hey all,

my ef II wagon sometimes slips 1st gear from take off.
it does it very rarely, usually when rolling through a give way sign or through a slow roundabout. it feels like it gets caught between the 2-1 downshift then you put the foot down and it slips a tad then it grabs & off you go.
doesnt do it all the time, it can go a week (200 or 300km) without any problems then just out of the blue it will do it from a set of traffic lights or similar. doesnt seem to matter if its hot or cold, its just completely random.
I pulled the valve body off a while ago & checked the band adjustment. everything was in specs. i did a trans service, new fluid & filter and replace the s5 solenoid with an au one. (recommended to me by an auto trans reco shop).
didnt fix it.
i checked the fluid level car running, auto pan slightly warm, tranny fluid is spot on.
not sure what the problem is.
i've read that the s1 solenoid controls the 1-2 shift thought maybe it was the problem. i checked it with a multimeter and its spot on specs. (23ohms). maybe the s1 is a bit d**k sometimes?

as anyone else had this happen to them?
it seems to be a lot better if i leave the economy switch off.
i have also read that the current to the s5 solenoid is 1000mA while in garage 1st & auto 1st gear but gets full pressure in manual low.
manual low has no issues at all.
i think maybe because my auto is getting a bit tired, it can't cope with the lower liner pressure in 1st.

btw, im a mechanic so i dont mind getting in there and fixing what needs fixing rather than just swapping the auto for the sake of it. what do you learn by doing that?

try the error codes,might give a clue or as you said too many ks,my box killed 1-2 band at 276k,so had it rebuilt,no problems so far-with warranty,more to play with---------problems

Have you done a "stall test"?

yes. the torque converter is fine.

i would like to try a full auto flush but 20 litres of fluid isnt cheap.
i dont want to waste money on atf95 if the box is stuffed anyway.
the fluid looks brown, even after 2 services. its probably part of the problem.

i check the error codes, got a system passed.

if the fluid is brown after 2 services

flush the system!

Hi ,have a similar prob with my EFxr as descibed in previous post several months ago(1st-2nd gear shift) i hav had auto serviced and s5 solonoid replaced with AU one ,made no differance.
no diagnose test came up with any problem with the auto.
A reply to a similar auto prob was its the B-1 bevel spring in the 2-4 serv
As yet i have not tried this solution ,but would be sure happy if someone could confirm this as a solution !!!!!