[ludacris]

My nice AXOD is giving me some interesting points to ponder...

Under slow to normal acceleration, it will slip a bit on the 1-2 shift. It will slip untill I hear a squeek from the drivers side of the tranny, then it will engage. If I feather the throttle it seems to help. On the other hand, if I take off fast, then it will have a nice firm 1-2 shift. The 2-1 downshift is a little harsh too.

What's up with that? Any info would be appreciated!

 

[pawpaw]

Lots of possibilities.

What does the tranny fluid look & smell like & how is the tranny fluid level, when it's properly warmed up????

When last was the tranny filter & fluid changed????

 

[yrn2fly]

Generally the VSS will cause the tranny to shift at odd points (typically late shifts). Under hard acceleration the ECU tells the trans to shift at a given RPM, so the VSS takes a back seat for a little bit. I think for yours a VSS is $18 or so, but I'd verify before changing it. It'd suck to swap it and it be good. If you have cruise control it might be affected by a bad VSS but I'm not sure without more specific year info.

A bad/intermittent TPS can also be a problem as the ECU is unable to determine a shift point if it doesn't know where the throttle is.

In your case the squeek on the drivers side would be of some concern. Under the driver-side cover are a number of sensors and solenoids, including the shift control solenoid. This is the most common solenoid that fails. There are a total of 3; all accessible from the side. But wouldn't jump that far ahead until you do some more investigation. And I'd tend to agree that if the fluid is trash, so too will the tranny be. Most owners of AXOD's do not service the trans, and in the end get bit with a bad shuttle valve or something even more difficult to get at. I've been there even with good maintenance though, so its really a toss up which trans will bomb and which will make it.

And the crazy Ruskies put a link up...

http://taurus-club.ru/manuals/ATSG_AXOD-E.pdf

Good Luck!

 

[ludacris]

The fluid looks great...doesn't smell burnt. Come to think of it, the cruise rarely works. TPS is good, voltage doesn't fluctuate. The VSS is about the only thing I haven't checked. The side cover looks like someone had been in there recently (I just bought the car). Thanks for the info!

BTW...it's an '89 with the 3.0