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Any transmission guys here ?


joessportster

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heres the scenario

 

Mother in law bought a decent looking relatively low mileage car, 2001 Ford Taurus Wagon 114000 miles it drove fine at first but once took to higher speeds the trans started going in and out of overdrive, If you put the car in Drive it does not go in and out so I figure it is overdrive related

 

Looking on the Web there is a lot of info on this trans as not a very good one, 

 

The car is generating no codes

 

Seems odd that this would only manifest in overdrive and be a failure issue, I am wondering if a fluid / filter change might help perhaps there is a slight reduction of flow from a part clogged filter, However I am afraid it may cause more harm to change the fluid

 

what about retaining the oil and swapping the filter ??

 

I have also read the PCM dictates the trans shifting behavior, and if you disconnect the battery it will revert to default and relearn the driving habits and shifting strategy,  Good idea to tr this ??

 

I have no history about if the trans fluid has ever been changed it was a 2 owner car with the last owner owning the car since 27000 miles

 

Any advice appreciated

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hey sancho

 

fluid color is red a little darker than new not what i would call burnt, no burnt smell

 

there is no OD switch per say, it is a shifter position, there is an od position, a drive position and a 1 position,

 

with the shifter in od the car at speeds above 45 will shift in and out of overdrive sometimes just a straight up shift out and back in and sometimes a stutter like it cant decide if its time to shift

 

with the shifter in D it shifts fine but the rpm on the motor is raised a good bit (as would be expected because you are cutting out 4th / OD gear)

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Fords are known for the trannies going bad, had 1 go bad on me. It will get progressively worse over time. Changing the fluid may make it worse as the old fluid may be "holding together" what is working.If it's not burning I would leave it alone as far as changing it, but it will progressively get worse.It may only be that gear, but it will continue. If you have a guy you trust have him look at it and then take it to 2 or 3 others to see what they say. Almost everyone in my area has stopped working on them and sends them out, so I am limited on things when that happens here. What I wound up doing on mine was buying a used one from a junk yard an having it installed,as rebuilding was 3 times the cost. I got another 18 months out of my vehicle doing that.

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My sister had a late 90's Lincoln Town Car. When in overdrive, it would shift in an out of overdrive, or so it seemed. Long story short, it was the torque converter not locking up properly. The fix was a new torque converter. Sometimes it felt like you were driving across a long cattle gap. Hold the brake pedal just enough to activate the brake lights. If the brake lights make it stop, it is the torque converter. The torque converter does not lock up when the brake lights are on. This helps the car slow down using engine braking. Bill

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My sister had a late 90's Lincoln Town Car. When in overdrive, it would shift in an out of overdrive, or so it seemed. Long story short, it was the torque converter not locking up properly. The fix was a new torque converter. Sometimes it felt like you were driving across a long cattle gap. Hold the brake pedal just enough to activate the brake lights. If the brake lights make it stop, it is the torque converter. The torque converter does not lock up when the brake lights are on. This helps the car slow down using engine braking. Bill

bill thanks thats something i had not thought of we will try that   

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On the Town Car this feeling of shifting in and out of overdrive is common. I have had three and two of them had this same issue. On mine, it was the lockup torque converter. I had the transmission fluid changed on both. It fixed the problem on one of them.

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as usual a wealth of knowledge here, Think I will try and unplug and replug all the accessible electrical and go for a drive, then if it happens again i will lightly tap the brakes and see if the lights cause it to stop...............Will update my findings

Thanks so far

A pencil eraser is good for cleaning NON HOT Metal Contacts.

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So just got back from the same hill where this has happened a couple times after cycling the elec. connectors and it did not act as bad, still not convinced however it is solved will give it more time, 

 

Looking these transmissions up on line it clearly shows Ford knew there was an issue with premature failures and they opted to do nothing on 1 car they even extended the warranty to 60000 from 36000 on the tranny......................Talk about dirty pool, 

 

I am going to suggest running it till fails and so long as the the car is good motor and all wise just spend the $$ to replace the trans at least then you have a known new trans and you know how the rest of the vehicle has acted..................Buying another cheap used car in the transmission price range would just be another pig in a poke with its own set of problems

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It could have been a loose connector. Does the trans fluid smell like paint varnish? something you should always check when buying a used car with auto trans. And also as advised changing the fluid and cleaning it may cause it to slip. It happened to me on a 4 runner with about 100k on it so all I drive anymore is manual trans, clutches are cheaper and I can do those by myself, and nobody will steal it because not too many people know how to drive them anymore, lol. Hope it was the connector.

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