couple problems with my 4r

[meme6885]

Well about a week ago i was driving my 4r when it wouldn't shift out of 3rd gear, so i went a little faster and it finally shifted but my o/d light off was flashing, i drove it the next day same thing and it took longer, so i checked the fluid and it was fine,
the other thing is, it says it is overheating so i drained and flushed the system, then put water in to do a test, well the guage says its way over past the red, but if that was true, wouldn't the water be boiling up and out of the cap, and wouldn't i smell burning and have performance issues, it drives the same, runs the same i only live 5 miles from work, which is good, but could it just be the sensor going bad, i also tested the thermostat and it checked out good, i took it out to do the test still says it was overheating.

any help or suggestions would be great

 

[rustyrazor]

I'd look at the temp gauge when you know the engine is cold like in the morning. If it reads hot as soon as you start the engine you know it's wrong. Mine takes about 3 minutes to come up to temp.

The other thing is that if for some reason the engine is getting that hot than you could be putting your head gasket at risk. (I have head gasket paranoia when it comes to the 3.0L)

The other thing I'm thinking is that the temp. sensor may have a bad wire that's picking up current from somewhere.

 

[Black_TurboSR5]

My guess is the temp sensor is bad, and the transmission computer or the throttle position sensor is bad.