I was driving to work the other day and when i came to a stop sign, after waiting my turn to go, i let off the brake and hit the gas and it was almost like the car was in neutral. It revved up a bit and then dropped into 1st and took off. It doesn't do this every time, but it has done this to me 3 times now, over the course of about a month. Also, sometimes, it shifts hard into 2nd gear when accelerating moderately and gives me a little jerk, its not smooth at all. While in 2nd, sometimes while accelerating slowly/moderately it kinda feels like i have 4 plugs misfiring, so it feels weak and wabley. I'm not sure if that has to do with the transmission or not. I am currently at 71k miles on an '01.

Seems like it's the tranny .

I'm sure it's the tranny, I just don't know what to do about it. Thats why i posted :P

Start with a new tranny filter and Mobil 1 ATF oil. Get a tranny filter only - the ford tanny gasket is reusable. You will need about 7 quarts of oil if you drop the pan to change the filter. I am going to do this tune up on my Dad's 2001 F150 - he says it does not go into overdrive until it warms up. I have done this on my 1999 windstar - stopped a tranny shudder while turning left and on my 1990 Olds 98 Regency - gave me 2mpg more as indicated by the computer. I will do this on my Continental soon - when I bought it last year, the guy had just changed the tranny oil.

Regards,
Brad.

Awesome, Thank you for your help! I'll get right on this as soon as I can. I'm afraid damage is being done to the tranny.

On my 1997 continental, Ford had loaded a new software patch for the tranny. I do not know what this was supposed to correct as it was done before I bought the car.

regards,
Brad.