89 E-150 w/ AOD Trans. Mis-Shifting

So recently i've been having problems with my trans. its not that it slips, it just doesnt shift at the correct speed. or sometimes not at all. it seems to get better once its warmed up. and yes, im no idiot i checked the fluid levels, more than once. ive replaced the trans. filter. and added a bottle of trans. medic. which both helped for a short period of time. but being that i drive quite a-bit it didnt last long. so ive read a few suggestions that im going to try tommorow. which are replacing/cleaning the speed sensor. and something about the TPS which makes no sence to me because your TPS is located on your throtle body and doesnt seem as if it would have anything to do with your trans's shifting. but yeah. if anyone has any idea's it would be much appreciated. thanks
-ray the van man

i should add that i have a 1989 Ford E-150 conversion van. with the 302 and the AOD trans.

Aod trans are shifted by governor pressure and throttle valve pressure and are not electronic and changing your tp will not help the way it shifts. You need to check the tv cable to make sure it is attached and not broken. When you changed the fluid did you drain the converter? What did the fluid look like? When you are having shifting problems are all the shifts late or early or just one? If you had any metal in the pan when changing the fluid you may have a stuck governor.

Aod trans are shifted by governor pressure and throttle valve pressure and are not electronic and changing your tp will not help the way it shifts. You need to check the tv cable to make sure it is attached and not broken. When you changed the fluid did you drain the converter? What did the fluid look like? When you are having shifting problems are all the shifts late or early or just one? If you had any metal in the pan when changing the fluid you may have a stuck governor.
ok, tv cable? im not sure where that might be located. when i changed the fluid i did not drain the converter. the fluid really looked fine. and i probably didnt need to change the filter. but it was my first step in finding the issue. there was no metal in the pan other than the pan itself since it is made of metal, and after changing the speed sensor it didnt help either. but lately it shifts fine sometimes. and other times it shifts late on all shifts. 1st to 2nd is aprox 35 - 40 mph and 2nd to 3rd is 55 - 60mph thats when it doesnt feel like shifting right, other than that. no i havent checked the tv cable. but i did look for a modulator because it really is acting like that is bad or there is a vacume leak to that. but of course its newer so it doesnt have one that i can see. everything seems to be attached to the trans. and in proper working order. there are no loose cables or lines, or open ports for connectors. so im not sure. but thanks for the advice. im heading to the library tommorow to check out a book on my van. so i may possibly check that tommorow

So recently i've been having problems with my trans. its not that it slips, it just doesnt shift at the correct speed. or sometimes not at all. it seems to get better once its warmed up. and yes, im no idiot i checked the fluid levels, more than once. ive replaced the trans. filter. and added a bottle of trans. medic. which both helped for a short period of time. but being that i drive quite a-bit it didnt last long. so ive read a few suggestions that im going to try tommorow. which are replacing/cleaning the speed sensor. and something about the TPS which makes no sence to me because your TPS is located on your throtle body and doesnt seem as if it would have anything to do with your trans's shifting. but yeah. if anyone has any idea's it would be much appreciated. thanks
-ray the van man

i should add that i have a 1989 Ford E-150 conversion van. with the 302 and the AOD trans.

i changed the speed sensor today. that is not the problem. altho it seems to be more frequent with shifting correctly now than before

Yes I told you that it is not electric and no sensors will help it shift properly. One question for you although is the engine running fine with plenty of power? If the engine does not have the power due to a plugged exhuast converter it will cause the transmission to shift late and hard. This trans should shift to overdrive under cruise conditions at 45 mph. The tv cable is hooked on the left side of the transmission insde of the manual lever. It runs to the throttle body and runs off the throttle linkage. Fords are bad for grommet getting hard and falling apart. This causes the linkage to fall off and go out of adjustment and it will burn the trans up. It is best that you dont play with that because you may make it worse. What you can do is remove the drive shaft ( after properly supporting the van ) and jack the trans up off the crossmember, remove the trans mount and the extention housing. You will see the governor held in with two phillips screws to a weight around the shaft. Carefully take it off and note its location. The valve inside should move freely with no effort at all. If it is sticking this will cause you problems. You may clean it with fine sand paper like 600 or 1000 but nothing coarse and it must be perfectly clean when it goes back together. Also when I ment metal in the pan i ment very small flakes because that is all it takes to stick this valve. There is a filter at the governor and it is supposed to catch them but it does not.

thank you for the information. im going to try a few of the things youve mentioned. also i should check the exhaust converter considering the rear cap to my muffler fell off about 2 months ago. and it does seem to lose power but rarely. id again like to thank you for your help. being that this is my first AOD trans. im actually learning quite a bit.

I have built quite a few of these trans and they are quite good although dont like dirt in the governor. Currantly I have one in my Bronco and one in My sons mustang. I am ordering a specila aftermarket governor to raise the shift point of my sons mustang.

ok i know you said that the shifting has nothing to do with an electrical problem, but i cleaned contacts to the plug on the speed sensor and it shifts fine now. so thanks for the help. im going to go ahead and print off your advice anyway, because in the future im sure i will encounter one of these problems, considering shes goin over 200,000 miles and ive rarely ever seen a vehicle make it that far without a major problem

VSS is for electronic instriment clusters which you dont have and speed control. This is an 89 not a 99 right? This trans does not have the od button to cancel does it?