I have an '04 F150 FX4, and when I put the truck into gear (reverse or drive), there is a slight pause (1.5-2 seconds) before it fully engages. This only happens during the initial start up with the first transmission engagment. Once the "juices get flowing" it seems to be fine.

Any ideas what this could be? A POS TC? A POS valvebody?

Thanks in advance,
Daymon

 

When was the last time you changed the fluid?

 

I changed it at about 60K, I now have about 72K

 

I wouldn't think it's the torque converter. Other than that it could be the valve body or other internal issues.

Darrin

 

Update:

I found that my trans fluid was way too high. When cold, it was already in the "do not add" area. When hot, it was past the white tip and up on the metal section. I stopped by a local trans shop that has done me right in the past. They found I had 3.5 quarts too much fluid in the transmission.

In a rush before a long road trip from SLC to Yellowstone at the end of July, I had Jiffy Lube ( My friend's brother inlaw is the manager, he's a gear head and he said he'd make sure everything was taken care of ) flush the transmission, change the transfer case fluid and change the F&R diff's fluid. As soon as they were done, I loaded up and away I went on my roadtrip. That was actually about 4-5K ago, now that I looked at my invoice. I was in a rush and didn't even check the fluid level, like I have done every other time I've taken my truck to have something done like an oil change at Walmart or something.

So 5K later, I start having these issues. Tanner Transmission said I'd be better off going back to Jiffy Lube and showing them what they had found. Jiffy Lube seems like they're owning up to the problem, drained the excess fluid and said that if that doesn't fix the problem, then they would pay to have the trans fixed or replaced.
It did help the issues quite a bit, but only reduced them.

I'll be going back in tomorrow to see if they stick to their word.

 

if its on a cold start up the converter will be half empty and will need to be refilled before it can do its job properly