1992 ford conversion van shifting hard

Went to a transmission shop and talked to a guy with 35 years experience who sounded knowledgeable. Seemed to say a lot of what I searched on the internet. This vintage ford had some know problems from over heating and seals because there is no trans cooler. Bottom line it is a 92 with 200k miles, and the guy said he would have to drop the trans and could be a $2000 bill. He recommend to fill the trans when it cooled and if there was no leak it was probably a seal if not it would be something more severe. However when we tried this it just pour out the bottom. So had it towed to my sons house to sell it for parts. Thanks for the replies and help.

It sounds like you have a couple of valves sticking in the valve body of the tranny (not too atypical with a rebuild). You have most of the symptoms--hard or sticking shifts, hard engagement into gear, excess pressure.

If you're lucky, the rebuilder will stand behind his work. If not, a used tranny is probably the most economically efficient way of dealing with it.

Good luck with the van.

YEah-I'm back to the trans place idea again too-there's an overflow on top of the trans up near the front someplace but either way a looksee by someone that know's what they're doing is in line at this point. If it's coming out of the plug itself that's just a viewing port and you probably lost a seal up front which will call for a tear down I think.

Honestly, a good trans shop will give you an idea of what's up right away for nothing-they want your business.

Gjac wrote:
I had a 1992 Ford conversion van with a 351 eng and 4 speed transmission that I had rebuilt at 160,000 miles before giving it to my son. It now has 189,000 on it and is shifting hard when driving normally in D. It seems to hunt for a gear then bangs into gear. If it is shifted manually from 1 to 2 to 3 it shifts better or if it is floored in D it will shift better. Does any one have any ideas what would cause this? Plugs, wires, cap and rotor were recently changed.

Try hunting for a trans. shop.

Maybe too late now but the hard shifting could have been caused by the torque converter staying locked. Hopefully replaceing that might fix it.

Things just went from bad to worse. Son just went to drive van to parts store when all of a sudden white smoke stared pouring out the back. The whole bake was covered with transmission fluid. He drove it back to my mothers house were I am staying and leak was coming from the rubber plug on the bottom of the torque converter. If I remember correctly it is where you can drain the torque converter. Anyone have any idea of what might have occurred? Leaking seal, pump failure?

That's probably good news...not many inexpensive things go wrong in the trans! ;)

Passin Thru wrote:
I had a problem with mine on a 7.3 and they guy said it was water in the fuel so a missfire would be the same thing. Just saw this, glad you got a fix.

Didn't fix it yet just got some good advice to check the coil. Found a procedure on Autozones web site to check it.

I had a problem with mine on a 7.3 and they guy said it was water in the fuel so a missfire would be the same thing. Just saw this, glad you got a fix.

My son took the van to a transmission shop and the mechanic took it for a ride after explaining all the usual problems with sensors causing hard shifting. His conclusion was that it was a misfire in the engine. I would not have suspected that since plugs, wires, cap & rotor were just changed. But he suggested changing the coil. His thinking was high rpm when you get on it it shifts well but at lower rpm the coil was not putting out sufficient voltage witch caused a slight misfiring and a hunting of the trans before finally shifting hard into gear. Will check the coil out tomorrow.