Hello,
I sure hope someone can help me here. Being a non mechanically inclined person, this issue with my poor old F150 is killing me. I want to be able to help her, but not sure if it's worth it to spend thousands and thousands to replace the tranny. I have a 97 F150 v6 with 230,000 miles on it. For the last 2years, it shifts from a stopped or slow condition to 2nd gear VERY ROUGHLY(truck shakes and jerks) and often I have to coax her into it by letting off the gas and stepping on the gas slowly about 3-4 times before it catches smoothly. Again,..this has been going on for about 2 years now and it seems to be more pronounced when the engine is warmed up. I know if I take it to a dealer they will break the bad news to me, but if anyone else might think it could be something not as catastrophic as a complete transmission replacement, please feel free to let me know. PLEASE!!

thanks.

 

I had a problem with my '99 V6 4X4 having a very hard/late 1-2 shift (4R70W trans) which turned out to be a broken 1-2 accumulator spring. It was a relatively easy repair costing $10 for a new spring (and $60 for new fluid as I took the opportunity to replace all my trans fluid at the same time). Search the forums for 1-2 accumulator spring and you'll find several threads on the problem. I'm not sure if this is your problem, or if your '97 has the same trans, but it might be a place to start. If you're not comfortable checking the condition of the spring yourself, I'm sure a trans shop could check it for you for not a lot of money. When I had the problem, I thought the trans was toast and was thrilled when I fixed it for so little money. I hope this helps, and good luck!

 

WOW!!! Thanks, this could be the problem! I will head to my local mechanic and see if he can give me a quote for the labor! This could be a huge bit of good news for me! Can I ask you though what it felt lik or sounded like after a stop and return to 2nd? Always the same or worse with time?

 

I had my spring break almost 2 yrs ago when I was out off-roading on vacation. I drove the truck home (400 mi), and fixed it as soon as I got home. All I really remember about how it drove was that the motor would wind real tight (XL w/ no tach) before it would shift into 2nd, but other than that the trans operated normally.

To get to the 1-2 accumulator spring, all your mechanic has to do is to remove the trans pan, remove a large snap ring and pull out the accumulator piston and springs (there are two springs). He'll also have to replace the 5 or so qts. of trans fluid you lose removing the pan. It shouldn't cost you too much.

Please keep in mind that I'm not a trained mechanic, just a guy without a lot of money who is a good troubleshooter and good w/ tools (over 30 yrs. of owning cars and I've never taken one to a shop except for tires and smog checks)

Good Luck ... I hope this fixes your problem.