Transmission not working properly/slipping?

2008 FORD EXPLORER
290,000 MILES • 4.0L • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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TAKUMII.866
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Hi, I need help.

I have the vehicle listed above with 290,000 kms on it v6 4.0 Canadian spec
The engine is all good it just leaks oil through the oil pan.
And there's no code.
But sometimes after a long drive in city for like 30 minutes the gear goes to neutral it slips and does not accelerate a bit i put it in P and than to D still the same. then i change the gear to D1 (low1 in automatic) and than it works perfectly fine without slippage and then works fine.
It also happens when i have load in my car it seems like transmission is struggling at 60 MPH on an uphill it seems like it downshifts and upshifts with a jerk sound and a little jerk. It seems like it happens when the car is on load like accelerate on a tight corner, or an uphill

It also produces a jerk sound when shifting to D from P or reverse. I had new transmission fluid 2 years back

It often goes to neutral and than sometimes it also slips a lot like 1,500 RPMs i am accelerating with little slippage but after 1,500 the revs goes up the car doesn't move at all and sometimes it doesn't move at all even at 1,000 RPMs or 1,500 RPMs or 4,000 RPMs.
Aug 29, 2021 at 12:56 PM
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DANNY L
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
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Hello, I'm Danny.

First thing I would suggest is to check the automatic transmission fluid level. Here is a tutorial showing how to check the fluid level for an automatic transmission:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-and-add-transmission-fluid

The transmission fluid that your truck requires is Mercon 5. Let us know what you find and we'll go from there. Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.
Aug 30, 2021 at 2:56 AM
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TAKUMII.866
  • MEMBER
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Hello Danny,

That was really helpful.
I went through the link that you provided but i am confused, all i need to do to check the transmission fluid is put the car on a level ground with engine running and reach the ideal position for the car temperature, then unscrew a t30 bolt from the pan and if there is oil dripping out that says my transmission fluid is okay and if it's not i m running low on transmission fluid.

And to refill i can put a tube in the t30 bolt place maybe 2 inches inside because i don't want to hit the inside of the transmission as the car is running and attach the other end of the pipe to a bottle and push on the fluid inside the transmission will that work in adding transmission fluid
Also let the excess come out and when it starts dripping i am all good.
Aug 30, 2021 at 3:26 AM
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DANNY L
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello again.

No, this has nothing to do with removing any bolts in your transmission. Just follow the first set of instructions on how to check the transmission fluid by using the under hood automatic transmission dipstick on your Explorer. Let us know what happens after checking the transmission fluid level to see if this helps first. Let us know and we'll go from there. Hope this helps and thanks again for using 2CarPros.

Danny-
Aug 30, 2021 at 4:25 AM