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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 10
New CEG\'er
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New CEG\'er
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My '95 GL V6 Contour's ATX has been acting up --- rough shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. I've been disconnecting the battery to reset the computer every 2 weeks or so for 5 months.
Anyway, the battery (a Die Hard International) had pretty bad corrosion on the positive terminal and I kept having to add water to one of the cells. I was reluctant to change the battery because if the transmission blows, then I was just going to junk the car.
Well, last week, I finally had enough of the battery and went back to Sears to get a new one. They gave me 1/2 price discount without much fuss. When they returned the car they said that I better have the battery's cables checked out by the dealer. It turns out that the corrosion had completely stripped off the insulation in parts of the cable. (About 6 inches out the + cable splits into 4. Two of those 4 cables had no insulation on them!)
A week later, I dropped off the car at the dealer and they called back with a $350 (!!!) quote. Apparently, they had to replace the entire wiring bundle ($200 part) and needed 3 hours of labor ($150) to replace it. I let them do it seeing as how exposed wires under the hood can't be a good thing in this damp weather.
In retrospect, if the battery weren't so good and started my car without any problems all this time, I would have gotten this fixed sooner :P
My real question: could this bad battery and wiring be causing transmission shifting problems? I did notice some correlation between the damp weather and shifting problems, but nothing firm. How does the transmission work anyway? Does it use electric solenoids to push things around or fluid pressure?
Richard
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,294
Hard-core CEG'er
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I guess I will be the first to respond, I have the shifting problems like you do, except I don't have the battery problem. I have been looking to find out what the problem was, All I know is everyone keeps saying my transmission is slipping.
95 SES Sold
99 SE Sport Sold
99 SVT T-Red Tan Interior. K&N, Magnecors, 19' Theorys, And some audio stuff.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 10
New CEG\'er
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Originally posted by auiotour:
I guess I will be the first to respond, I have the shifting problems like you do, except I don't have the battery problem. I have been looking to find out what the problem was, All I know is everyone keeps saying my transmission is slipping.
Does the problem go away if you disconnect the battery for a while (20-30 min?) to reset the computer?
I'm just trying to get another year or two out of my car, so I don't care about a perfect fix. My transmission's performance is acceptable after resetting the computer. If there's a way to keep it in that state all the time, I wouldn't mind that either.
I looked through the forum archives and found only 1 reference to fixing a bad battery connection resolving a transmission problem. There are lots and lots of posts on rough shifting between 1st and 2nd gear. So, presumably there could be several causes for this problem.
My original post was a query as to how the automatic transmission in the Contour works --- if it is mostly a mechanically driven device or electrically driven.
-R.
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 195
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 195 |
Believe it or not, by changing the plug wires on my 98 contour V6, solved my trans rough shifting.
1998 ContourLX V6 ATX
Cats Gutted+MIL Eliminators
Grandma gave me the finger
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 10
New CEG\'er
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Originally posted by jmatzick:
Believe it or not, by changing the plug wires on my 98 contour V6, solved my trans rough shifting.
Hmmm.... let's see... bad plug wires => engine running poorly => computer "learns" weird shift pattern => poor shifting ? 
-R.
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 195
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CEG\'er
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 195 |
Quote:
Hmmm.... let's see... bad plug wires => engine running poorly => computer "learns" weird shift pattern => poor shifting ?
Actually the engine ran great. It was something to do with the electromagnetic field givin off by the cheap wires that was interferring with the speed sensor. Or so I heard
1998 ContourLX V6 ATX
Cats Gutted+MIL Eliminators
Grandma gave me the finger
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 97
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 97 |
Contour transmission's (CD4E) are electonically controlled. It is controlled by the PCM powertrain control module. Which uses engine load and vehicle speed to control shifts and line pressure for optimal performance and fuel economy.
Hope this info helps.
1998 Contour V6 se ATX Black
Bassanni w/o resinators, modified intake box, DMD
New headlights w/ silverstar 9005's, blue neons inside, metal waterpump, pioneer head, pioneer 5x7
3 ways,2 10" subs, 800w amp, 17x7.5 motegi mr12 p215/45/17
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,061
Hard-core CEG'er
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Hard-core CEG'er
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,061 |
could the crappy shifting also be caused by worn motor/trans mounts???
99 expedition eddie bauer, 5.4 v8, k&n drop-in, 3" magnaflow catback and gas mileage that makes the contour look like a hybrid
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