Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Hard-shifting Tranny

HI,

I've got a 96 Fird Contour LX (V6) and the transmission has been shifting very hard lately. The Check Engine light on the dash has been on since I bought it, but recently the overdrive "O/D OFF" light sometimes flashes. When it does flash, it's constant. The only way to get rid of this (and the hard shifting) problem is to turn the car off for a few minutes and then on again. This problem seems to happen randomly at best. The slower I'm going, the harder it shifts. Does anyone have any ideas for me? I don't have a lot of money and would like to find a solution that does not involve paying $75 for a diagnosis.

PLEASE HELP!

Unfortunately when the O/D light flashes, its usually bad news. There is a code being thrown by the ATX, and I would venture to guess its about the torque converter. You can always try Autozone which will pull codes for free.

Go have the code checked. One of the problems that can cause the symptoms you have is the turbine speed sensor (it hides behind the drivers side front wheel.) I had the same symptoms, w/ an intermittent O/D light flashing.

For me it started after I had someone replace the upper O2 sensors. I ended fixing it by checking the wiring around below the coil pack. It had not been properly reattached to the car. (It is housed in a plastic case and bolted to the back of the head below the coil pack.) I think it just put some strain on the wiring when it was just hanging there and caused a weak signal to the brain from the TSS. It got worse in the rain (why I didn't notice it at first).

The TSS is not that hard to replace (search the trans forum.)

Also have the CEL checked, it may be something simple. Autozone will pull the codes for both for free.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the pointers. I brought my car into a tranny shop this morning and I'm hoping to hear back from tehm soon. When I brought it in, they mechanic thought that it probably was just a sensor. I hope he's right. ANyway, I'll update my post when I know more.

Kev

Well, I got my car back and the code was "#P0741 - TCC System Stuck on". Now the tranny tech told me it would cost (keep in mind I'm in Canada) $900 + gaskets and fluid and tax just to take it out, find the trouble and put it back in. This didn't include repairing it. I think I'm getting shafted here, but since I know nothing about cars, I'm in desperate need of honest guidance. Anything will help!

Thanks,
Kev

I'm not familiar with "TCC". Not sure what it means. Try reposting your dilemma in the "transaxle" section. There are a few who lurk around there who may more know more. I think the cost mentioned (considering we are talking about "little" Canadian dollars ) is about right if in fact the trans has to be removed and replaced to fix the problem.

I went over to the trans section there is an current discussion you might find interesting:

http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tranny&Number=585415&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=7&fpart=1&vc=1

answered my question about what TCC stood for.....