Problem with my c-4

I bought my car about middle september 2002. Ever since i got it i've had a problem with the tranny. When i first start the car i have to wait for it to warm up before it will catch into D, 1, or 2. Reverse seems to work fine but recently reverse has been acting up aswell. I usually let it warm up 15 minutes and then it starts to work fine. Also when the car has just been turned on if i warm it up for about 5 i put it into reverse(to get out of my drive way) and takes a little while to catch....and i noticed that if i put it into 1st it catches MUCH faster than if i had it in drive. I figure i just need to rebuild the thing because it doesnt seem like its been serviced in a LONG time. I checked the fluid and its fine. Any ideas on where i should start? Thanks.

If the tranny was loosing it seal all over it would work better cold than warm as there is more pressure and volume with cold fluid.
I would suspect valve body issues like a pressure regulator sticking.
Remove the VB and check the valves.
http://www.burly4x4.com/c4/
See the picture at the bottom of the page, the marked up area of the VB is the pressure regulator.

change your vaccum modulator.they are under ten bucks and easy to change.that is what actully allows you to shift
good luck

My guess is that it's the valve body. The valves are sticking until there is enough heat then they free up. Your valve need to be cleaned. When cleaning the valves do ONE AT A TIME. I like to put the valve in a drill press and use some fine emery paper.
NOTE: The valves should fall free of there bores under their own weight, if they stick even just a bit you will need to sand some more till they do.

It may be sticking valves but most likely it has hard seals which makes it time for an overhaul. You could try one of those fluid conditioners to soften the seals first and see. If no change then think about overhaul.

Try a can of CD-2 in that C-4... it has fixed many of problems with the C-4's i had doing the same thing. PA even tells u this can fix many Valve problems. Been using it in transmissions for about 25 years..

Yep - I say hard seals. The Mustang's C4 was doing that and I put some additive in that my friend at the parts shop said he used a lot. I was suspecious about a chemical cure, but danged if it didn't fix it. I need to go through it, but the chem treatment helped the seals a bunch.