stuttering and hesitation in second gear (1 Viewer)

[outfitter taco]

I'm a noob, whom has just bought a '96 lx 450. I'm in the process of baselining it. One thing that I have noticed is that there is a stutter and a hesitation in second gear under moderate to heavy load (ie. accelerating hard uphill) It usually happens between 1500 and 2600 rpm. It does not do it in any other gear. I have flushed the transmission and replaced the fluid. I have not yet done a tune up. I searched on the forum but have not come up with anything that helps. I could have missed something though. I thank everybody in advance for their time for helping point me in the right direction.

 

[jjhancock]

Did the hesitation occur before you started baselining it? Could be that you under-filled the transmission... I'd go out for a long half hour drive at freeway speeds and then park your truck on a flat surface and check the transmission fluid level. I know mine doesn't read very accurately when the truck is cold, but reads in the HOT range on the transmission dipstick after a long drive. Post up with more info as to what exactly you have done to baseline the truck so far, and if this problem was occurring prior to any particular maintenance you have done so far.

Oh yeah, welcome

 

[outfitter taco]

The hesitation was happening prior to the transmission flush. I thought flushing and replacing the fluid would alleviate the problem. In terms of maintenance or baselining that I have done so far:
-repacked the front wheel bearings
-coolant flush
-cleaned the throttle body
-replaced front brake pads
-machined front & rear disc brake rotors
-replaced rear brake shoes
-replaced radiator
-replaced air flow tube
-replaced air filter
-oil and filter
-replaced oil pump gasket that was leaking

It is not may DD, so when I get the scratch I'll do the diffs and transfer case, as well as fix some more of the leaks underneath. A total tune up is next on the list. I bought the truck in Texas, and brought it up here to Canada. I thoroughly checked it out down there before buying it, and it had an extensive vehicle history that the original owner provided me with. The problem with the leaks I think stem from the harsh climate up here. In December we had weeks of minus 35 C. So I think the contraction and expansion of the old gaskets has caused some of them to fail. I have to replace the power steering pump, because its gushing like the Exxon Valdez. The transmission stutter has just shown up in the last few days (after all the major items listed, but before the transmission flush) The truck has 158 k miles on it. I just hope and pray that its not the tranny.