i bought a 97 f150 4x4 that had problems with reverse,when i first bought it it would not start,i replaced starter and relay,and it fired up,put in in drive and it went forward,put it in reverse,it bucked and jumped and overevved before it moved,i looked underneath and found a leaky tranny line.i fixed the line and now no problems with reverse,however,i now have no forward gears,i figure its got to be something stupid im not seeing,this is the first ford pickup i have owned so im not too familiar with the way they set stuff up on them yet.Any help would be greatly appreciated in this matter

 

Ok, I'm going to ask the obvious, so please don't take offense. Did you check the transmission fluid level and did you check it when in drive position. In other words, with someone holding the brake on while in gear.

 

i've actually done something like that before bud so don't feel bad if it was low fluid...

 

ive checked the fluids while in gear,its full,fluid is red and doesnt smell burnt.

 

It should be checked with the trans warmed up and the trans in park or neutral.

 

It should be checked with the trans warmed up and the trans in park or neutral.

 

For a normal check, yes, and that would most likely be adequate. But when you've been losing fluid, and the transmission is acting suspicious. I have had to check it in gear to make sure there was really enough fluid for the pump. Worked on a Plymouth once that lied to me if it was not in gear.

 

I don't understand. You want to check the fluid in an inaccurate way to trick yourself into thinking there is fluid? If there isn't enough fluid to read it in park or neutral, then add more fluid!.

 

No, the problem I had was there appeared to be fluid when it was not running. When we put it in gear, it did not show on the stick. It was actually low on fluid, but appeared to have plenty. Regardless, he says it's full, so that is not his problem.

 

its full,when warmed up,and when in gear,also in park or neutral,ive had the same problem with a chevy that bluejay is mentioning,where its low as soon as it is in gear.I guess my biggest problem with this truck is everything is run on computers nowadays,Ive read elsewhere that these trannys are very finicky.i have the 4R70w
tranny,thinking all along that a 4x4 would have the more heavy duty e4od