CD4E, sudden problems

Ok, so I have a very small leak. Haven't found where it's coming from, but it's not a big deal. Yesterday, I went to check the fluid level... did the cycling through all gears, checked it, and the level was fine. Full flush was done about 5 months ago.

When I went to drive home, it started acting all messed up. It got up to about 3k rpms in first, as it usually does, but wouldn't shift, just hung there. I let my foot off the gas, and it dropped into second. Then it was really sluggish, and the O/D light started flashing. Shut it off, then went out again, same exact thing.

So what got messed up when I cycled through all the gears, because that's definately what started it? No issues with this tranny at all prior to this.

Check engine light?

Beans said:

Check engine light?

Click to expand...

None.

Thanks for answering my PMs Matt.

I hate to say it bro but that's what my mothers Zetec did before the tranny crapped out. The tranny should've stored a code because of the O/D light flashing on and off. You could disconnect the battery and it should return to normal but it will only last so long until it does the same thing again.
If I'm not mistaken the problem with my mothers car was a Turbine Speed Sensor, a box on top of/ and in the back of the tranny (facing the firewall), underneath the airbox. I believe it has two to four wires coming out of it. When I had this problem my buddies told me at ford to check the wires first as they can corrode, if not then replace the box. If not that then it is time for a 5-speed, LOL. This is from my experience so it may not be the same exact problem but that's what was wrong with 97 Zetec in my family and why at 60K it needed a new tranny.

Hope this helps.

I'm leaning towards maybe the shift selector linkage thing... since it happened right after I cycled through all the gears (and I normally don't use the selector for 1st and 2nd).

Everything looks fine visually... no obvious holes or things missing, that I can tell. No fluid leaks, fluid is red and doesn't smell burnt. I did find this piece sitting on top of the tranny though... kind of odd, looks like a bearing. I'm guessing that someone just left it there by accident?

Isn't it nice to find gifts? LOL.

I honestly dont know exactly what your car is doing but linkage would be kinda easy to spot from the tranny by messing with the linkages and the bushings attached. Underneath the shifter may be a lil more work but I think you would know if it's that. Not to mention I don't think your tranny would "lock-up" because of a linkage. Did it seem hard to shift through the gears cuz I could be wrong but it sounds like something crapped out more than anything and would hate to see you blow a tranny.
The other tour in the family had crystal clear, red fluid. Did not smell burned or had any real traces of metal in it. But it never went out of second after shifting how you described. The dealer under warranty replaced the tranny and a few months later the same problem came back and it was the Turbine Speed Sensor, I believe its a speed sensor that tells the tranny to shift. And it never gives any warning of failure, it just kicks down and makes it a real beoch to drive.

How many miles you have on your car? Was your Torque Converter ever done (mileage depending of course), any tranny service ever done (recently)?

Also you may want to check if that is supposed to be attached to your linkages as well. Best of luck on finding the problem.

Things seem to be pointing to the TSS too... I can't find a how-to for the Zetecs though. There's so many multiplugs at various points on the tranny it's hard to tell what is what without pictures.

88k on the tranny and car. Nothing was done to it except an occasional flush/fill every year or so. Axles were replaced about a year ago though, if that counts.

TSS Easy as pie, usually

TSS Easy as pie, usually

If you are looking for the TSS, first turn your wheels full left then get outta the car and look at the pump end of the trans in the drivers side wheel well. You will see a device with a wire (actually 2 but in an outer cover) That is the TSS. But I don't think TSS is your issue, When it goes bad or partially bad you usually end up with bang shifting.

If you think that you might have screwed the pooch by manually shifting through all gears then put the gear selector in D with the engine off, look at the MPLS, this is located under the engine side of the battery, you should be able to see the notch in the center of the MPLS 9that would be the round shaft coming out of the trans) line up with the notch in the aluminum MPLS body. If so, then the manual cycling probably wasn't your problem, if not its time to verify that your shifter cable is adjusted correctly, do this before you try to adjust the MPLS.

Good luck.

I think what I'll be doing is taking it to a local transmission specialist place with a good reputation. I'll let them pull the codes and see what they think.

It's dead. Something about a broken band. Good 'ol Ford quality, major powertrain failure at 85,000 miles. Never dropped it into gear, always changed the fluids.

Yep, ATX is FTL

I'm still not convinced it's 100% dead though. I'm going to replace the MLP sensor, since it's only $25, and I'm going to do a fluid change. If a band really did break, then the fluid should smell burnt, which it's not, and be full of metal particles, which I'll check for when I drain it.

$2700
That's crazy!! Sounds sooo familiar...

Was the speedometer acting weird? If yes, I would change the Vehicle Speed Sensor first.

No issues with the speedo. Nothing wrong at all with anything. Just one day, out of the blue, bam, it's dead. I still think it's external though since it happened right after shifting through all the gears.

broken band, familiar problem

broken band, familiar problem

If your band is indeed broken (was on mine) then you should still have 1st and 3rd gears. I bought a 98 with that problem, drove it for a year, then rebuilt the trans.

If I had been really cheap (and I am) I would have only had to replace the broken band and a few gaskets. But I was paronoid and replaced steels, seals, and frictions. I did all of the work, easy to do and it cost me a total of $300. If I had been much cheaper it would have cost about $100. Replace only band, gaskets, filter, and oil.

The broken band will NOT burn oil or leave shavings in the oil. Mine broke the band itself at the anchor mounting point.

Good luck

I'm still learning the basics of the car repair; tranny rebuild is far past my level. Thanks for the good info though. I think I'm going to swap it out for a used low mileage tranny off a junker, or go with one of the rebuilt ones from that company in Florida.

The shop reccomended a rebuilt because of the age, but what would be an approximate price to replace a broken band?

Try it, autos are not that hard.

Try it, autos are not that hard.

Matt

If you can install a rebuilt trans yourself, the rebuild is not that hard. I am a decent garage mechanic and had never rebuilt an automatic before. I went way over board and bought a trans tool kit on ebay and a seal install tool kit as well. Went to Home depot for some all thread, bar stock and a few 4" plastic plumbing parts to make spring compression tools. Even though I replaced all of the steels, frictions and seals, I only really needed a few tools from the kit. I could have gotten by with only the pump alignment bolts and the seal install tools.

Of course I also bought a book on rebuiding the trans, well worth the few bucks.

So if all of the talk about how difficult it is to rebuild a trans has you concerned, the talk is usually from the uninformed or inexperienced. No magic, just be careful.

If faced with the same problem again, I would have just installed a new band and slap it back together.

Best of luck

Thanks. I'll check with the friend who is helping me pull the tranny. He may be willing to give the band replacement a shot. Too bad there's no nice how-to like for so many other things on this site.

Here's the codes coming up the shop pulled:

P0460 Fuel level sensor ckt fault (probably explains why my fuel gauge randomlly goes wacko)

P0732 Gear 2 Incorrect Ratio
P0734 Gear 4 Incorrect Ratio

Gears 2 and 4 are definitely not working, it runs in first, hangs, then drops to third. Manually shifting it to second behaves the same as manually shifting to first.