put your truck into first on the gear selector and see if the engine slows the truck down or if it coasts as if it is in neutral

Matt

 

I will do that then, and get back to you.

 

just accelerate gently with it in first then when it gets reved up a little bit let off

Matt

 

I just read over this thread and I think the problem I am having with my 2001 Ford Ranger may be this "valve body" problem but I wanted to make sure. I have a 2001 Ford Ranger 4x2 with the 4.0 SOHC engine. It has an automatic transmission. The transmission seems to lag in shifting from 1st gear to 2nd gear sometimes. In addition the overdrive light seems to flash randomly. The truck only has 65K miles on it. Does anybody have any ideas what may be causing this? What are the symptoms of the valve body problem? Are there any other parts that may cause these problems?

Thanks in advance,

-Steve

 

there are multiple symptoms. read the rest of this post and you can find how to troubleshoot it

Matt

 

I put it in 1st, and it idled down a slight bit, and started movie forward. I pressed the accelerator a bit and then let go and it kept going, eventually slowing down because I had begun to go up a hill.

 

u should feel it pull the trucks speed down. this is a very good indicator that your valve body is leaking by due to a gasket problem. please list all vehicle info you have

Matt

 

1999 Ford Ranger, 3.0L, Auto, 2wd, single cab short bed. I do not know the rear end gearing. What else do you need to know?

 

you are a prime contestant for the valve body issue. the only thing i can suggest is pulling the valve body and taking a peak. have you read the article on how to fix this?

Matt

 

Yes I read the article. $100 at the dealership vs. $4000 to replace the transmission, is okay by me. Is there some other ways I can tell for sure if I'm having this problem, without pulling the valve body? Do you think I could still drive the truck for a little while longer while I save and get some other dead cars out of my garage so I can do this?

 

i wouldnt recommend driving the truck very long at all. the more it messes up the more bands you are eating and the shorter the life of the trans. your looking at it like i did, even if it doesnt fix it, its worth the risk because of the possible savings.

Matt

 

Sounds like at the next paycheck I need to be taking care of this....

 

most expensive part is the stupid oil. make sure u use mercon 5

Matt

 

I paid attention to the shifting more while I drove all day...I couldn't see any problem with shifting. I even started once shifting from 1, 2 then D.

Should I go ahead and do the fix, or maybe mine isn't affected?

 

From the parts list I wouldn't think they rebuilt your trans, looks like they rebuilt THE problem clutch pack and replaced a band. Not enough parts for a rebuild.