I have a 93 Mark VIII and I am not sure whats going on with my tranny. First when I go around turns and hit the gas feels like a delay before it takes off, the transmission only have about 74K on it so im not sure if its going or not. Seconds when I stab it, it feels like its winding out then catching second...all the other gears shifting its smooth as could be. Finally Park,reverse,nuetral, and drive shift fine on the gear shifter, but putting it down in 2nd and 1st you have to really pull back on it. It goes into gear smoth when you do it but its just hard to pull it back to do that. The previous owner were my parents and my mom drove it so I know she wasnt being billy bad @ss. I dont beat the car, get on it once in a while to keep her on her toes but thats it, not manually shifting it, power braking it or anything....any help out there?

the going around the turns then hesitation.. i get that too sometimes.. dunno what it is .. i think its something with the fuel system.. but the rest of it sounds like it might be the "shift positioning sensor" ( ? actual name ).. i had a prob with that in my 93

someone correct me if i am wrong,i remember reading about the earlier units having fluid starvation on turns,

and i think converting to the new deeper trans pan fixes it.

is it on righthand turns only?

try this

http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/transmission/page4.shtml

2nd article from bottom

If it feels like it's jumping into neutral for a second when you go around turns, it's probably fluid starvation as Moes8 said. With our shallow pans, the fluid needs to be filled to the "maximum" line on the dipstick. Anything less can cause it to act up. Do not overfill it though.

When most cars downshift, they usually just kinda ooze into gear and smoothly pick up speed. With the Mark VIII, it feels more like it's being pulled back and then flung by a giant slingshot. It's totally normal, and fun too. :)

As for the shifter, 2-1 are probably clogged with 13 years of dust and grime, simply because most people never go past Drive.

The shifter on my 93 does the same thing, almost have to use two hands to put it in 1st or 2nd. Getting it out of 1st and 2nd is hard too. One of these days will have to put it on ramps and shoot some lube on the shifter probably not used much by last owner (83) it has 65,000 on it now, I got it with 60,000.:D

thanks fellas I can sleep better knowing that I dont need to replace the transmission...enough thing to get after...

could be gunk in the bottom of the shifter assy from pop etc spilled id clean it there too