2002 4x4 ranger 4.0 engine. when shifting from park to reverse it shifts fine ,but from drive to reverse it shifts hard . any ideas or suggestions, thanks in advance

 

All sorts of things come to mind!

I'd pull out the factory service manual set for this one...
(Order from dealer.)

First of all there are all sorts of things to do with engine idle speed. And I mean ALL sorts of things. If it is in park or neutral. If it is in drive. If the air conditioning is on. If there is a large electrical load like lights and rear window defrost on. Engine warm or not. Etc.

So the 1st question is if the engine is at the correct idle speed in the various situations.

Then automatic transmissions these days tend to be controlled by computers (I don't know about your specific vehicle). And this interacts with the engine computer and might have some input as to what the engine idle speed is.

So I would read through the description of operation for the transmission and learn how this *should* operate. Then test with a multimeter to see if everything was functioning as it should.

If the engine idle speed and the transmission electronic controls checked out ok, then I would assume it was a mechanical problem.

 

Must admit kinda confused at the question.Do you mean the physical action of moving the lever or the vehical makes the transition from drive to reverse in an odd or "hard clunk" kind of way that is not present when going from park to reverse? Two different answers possible in the area to look at.Also are you in 4x4 or 2wd when this happens or does it do it in both.
Thanks and Looking forward to an answer.

 

I watched this post to see what ideas people would come up with regarding this issue. To be clear, the OP is talking about putting their Ranger into drive from reverse.
The OP also said that going from park (Engine is already engaged to the Trans) to drive doesn't present an issue.
But I've heard it said many different ways.

As an owner of an '08 Ranger 4x4 I can attest that ya, the truck has quite a noticeable engagement to the trans when switched from drive to reverse or reverse to drive. 4X4 switched on or not. But it always shifts fine between gears. I never thought that it is something wrong with the truck, just a peculiarity in the way the drive train is engineered.

So after reading Bill90's response, I'm taking the computers control over idle speed into account. Which is a peculiarity I never would have thought of. Because often when given gas after selecting reverse or drive or changing between the two, sometimes it engages hard and wants to chirp the wheels after just a light touch of the gas, and yet sometimes it feels like engine lugging during the fist few seconds acceleration. It's almost like sometimes you have to feather the throttle. It doesn't always do this however. Just mostly at startup.

Still a good truck though!

 

If you shift the trans into neutral and let it sit for a moment and then continue to reverse or visa versa is the pattern changed the only change being allowing it to become neutralized first?
Bill