2001 Ford Van – Sort of like a miss or slip

Here are a couple of thoughts. First, I don’t think your van’s problem is transmission-related. You said it yourself, when you hit the overdrive button, your van run smoother. It is entirely possible that your transmission’s clutches are slipping, which also means your bands aren’t doing their job, either. However, they aren’t all that far gone because the are, at least, working correctly part or most of the time. It is also possible that your transmission could be slightly down on transmission fluid. If that’s so, then your van would definitely perform the way you describe.

Honestly, I think your problems are mechanical. You said you are a carpet-installer and that means you are constantly carrying room-sized rolls of rolled-up carpeting. From what I have seen when the carpet guy sets up one of the units where we live for a new occupant, your truck is like-as-not loaded to or over capacity. If that’s the case, they your van’s engine would be straining and could easily perform poorly, skipping or misfiring. This is happening because the load you are carrying in the van is too great for the vehicle’s gross vehicle weight rating.

I can easily understand how this can happen as you do have to cram every bit of carpeting for a job, your tools and then yourself, and, possibly your crew, in the van. Instantly, you are over-rating and poor performance ensues.

Here’s a suggestion, if you have the time. After your next big job, when your van’s cleaned out pretty well, find the steepest and tallest hill in your city and then begin a steady-state trial run up the hill. A steady-state run is keeping your foot on the accelerator and watching that the speedo doesn’t exceed, say, 25 mph all the way up. If the hill is steep enough and tall enough, you should find at some point your van’s performance is impaired. It should begin to perform in the manner that you describe. If it doesn’t, then I will admit that it’s likely a transmission problem that is linked to slipping clutches and bands. It will cost between $1,800 and $2,400 to have a clutch/band issue diagnost and repaired.