a good idea.

 

Where are the accuators and how do I tell if they are bad?

 

Do you mean accumulators? I thought I knew quite a bit about this trans, but I have no idea about any actuators. I've been inside hundreds of them and I never saw an actuator.

 

yes, sorry 'bout that I meant accumulators

 

How many accumulators are there in the trans ? I guess I really only need to check the 1-2 shift accumulator right?