1996 Ford Explorer Torque Converter

A symptom of a torque converter going bad is the vehicle stalling when selecting a forward gear, reverse gear or slowing down to a full stop. This happens because it is in lock-up mode meaning that the clutches will not release and will not transfer the power as it should.

Thanks for the response.
So if the torque converter is already shot and you put it into drive what should happen?

the engine will stall out, similar to having a manual tranny and putting it into gear at idle without holding in the clutch, it kills the engine.

The problem im having is when i shift into drive it acts as though its in park or neutral. No drive, reverse, and wont even go into 4 wheel drive.

we're there any previous signs of problems with transmission shifting? is the transmission fluid full and clean? are there any warning lamps on the instrument cluster or flashing (i.e. OverDrive Off, etc...) ?

Yes there was signs. Clean and full of tranny fluid. Sometimes had problems shifting, the engine check light was on, Now the overdrive off light blinks but the engine check light is off.

Ok, it will need to be scanned by a transmission diagnostic scanner to bring up the fault code(s). this will pinpoint the cause, most likely its a faulty sensor but there is a chance that it is more serious like an internal failure of the valve body or something.

Thanks for the help Mark I really appreciate your input. Unfortuanatally ive already tried to scan it but at one point the battery was disconnected and no longer have the memory (arrrrr). Again thanks so much.