[ludacris]

Picked up an '89 Taurus L 3.0 for $500. Growing up we always had a Taurus or two at any given time. Never once had a tranny problem with any of them. I drove a '90 in high school with close to 200k on it, original tranny always shifted fine.

This '89 I picked up cruises down the highway with no problems, but taking off from a stop the 1-2 shift is a little slow. I can apply more throttle and a shutter occurs sometimes...similar to the action of running over some train tracks.

Also...I roll up to a stop light, and sometimes it has a harsh 2-1 downshift. Almost like a jerk. The front and rear motor mounts on this car are wasted by the way...related? I'm afraid to drop the pan and change the filter. I've heard too many horror stories of them not lasting too long after.

I bought it as a commuter car, tired of putting miles on my newer Silverado. My family has always had great luck with these cars...so I figured I'd give another Taurus a shot. Thanks for any info!

 

[darth_v8er_dude]

Yeah the motor mounts could cause the bad shifting. It sounds like the bad mounts may have done in 1st and 2nd. Even if you got the mounts replaced the tranny probably won't last too much longer. You could probably get a replacement from a salvage yard. Since it's an AXOD you should be able to use one from any taurus up to the '95 model year (i think.)

 

[soundu]

Yeah the motor mounts could cause the bad shifting. It sounds like the bad mounts may have done in 1st and 2nd. Even if you got the mounts replaced the tranny probably won't last too much longer. You could probably get a replacement from a salvage yard. Since it's an AXOD you should be able to use one from any taurus up to the '95 model year (i think.)

NOOOOO! AXOD last year was 1990. 1991 and up used an AXODE, which is
electronically shifted. the older AXOD was hydraulically shifted. NOT interchangeable. 91/92 was a bastard year and the trannie plugs were different.

i would change the motor mounts, drop the pan and change the trannie fluid. at this point, what do you have to loose? DON'T power flush though.
just do a fluid change.

You can check the mounts easy by having someone put the car in drive
and give it a little gas with the brake on. look at the motor when this happens, if the front jelly mount is broke, the motor will twist and jump
up.

i would power wash off the motor and mount area before doing the work.
It gets pretty grimy under there. you will need a floor jack under the pan or such to jack up the motor to get the mount on and off. don't put
the floor jack directly under the oil pan without a wood square or such.
it puts a nice dent in the oil pan if your not careful (don't ask).
remove the lower nut on the rear mount also before jacking it up. You will
need a deep socket/extension or such to get it out.

the solid mounts are cheaper if you can find them. or you can make a junk yard run and maybe get lucky. I just junked a 93 with a brand new mount
that cost me $65 or so.

 

[machausta]

Before you change the fluid, if you want to see if its a fluid issue call around and find Dr Tranny's instant shudder fix (its in a red tube). Should be around $9, so its cheaper than a fluid change to find out if the fluid is the issue.

If the shudder is the same, its the mounts...bad fluid in an 89 is almost a guarantee, so do keep that in mind before you do anything.

 

[ludacris]

Well changed the mounts out, and put in a new intermediate servo piston. Still no change. I noticed the fluid is pretty clean and a new gasket is on the pan. Maybe the previous owner was trying to fix this problem? Hmmm....

It still has a good 1-2 shift, with a slow, 2-3 slip. If I'm hard on it 2-3 shudders really bad. Then I get the nice 2-1 coasting hard shift.

 

[Tommy2tone]

Sounds like the spools in the valve body are hanging up in their bores.
You could try a salvage valve body that has known low miles, or perhaps the whole transmission if you found a low mile donor car.

If shuddering is hard on clutches, then you are going to have to baby it, otherwise it's a $500 car, so drive it till it drops.B)