[confutatis]

Good morning...

1996 Taurus Gl (116,000 miles).

A transmission problem seems to be rearing it's ugly head, so I am hoping to solicit some opinions as to what might be going on and what kind of an expense I may be facing.

Here's the symptoms: When cold, tranny shifts fine--smooth. Once the car is warm, it's a different story. If I give the car a normal amount of acceleration from a stop, the tranny shifts into second with a clunk, as if it really doesn't want to shift, then suddenly--if that makes any sense. If I accelerate a little slower, it shift a little smoother.

Anyone have an idea of what might be going wrong and what kind of cost I may be looking at.

Thanks to all for your help,

David

 

[Guest]

It's a common issue on the Taurus transmission. I forget exactly what it's called, possibly the 1-2 shift piston? Anyhow, it cracks, causing it to hang up in the bore, and the rough shifting.

I would recommend a trans rebuild from a reputable shop in your area. Costs vary on this, based on how much work the trans shop does. I've seen trans repairs that were $850 with good results, and $2000 with lousy results. The main thing is, go to a reputable shop that offers a warranty on their work, even if it's only 6 months.

 

[mrclean]

Yeah, I have the same exact problem...but I don't want to spend money to fix this car...because its not worth it, thats what my brother said, but he said 1-2 clutch, so maybe he knows more about cars than I thought....

 

[Sablewagon]

Had that on my 95 3.8.
There was a transmission servo that was made of plastic from the factory, that cracks and hangs up. Service replacement is a metal part.
Bring money...

 

[jinhopark]

My CEL came on and my tranny is slamm'in just like yours is. It's a '97, and it's already had the transmission replaced under warranty like 40K miles ago. I'm taking it to a transmission shop next Tuesday to get it looked at...sounds expensive though... and the worst part is it appears to be reoccuring.

 

[InLimbo]

Does it act up when you have it in the drive/overdrive gear?or have you tried just in drive? mine does it to but when I have it in the overdrive,also what fixes it at a stop is to turn the car off and on again and Im rolling again

strange though

 

[jinhopark]

Yeah when I take it off Overdrive it goes away... My wife was in the car when the tranmission went out the first time. It was over 4 years ago and she tells me there were no symptoms that she recalls before the total tranny failure. WEIRD!!!

 

[ct97glvulcan]

had the same problem... and it was pricy to fix. very pricy.


oh and bob...
QUOTE

I've seen trans repairs that were $850 with good results, and $2000 with lousy results.[/b]

try $3000 for an iffy job heh

 

[jinhopark]

OUCH!

My Bull had a tranny rebuild at around 30K and now it's at 72K or so and it's acting up again...

 

[hueystloui]

Same problem with my 95 GL Vulcan - I put up with it for a long time, it actually would chirp the tires from 1st to 2nd it slammed so hard. Tranny guy said it was the 1-2 piston, cheap factory part that they would replace with metal - for $1500 rebuild. The car had 183k+ when I got rid of it and got a 2001 SE 'tec - very happy with the decision. Even got $500 tax credit for the donation!

 

[americasfuture]

6 months/10,000 miles ago i had mine rebuilt. 2G's bulls***! well it went out a weekago, no go. im saying screw the crappy auto, im getting a manual to put on instead. im going to doa 200 tranny swawp job instead of saving up money for 3-4 months just to get a POS transmission rebuilt.

 

[jinhopark]

Got back from the tranny place today, what a relief! It was 2 broken hose connectors, which was causing slow leaks (which kept getting worse and worse). Cost me a little over $200 to replace both the hoses/connectors/filter and flush and fill the trans.

They had it all day, but he said all the local Ford dealers were out of this part because the cheap little plastic clip that holds the line in place broke...which eventually stress fractured the line itself. Ford redesigned the line, and thus have been replacing a lot of these failing lines/couplers lately. One dealer about 40 mins away had 1 set in stock left.

He thought I was pretty lucky bringing it in then, because had I driven it longer being a quart low I probably would have overheated the trans and then I would be writing a different story. He says he sees stuff like this all the time, especially in the winter or rainy season when people don't realise they are leaking fluids...and at the connector it leaks so slowly... Just thought I'd pass this story on as a heads up.

 

[zeptoplix]

Wow you think you are going to do a manual swap for $200, that is going to be impossible, it could cost that much just to get the transmission!

 

[jinhopark]

Yup that's what I thought... Please re-read my thread...

The $200 was the cost for the replacement of 2 hoses and connectors, NOT to rebuild a transmission...but had I driven it a few more weeks it would have drained the trans completely and I shudder to think what those costs would have been if it got to that point.

Looking at my driveway, I now see a brown/tan sudsy type trans oil leak that I had mistaken for grudgy/muddy/brown snow. Being that this is our 3rd car with only 2 drivers in the family we never noticed it. The SERVICE ENGINE SOON light came on, totally unrelated to the trans, and so we took it in for a free diagnostic. They zapped the code as some FAULTY CAM POSITION SENSOR and said hey you're also leaking trans fluid. I also noted to him that the car was shifting hard and it was doing light neutral drops... He checked the trans level and it was a quart or more low.

 

[TheGreatZambini]

Also, make sure you're not low on Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF). It's pretty amazing how many people I've known (me included) who thought they needed a rebuild, but it was really a simple matter of adding some ATF!

Sometimes the most obvious is the solution.

 

[Matthew Ebel]

Is it easy to fill one's own tranny fluid?

(Neophyte alert.... just humor my stupid questions please.)

Pax,
Matthew

 

[jinhopark]

On my '97 Bull 3.0 Vulcan it is on the driver's side, looks towards the firewall and look for a big yellow dipstick. Check your fluid level there, and if it's low then use a long funnel and fill with appropriate trans fluid in that same dipstick hole.

 

[Matthew Ebel]

Originally posted by jinhopark@Mar 4 2004, 05:31 PM
On my '97 Bull 3.0 Vulcan it is on the driver's side, looks towards the firewall and look for a big yellow dipstick. Check your fluid level there, and if it's low then use a long funnel and fill with appropriate trans fluid in that same dipstick hole.

You mean it's just something under the hood? I thought I'd have to jack the car up or something. Thanks!

Pax,
Matthew

PS - No dipstick jokes, please.