My girlfriend recently bought a used automatic 98 taurus with 90,000 miles on it, the car seemed great for about 4 months then it started having problems. I never really paid any attention to it however the car idled high as hell, it was idling 2 grand plus and would snap into gear when engaged. I didnt get around to looking at it ( i told her just make sure her foot was on the brake before putting the car in gear) then service engine soon light came on and of course the girlfriend was paranoid as could be she would be stranded. I had autozone check the trouble code and then i looked it up on the net and what do you know it said throttle position sensor , so i loosened the two bolts that hold it on and rotated it back some and the light went out and the car now idles around 800 rpm . Now i dont know if this is related to the above scenario however in the days to fallow the temp dropped pretty low outside and she started complaining to me that the car was jumping when it shifted. I took the car for a spin and sure enough it seems like its slipping when it shifts from first to second. When it shifts from first to second the car will jump from 2500 rpms to 3500 rpms and litterally act like it slams into gear before it engages. The weird thing is this only does this when its going from a dead stop for example if i do a rolling stop at a stop sign the car doesnt do this slam shift but if i come to a complete stop it does. Even weirder is the car doesnt do it when going up a steep incline ( when its under load ). If it was in fact a slip then it should slip under load not this intemitent crap. Does anyone have any ideas.
Transmission Problems
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G
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·Sorry I don't have any info as to what the problem is, but that's exactly what my 99 was doing before I got rid of it. I was at about 98k miles and it started doing exactly what you are describing. I took it to a tranny shop and they tore into it and said there was nothing physically wrong and I had them change the fluid, gaskets and filter and after that it was ok for maybe 2 weeks, after that I got rid of the car.
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Well i may have figured out what is going on here. I wasnt present when my girlfreind bought the car so i never intially checked it out. However i did drive it a month or so after she got it and i noticed when you start the car up it idles at 2500 rpm or higher and really would kick you back when you put the car in drive. I had meant to adjust that but didnt really know how. About two weeks ago she told me the service engine soon light had come on and like i said it turned out to be the throttle position sensor was reading wrong and now that in knew what detemined the idle i figured i could adgust it back which i did and the car then idled around 850 +/- it was then two days later she complained of the slip. Yesterday she called the guy she got the car from ( her employer ) and asked if they had any service records on the car so maybe we could figure this out and since the car was a company car i figured they would. Well they couldnt find the service records but directed her to there in house mechanic who said "oh yeah i remember that car " " A whhile back it slipped when it was going from 1 to second so i adjusted the idle and it went away" . Is it possible this ******* idiot adjusted the idle to 2500 + rpms and the car was just skipping 1st gear entirely? And of course the engaging of the tranny at 2500 rpms had to be rough as hell on it making things even worse.
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549 Posts
Another possibility is that your "adjustment" of the TPS actually threw something off even more, so the tranny is not getting an accurate throttle position to base shifting off of. Maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't think TPS's could be adjusted, and I don't think just having a bad or misadjusted TPS would cause an idle that high. You might want to check your IAC and make sure the throttle plate is closing all the way.
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424 Posts
Add 1 quart of the Valvoline MaxLife Transmission fluid. They don't recommend more than 1 quart of it for every 10 quarts of regular ATF fluid. But anyway, my grandpa's Lincoln Town Car was having a transmission slip between the 1-2 shift and added 1 quart of that with the SuperTech (Wal-Mart brand ATF) and that solved the problem; for now.
G
Guest
·The TPS doesn't control the idle completely. It is possible to adjust the idle using the stop screw on the throttle body. With that high of an idle, I'd guess someone adjusted it way too high. Adjust the idle with the stop screw, then set the TPS.
My last tranny did that. Although it always did it even under load, but it started out that way. The guy at the tranny shop said it was a pressure regulater gone bad, some piston seal had blown aloow the fluid to go right by. Then about 3 months later the TC went. I don't think it maters how high the idle is, the car will always start in 1st gear.
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2,545 Posts
QUOTE
That should be the last resort adding the lubeguard if it slamed in all gears after changing the fluid. Some people might say it helps but it doesn't trust me. It just made my car worse as to now a new rebuilt from my tranny guy. i would most identify that as the motor mounts check them out. The torque in our cars tend to wear out the mounts from too much engine movement. Sorry just learn from my mistakes.
That should be the last resort adding the lubeguard if it slamed in all gears after changing the fluid. Some people might say it helps but it doesn't trust me. It just made my car worse as to now a new rebuilt from my tranny guy. i would most identify that as the motor mounts check them out. The torque in our cars tend to wear out the mounts from too much engine movement. Sorry just learn from my mistakes.[/b][/quote]
For the record, Lubegard is not a fix-all, cure-all or "tranny saver in a bottle". It's a (very good) ATF additive that should be used with conventional ATF during a fluid change or tranny rebuild. It enhances the lubrication properties of conventional ATF fluid while maintaining resistance to thermal breakdown. It's good stuff, but only when used properly. I wouldn't dump a bottle into your tranny hoping it'll fix everything. Only use it if you're using conventional (non-synthetic) ATF and are changing the fluid or getting the transmission rebuilt.
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It's not that hard to change the tranny fluid, it's just time consuming and messy. You need to jack up the car, drop the tranny pan (the fluid will just come out, there's no drain plug), replace the gasket and filter, then find a way to get the fluid out of the T/C, put everything together, and then refill thru the tranny's dipstick.
It's probably better the go to a mechanic you trust to do the job.
It's probably better the go to a mechanic you trust to do the job.
Ok called around and had different quotes... Ranging from $75 to $120... They all said they would clean screens/magnets, purge old fluid, install new fluid, and replace filter/gasket.
$75 doesn't sound too bad... Unless you guys think that is too high or something? It's still winter up here in Chicago and with my 2 Harley's and waverunners are currently in the garage so I don't have any room in there to work on anything.
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It's not exactly regular ATF. It contains sealers and conditioners. On the back of the quart it says 1 quart MaxLife to every 10-12 quarts of regular ATF.
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