white89gt

It's been 9 years since he posted that, FYI.

Bronco Joe

After searching 100's if not 1000's of forum posts and google searches I came up empty. I had this issue with my 97' and me not knowing much about transmissions brought it to the trans shop. They said needs a new trans. The fluid looked good but it would shift so hard sometimes it felt like i would destroy the rear end. I figured if I was going to need a new trans anyways, I might as well wait til it goes. After months of dealing with this I started looking at every possible factor. What I found was that the speed sensor on the output shaft of the transfer case affects shifting, So I replaced it. It improved slightly but not 100%. for me the problem ended up being the plastic gear ON the output shaft the mates with the speed sensor. Put a new one on and shifts perfect. I hope this helps someone and its a super cheap fix.
the part was something like the picture below:

dontherogue

I'll chime in as well. On my '99 XL 4.2l I've noticed that it shifts 'more noticeably' from first to second than from second to third or third to OD. I suppose it's shifting harder, the term used by F150Redfire; I expect we're all talking about the same condition. Mine has shifted that way since I bought it in 2016. Given the number of posters who are experiencing the same thing and have some for some time, I would expect that it's likely nothing to worry about in most cases. Now, because of my cynical nature (reinforced by life's experiences), I'm going to speculate that when these trucks were under warranty, the dealers would say "normal condition", and the day the warranty expired they'd tell you the sky was falling and the tranny needed to be torn apart.

Ryan Wyrick

bought bought mine at a hundred and thirty thousand miles and when it's colder at definitely shifts a little harder even after transferring out the filter and fluid and replacing the filter and fluid but we all know there's plenty more fluid up in there however it wasn't even bad to begin with. the shutter I get around 40 miles an hour as well as 55 miles an hour almost resembles a bent wheel or imbalanced tire except I've completely eliminated that with two different sets of both. I also get a slight shudder going uphill around turns that are sharp enough it's very noticeable and seems to be in first gear possibly shifting into second gear sometimes I can't tell but usually when you go up a steep hill that's not going to shift on you too soon.. the 40 mile-an-hour shutter which I'm dubbed it very frustrating because I can't tell if it's a torque converter problem or a bent rear end issue and considering the circumstances of the previous owner letting his daughter drive it and it's pulling a one-eighty into a ditch I would say that there is some sort of slightly bent hub issue. also I'm about to do rear shocks sometimes these can have a profound effect on a shutter feeling but I realized your thread is mainly about a hard shift into 2nd gear which I must say mine does definitely and I've owned a couple of crown vics. the only thing I can say for the crown Victorias the p71 I've owned is they had shift kits so the comment above about a possible shift kit in these is very possible however most people don't just buy these and get those installed. mine was used for a fair amount of hauling and has the coil over load adjusting shocks in the rear that accommodate I have your load plus I have a level lift of 2in in the back so there's a huge chance that my F-150 hard shift problem is a shift kit or more likely bad fluid or the wrong fluid who knows anything can happen with a used vehicle that you didn't have control over. believe it or not big time mechanics in the industry are putting friction modifier straight from Ford intended for limited slip into these transmissions and I have done the same because my dad insisted and he's a Master mechanic of 50 years.. some people say friction modifiers add friction some people have no idea and are under the assumption they reduce friction I personally don't know I personally don't care I just want these weird symptoms to go away because I'm like you I know there's something not right about them and when you get extra friction and extra vibration obviously parts are wearing down. Ford is something else in this department they really are they pull all kinds of stuff in the middle of a generation and variables can be completely different from one year to the next within the same generation even though you think they're identical.. I know I'm not a great typer and I use speech to text a little too much but I hope I gave you some insight to work with I would start with a torque converter issue meaning drop the fluid and if it already looks good I don't think a flush will hurt you too bad however most people frown upon a flush because it can loosen too many things up at one time but if you have pink fluid like mine before a fluid and filter change I say go for it I'm considering the same because when you drop that pan even though you get a bunch of fluid out your hardly getting any of the total fluid in there there's probably five more courts in there or more trapped in the torque converter.. okay I said way too much lol

Mobleybay

I even have to let off the gas to get it to shift sometimes. This new just started today. My concern is it sounds really bad and I can’t help but think something is terribly wrong. I’m going to check all the vacuum lines to see if that’s the problem. The Lucas adative sounds good also so I don’t think it can hurt to add that also. Is this a sighn my tranny is gone or could it be something as simple as a vacuum line. Oh and come to think of it the temp today was crazy hot. I just don’t want to loose my tranny if I can something now to correct. 150,000 miles It heated 3 months ago just replaced oil pump and had the heads shaved, new distributor, plugs and wires, and every thing else ignition wise. Just got back from shop with new used rear end so I’d like to avoid another big expense.

thanks for any suggestions