There's two parts to this, not sure if they are related by something other than the transmission itself:

1. First gear to second gear shift on a cold start

When first starting up my truck in the morning and after work, the truck struggles to shift into second the first time. I'll describe how it is in the morning since its a little easier. When I start my truck up, I usually let it idle a bit and then head out. There's a straight road after I leave the area I park. I tend to take it easy here and let it warm up, so I usually don't get out of first, however, towards the end of the road I'm just about at the shift point. Its at this moment where the RPMs will raise about 100-200, then decrease to where it was, then increase again, then decrease, until it finally shifts.

2. In OD accelerating up hills

When I'm in OD and trying to climb hills, if I'm around 40-60 mph and I try to accelerate, the RPM will surge about 200, where the peaks occur roughly every second. The midpoint of the RPM surge will slowly increase (the surge will slowly move up the tach) and the surge will quicken up, until it finally jumps up to where it should be.


Are these signs of transmission problems?

 

you should not! have your trans in od going up any! hills

 

Drop the pan, change fluid and filter, clean governor solenoid and sensor, adjust bands. For problem number 2, check voltage output of the TPS. Use an analog gauge.... should start below 1 volt at closed throttle, and progress SMOOTHLY to greater than 3.5 volts at wide open throttle. If either end is out of spec, or, the needle jumps around while opening the throttle, replace the tps.

 

I don't have the means to do this myself. I bought the truck in 05 with 86k miles on it, and now there are 158k. I'm pretty sure there was no transmission work done since I've owned it, what would a service comprise of and how much do you expect it to run if I bring it to a shop?

 

mine used to hunt between 1st and 2nd on a cold start. if i remember correctly it quit doing it after a couple of fluid and filter changes.

number 2 sounds like the tc lockup clutch might be slipping or releasing, maybe due to noisy tps. i'd replace TPS. its about 40 bucks at any parts store, cheaper on the internet.

transmission service can be pretty expensive. at about $5-6 per quart, the 6-7 quarts of fluid, plus filter can run about $60 just in parts. paying to have it done might cost 100-200. the thing to make sure of - is that the pan gets dropped and cleaned out and filter changed. avoid a flush and avoid anyone that changes fluid but not filter and avoid anyone that doesn't use true ATF+4 fluid. this excludes all the damn jiffy lube places.