1997 contour gl

Ouch sounds like your tranny is biting the dust. My suggestion, to avoid spending a CRAPTON of money, I would try and change the tranny fluid. I found this past week that if you jack up the car from the passenger side, a lot more fluid will find its way out of the tranny. We speculated it was slowly draining out of the TC. See if you can do the same and get as much clean fluid as possible in there. An external trans cooler might help because it seems your tranny is acting up when it gets hot. These things may prevent you from actually cooking that tranny of yours.

EDIT: Here's a link for tranny cooler hardware...
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+4294814517+115+400304

[FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]P1744 [/FONT][FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]Torque Converter Clutch System Stuck in Off Position. [/FONT]

Torque Converter failed. The cooler might help for a while but you are looking at a rebuild.

97 contour

97 contour

How would you add a trans cooler? If you add a new torq converter would this fix it? What about the solinoids in the valvebody?, or is that meaning that the converter itsself is sliping? Whats the worst that can happen if left alone? What do you supose the lifespan would be? Goes 1-4, then 5th, slips out into pass gear, slams into 2nd when that light begins flashing...

Replacement of the trans worth it? Clean body ect ect

Replacement of the trans worth it? Clean body ect ect

I can get one from the bone yard but i don;t know how good they are$450 + 2 month warenty, are all cd4e trans the same? Will a ford ecsape probe or mazda 626 work? i have 195k and engine runs good!

If you can do it yourself it might be worth it. The CD4E is obnoxiously large compared to the MTX-75 and thus a bit more difficult to swap, but all's it really takes is removing the sub-frame and then it is just sitting there begging to be removed...

I have found that pulling the motor from the top is considerably easier then doing it from the bottom, especially on a car thats a decade old, as to avoid having your subframe bolts strip out, and just have to pull the motor out the top anyways.

bagged and I just did a V6 ATX one, pulling an I4 ATX should be easier.

AliasJerk said:

I have found that pulling the motor from the top is considerably easier then doing it from the bottom, especially on a car thats a decade old, as to avoid having your subframe bolts strip out, and just have to pull the motor out the top anyways.

bagged and I just did a V6 ATX one, pulling an I4 ATX should be easier.

Click to expand...

That is, if you are able to hoist the engine out. That thing is damned heavy. The tranny is overall rather light and can be held by one person. Granted, it is slightly arduous for ONE person to hold it, but you get my point. True with the sub-frame though. You would need extra bolts on hand as well as a small saw.

zorrex said:

That is, if you are able to hoist the engine out. That thing is damned heavy. The tranny is overall rather light and can be held by one person. Granted, it is slightly arduous for ONE person to hold it, but you get my point. True with the sub-frame though. You would need extra bolts on hand as well as a small saw.

Click to expand...

actually, the issue with the striped subframe bolts is, the nut on the inside of the subframe usually breaks off, so you actually have to cut into the footwell of your car to see the nut that is spinning.

its almost worth the $130 to buy an engine hoist to pull it out the top, lot less stress and headach, and I would hope that if you planned on doing a trannie overhault, you would invite a couple of buddies over to help out with it.

Just makes the most sense, to have more then one head thinking about what each move is going to be in the engine removal process.

Cutting an access hole in the frame is easier than cutting into the footwell area, FYI. And I should clarify: You should have extra bolts AND nuts on hand. It is highly possible to strip a nut and have to cut the bolt. I personally feel dropping the sub-frame is underrated. It happens often at Aircougar Performance with good results, and the only problem is the bolts...Makes header installs super easy without any bloody knuckles, for example...

yes with time and patience the sub frame bolts will come out. or you just drill access holes and put a wrench on the nut and remove the bolts ... now I am not a hugh fan of this but it works. If I had to I would go through the interior but that is pain also.

Ian I am not sure how easily the atx will come out the bottom because of its size ...

97 continued

97 continued

Ok guys, I dissasembled a tranny in the junkyard to see it, tcc is on the valvebody right? i have been reading on to find this a common failer. has 2 round cylinders and a bunch of wires out of it? i want it i want it now! Has 3 bolts, how do i get the wire connecter out though? its on the other side of the case. could this be the issue? or is it the actual converter thats junk. If i pull teh battary cable and put it back on again it shifts normal again so i think its the tcc solinoid inside.

Replace both the valve body (get one with Sonnax replacement valves) and the torque converter (get the right one!).

You're wasting your time messing with the solenoid pack, it won't fix the most likely fault.

This is from someone who went through all this two years ago.

See if you can dig up my old posts by using your fault code and my username. Check the "old" forum also.

Car is still running 30K and two years later with no transmission concerns.

Steve

Yup, Steve is probably right, if it were solenoid, you would most likely get a solenoid code. Valve body wear at the main pressure regulator valve area generally causes it, or, the converter itself worn. Make sure also that the one you get is GUARANTEED rebuilt, some cheaper places merely clean inside as best they can, throw spraypaint on it and call it "new". Look for a cut line and new weld around the outside diameter, means scraping some paint off it. When I pulled my Zetec, I intended to pull CD4E trans ONLY, would not work going up, even with pulleys and damper pulled off, still not enough room to clear flywheel/converter studs. Built using 4X4s an imitation of Ford 3 point engine support that sits inside edges of fenders. No need to remove hood. Used 1/2 all thread 36" long and short pieces of chain to make 3 screw type hoists so could level it front/rear at reinstall. Entire tool cost about $40. Dropped entire motor/trans maybe 6" at a tilt then broke them apart, dropped trans out by itself. Of course subframe was removed, also exhaust sys for fear of damage to flex joint. Most all other engine wiring, hoses left on. Car sat for 4 months with passenger side engine mount on and bricks/boards under oilpan to support engine while no trans. Put subframe back on so could reinstall wheels to please the city. I found some specific deep sockets that fit the alignment holes in subframe/main body perfect (tight) and with no alignment at all car drove perfectly after job done. My trans blew the forward/direct clutch cylinder, that's VERY common on these trannys also, if you go in, you need to change that part while there. Strongly suggest a NEW cylinder, used may look good and break in 5 minutes.

p1744

p1744

I wonder why these trannys fail so ofton? i have 196k highway. indiana - chicag0

CD$E Manual

CD$E Manual

Is it smart to buy one offline? Any good ones? What do u recommend?

Look at one of those cylinders I spoke of. The factory induces stress into the manufactured new part by the forward clutch snap ring groove. On a brand new part, most will have some slight cracking all around that groove where the metal was forcibly deformed to make the groove. That slight cracking gets worse with mileage as the repeated application of forward clutch against snap ring and groove works the edge of cylinder back and forth until some of those cracks get big enough so that the end of cylinder starts breaking off in pieces. Depending on luck sometimes just small pieces that don't do a whole lot of damage at once all the way up to massive pieces that can lock up transmission. The pieces are trapped inside several rotating cylinders with no way out until they have ground themselves and other parts into much smaller pieces. By time tranny shows trouble it's almost always EXPENSIVE. The newer cylinder is virtually bulletproof compared to old design, it took them long enough to come up with it. On mine I gave tranny shop hell until they finally found me one of the "good" ones, everybody will sell the old style and tell you it's the "good" one. Even found lots of used supposedly rebuilt ones, when you inspected close, you could see the warpage as the snap ring area was already twisting out as in getting ready to break. That is why I say DO NOT USE A REBUILT OR USED PART HERE, unless of course you need tranny rebuild training, 'cause you are ASKING FOR IT. The Transgo SK CD4Ejr. shift kit addresses this issue by modifying the pressure at that point to lessen the "hit" when the clutch pack engages. Later CD4Es also put a wave washer in the coast/forward clutch stack to cushion the "hit" too.

97 contour

97 contour

Hey guys, i have this rubber vacume like hose going off the top of the valvebody cd4e pan. Where does it go? If you blow on it trans fluid shoots out of the dipstick, (another way do drain some fluid) ): It was hanging infront of the fans.

xpdude said:

Hey guys, i have this rubber vacume like hose going off the top of the valvebody cd4e pan. Where does it go? If you blow on it trans fluid shoots out of the dipstick, (another way do drain some fluid) ): It was hanging infront of the fans.

Click to expand...

It is a vent for the tranny. Put it in a place where it won't get "squished". If the vent is closed, it might cause the tranny issues.

The vent hose normally clips onto the top of the inboard battery holddown bolt.