Ranger Transmission

I have a '99 Ranger with the 4R44E trans and it hesitates upon engaging in D. It seems to work fine in 1,2, and R. It also shifts rough but mainly when accelerating or going into passing gear. So far the only suggestion I got was to install a "shift kit." Apparently this is a common problem on my particular trans and that is the common solution. Your transmission is probably a different model than mine but you might want to ask at:

and see what they have to say. I don't yet know what a shift kit is but I'm not real anxious to spend very much more money on this trans because I just installed it (used) because the other trans wouldn't go anywhere any more. So far this Ranger is the worst car/truck I've ever owned. Or I'm just not smart enough to own it.

1. Not still under warranty? If so let the dealer worry about it.

1. Done a scan yet? If not, do so, and post any DTC codes that are being set.

Thanks for replying Ulysses and PeterD. No, have not done a scan yet because the "check engine" light hasn't come on. It's also out of warranty now. Could a scan without the check engine light tell me anything? The interesting thing is that yesterday I made several trips in the truck with the overdrive off and there were no incidents. Do you think that using the overdrive option in city traffic has anything to do with it? I always left the overdrive on in city traffic after first purchasing the truck with no problems. Until recently.

Thanks again.

I don't know an awful lot about it but I think if the O/D light flashes then it is giving you a trouble code for the trans. My previous trans in my Ranger did not give any codes so I guess that was actually bad. From what a trans guy told me it seems that if you get a code it might be a problem that can be fixed without rebuilding the trans. When I first installed the used trans in my Ranger the O/D light started flashing after a few miles. I disconnected the battery for a couple of hours to attempt to clear the codes (didn't have a code reader available) and it didn't come back on. On some cars/trucks if the O/D light flashes it will go into "Limp" mode which means it barely goes. Someone at The Ranger Station told me there might have just been some gunk stuck in a valve or whatever and it cleared itself. So far so good. Personally I would get the codes read even if the O/D light is not on but I'm not sure if it would give you a trouble code for the trans or not.

Some not-so-good-news is that on my '91 Explorer the overdrive suddenly stopped working but it seems fine in all other gears as long as I start out in D. In O/D it's just like putting it in neutral. Several people told me it has a broken "sprag" and about the only way to fix it is a rebuild. It seems unlikely that your trans is that far gone with so few miles on it. Hopefully.

yes, it would. The CEL doesn't illuminate for all faults.

Might, but should not.

Check for DTCs, just in case.