I have an automatic 2011 Ford Focus with 260,000 miles on it and it shifts hard until warmed up. I checked the dipstick and it had pink fluid that was a little dirty and I wondered if I should change it. Thanks
It may be shifting hard when cold because of a dirty fluid filter. A dirty or clogged filter will mess with the fluid pressure inside the transmission, especially when it's trying to build up that fluid pressure while warming up. But it seems like the transmission is in good condition with the fluid having a pink color to it still.
Go ahead and do a drain, drop the pan to replace the filter and clean the magnet(s), and then refill with OEM fluid OR even reuse the drained fluid if it still looks good (reusing the same fluid may be better in this situation due to the mileage; the new filter should filter out some of the dirt you see in that orignial fluid). Someone else can chime in on what they think about reusing the original fluid.
Hopefully that will help with the hard shifting while warming up.
I would do 3 or 4 spill n fills that will get you to probably 90% clean fluid. Expensive and messy but not horrible. After each change drive it for a few miles to mix the fluid then drain and refill. I did this on one of our cars it worked out great. Trans was not having problems, just had old fluid.