I have an 01 F150, with the 4R100 tranny, that is slow shifting from park into drive (3-5 seconds). The truck has 180,000km on it. I am not knowing what the previous owner did for maintainance (it was a repo) so I am slowly changing everything (fluids, plugs, etc).

Would this be due to wear or could it be as simple as needing a trans oil and filter change?

 

If you do not know the history of the vehicle, I would certainly replace the fluid and filter. That will give you an opportunity to check for any foreign matter in the fluid. As the 01 does have a TC drain, you can easily drain all the fluid rather than having to do a flush. As this is probably the cheapest of any repair/maintenance, I would start there.

 

Yes, I did read here that there is a TC drain. I thought that was a little strange at first, but can see it being usefull.

I will change the fluid ASAP, however it is very cold here right now so maybe before traveling for Christmas.

 

make sure you use an oem filter, and the pan isn't dinged up where it contacts the filter. loose fitting filters cause some weird issues.

 

Id Change the tranny fluid and make sure its full to the correct amount.