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Clunky gear shifting on 98 contour automatic 4cyl

T

tanisloray

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
26
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Usa
Just today while I was going down the highway at about 65-70 mph, my car decided it wasn't going to stick in the gear it was in. This cause the car to downshift suddenly and attempt to upshift once more, which it wasn't able to do, so I slowed down. Between 55-65, it seems to run just fine with no troubles.

I also noticed that when I slow down quickly and then press down on the accelerator again, the car shakes and I can hear a loud clunk before it goes back into the gear it's supposed to go into.

Is this a timing belt issue? There are no engine starting problems, but the car does idle roughly intermittently.
 
It doesn't sound like a timing belt issue.

The first thing to check is ATFluid level and condition. If the fluid is more than 24K miles or 2 years, go ahead and change that first.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...992476&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=1

If a CEL code appears, post the exact code here. Are any of the tranny/engine mounts broken? (idling at stop, and in D, does the car vibrate greatly?).

What is the speedometer doing? If it has gone berserk, you need a new Vehicle speed sensor.

Other issues could be Turbine shaft speed sensor or Manual lever position sensor.

Diagnose in that order.
 
Mmmm, this is the second time I've heard the engine/tranny mounts brought up. Is there anyway for me to check that myself?

I will check the fluid tomorrow and the speedometer wasn't going beserk, it was just slowing down as I slowed down as well.

I guess I could look in my hane's manual to find out where the engine/tranny mounts are.

Thank you! I will post back.
 
It seems that I probably need the transmission serviced. The transmission fluid looks pretty dirty and it is pretty low, but i checked it at night so I really couldn't see well with my flash light. Will check tomorrow. Started acting up again today, slipping in and out of gear, jerking when it was doing so.
 
I put in more transmission fluid this morning. Seemed to be working alright and then started to slip again. Checked the fluid again and it was low again, added more and when shifting through the gears while checking the fluid became much smoother. Haven't run into any issues so far, will check the cold level of the transmission fluid tomorrow before school.
 
Well you most definitely have a tranny leak. Tranny fluid doesn't just disappear. I doubt it means much, but there is a circular cap on the bottom of the tranny with a seal around it, about 1.5" in diameter, and I was leaking tranny fluid from there. It was a pretty easy fix IIRC...Just check the underside of that tranny for leaks.
 
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