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Newb Problems with ATX

L

livelyjay

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
35
Location
Fairport, NY
I'm pretty new to the world of the Contour, since it's my wife's car and not my own. I'm absolutely a newb when it comes to automatic transmissions. We have been having problems with the transmissions and I want to get an idea of what the problem is before I take it in to get looked at.

2000 Ford Contour SE, 100000 miles, automatic transmission

1) The tranny has a leak. When we took it in for the timing belt, accessory belt, and water pump replacement they gave it a look and could not determine where the leak was coming from.

2) The transmission has started to "slip" when putting it under heavy load. My wife told me about this and I investigated it myself. When under heavy acceleration (such as pulling out into high speed traffic) the car revs, but the transmission does not catch. Letting off the accelerator to lower the revs helps the transmission catch. It has the same feel as a slipping clutch in a manual transmission. Under light acceleration the problem does not happen.

3) Slippage only seems to happen when it's very cold out. It was cold for the past four days, which is only when my wife had this happen. It did not happen this morning and the temperature outside is a lot warmer (39 this morning versus in the teens the past few days).

4) I checked the fluid yesterday after I took it for a test drive and it was 1 quart low. I filled it last night and once again, no slippage this morning.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. It would be nice if this is just a leak problem and not a bad tranny problem. I am more than willing to search, but have no idea what to look for and where (this forum layout is a lot different than mazdas247 where I usually am).
 
Perform a fluid flush and fill and keep your fingers crossed.

If you're lucky, it's just a matter of low and cold fluid. Otherwise, well. you know...

I'd throw a bottle of red LubeGuard in there, also.

Steve
 
There's a transmission filter cover (you can't change the filter) and perhaps a vent sort of under the battery. May be leaks there.

If it's not a big leak, you can just keep filling it.

Mike
 
so i was informed the other day by a few mechanics that work around in the place i work to never flush the fluid in the cd4m's just change the filter every 20k or so, theyve had numerous trannies that screw up after a flush.
 
candyman said:
so i was informed the other day by a few mechanics that work around in the place i work to never flush the fluid in the cd4m's just change the filter every 20k or so, theyve had numerous trannies that screw up after a flush.
Click to expand...

Those mechanics don't have a clue. The CD4E filter only gets replaced when the transmission is rebuilt. <sigh>

Likewise, there is no "filter cover" to be serviced

Replace all the fluid one way or the other. It doesn't last forever, it wears out. Worn out fluid no longer lubricates properly and will cause accelerated wear of the internal parts.

Steve
 
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Duh! Look at the transmission under the battery area, there is a big black removable cover with about 20 screws and a gasket. It is a darn good place to look for a LEAK! With any luck you could just tighten the screws.

Mike
 
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mrutkaus said:
Duh! Look at the transmission under the battery area, there is a big black removable cover with about 20 screws and a gasket. It is a darn good place to look for a LEAK! With any luck you could just tighten the screws.

Mike
Click to expand...

That would be the valve body cover....
 
Yes, and livelyjay there is also a rather large VENT in that area which I have heard leaks out trans fluid under some circumstances.

Mike
 
mrutkaus said:
Yes, and livelyjay there is also a rather large VENT in that area which I have heard leaks out trans fluid under some circumstances.

Mike
Click to expand...

No, the vent is a small nipple at the top of the valve body cover that is supposed to have a small rubber hose attached to it. The hose is normally clipped to one of the battery hold down bolts.

The only time fluid will puke out the vent hose is under certain overheating conditions of the transmission.

I'm suspecting you haven't spent much, if any, time hands-on with this transmission. Might want to leave the giving of advice to those who do have relevant experience.

Steve
 
If, after the flush and fill, you still have problems with shifting malfeasance, it may be worth your while to replace the vehicle speed sensor (VSS). As they wear out, they can cause delayed or sloppy shifting, including banging into gear on downshifts.
 
Ok, thanks for the input everyone. I know it's been a while, but here's what's been happening. After I posted this I put in more transmission fluid (1 quart low on fluid) and the problems stopped. The problems came back a week or two ago, put in more fluid (1 quart low again) and the problems went away.

The transmission is still leaking, but from what I have read about transmission leaks, it's not a true leak. It's more like a seepage and only appears to be happening along the vertical gasket between the halves of the tranny. I just bought some Bob's Stop Leak and put it in last night. The car is parked today, but will be driven about 200 miles before the end of the week. If it's still seeping at that point I'm going to pull the battery and check the vent you are talking about. I'm also considering tightening the bolts for the two halves of the tranny to see if that will compress the gasket a bit more. Otherwise, I might take it into a shop and have them replace the gasket (unless someone knows of a how-to on that gasket).
 
Hmmm, one recommendation is to change atx filter.....you have to wonder where would you find it! Th atx has only one removable cover which is the valve body cover. Unless you look under the servo cover........

Anyway I would as a precaution and it is not very expensive, to replace your TSS. If you still have the problem. install transgo shift kit into the valve body. Do this early, the longer you wait while the problem exists, you will probably have to end up rebuilding the tranny.

If you find you still have the problem after installation of shift kit, replacing tss and checking mlps and vss it probably is time for a rebuild....

Bob
 
You can't get to all the bolts, several are inside the converter housing. The filter is buried inside the trans, must break trans in half to get to it. The gasket can only be changed the same way, trans must come out, break in half.
 
btrautman said:
Anyway I would as a precaution and it is not very expensive, to replace your TSS. If you still have the problem. install transgo shift kit into the valve body.
Click to expand...
Since I'm a newb, please explain what the TSS and Transgo Shift Kit are. Thanks.

The transmission is leaking, so I'm guessing the fluid level got too low and the transmission overheated and damaged it. If this problem doesn't resolve itself within a week or two I'm taking into the local Aamco (unless someone says they suck at transmission work) and have them take a look.
 
TSS is turbine shaft speed or trans speed sensor, measures the speed of trans for PCM purposes. Computer uses it to tell if converter clutch is slipping among other things. The transgo kit is SK kit CD4Ejr, which fixes several deficencies in this trans. It's not super hard to install, but there are several key steps and locations that have to be followed TO THE LETTER. A newbie could easily trash a trans not doing this right as in 100% right. The valve body must come off and apart, as well as the black painted side cover on the trans.
 
That is a normal type fiber gasket between the two case halves. It's .015" thick for purposes of setting up clearances internally. Stop leak will not help that. I know I said that some bolts are internal, however, if I were faced with spending money, I know the first thing I would do is get out there and make an attempt to torque up the bolts I could get to. You never can tell. The torque is not that high and on teardown I have found some almost not tight.
 
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