Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Shifting problems

Whenever I shift into 3rd in high RPMs it feels like its scraping into the gear. Doesn't sound good. At normal speeds its not really noticeable. Whats up.

What year car?

1998.5 SVT contour.

My first thought is it's a synchro going out but I haven't worked much with Contour trannies yet.

It is a 3rd gear synchro, they're a problem spot on these trannys. My suggestion is to use the search feature and find out more info on it and possible fixes. Usually a fix is about $1000+ in labor. My 99 SVT has the same problem.

This is very nearly a normal charicteristic of this transmission. Or perhaps better said, even when brand new or freshly rebuilt this trans has some tendency for a weak 3rd gear synchro. As others have posted if you do a search you will find a wealth of information on how to improve this.

Before you actually remove the trans for an overhaul though, try changing the trans fluid and see if it makes a difference. A fluid with an approprate level of friction modifier often makes this concern much more livable. Here is a receint post about the available fluids that can be used.

http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=trouble&Number=662764&Forum=All_Forums&Words=150&Match=Username&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=661828&Search=true#Post662764

When I bought my 1999 SVT, with 50000 miles, last year I had the same shifting problem. I first replaced the trans oil with the Ford synthetic, which helped quite a bit. However, the only thing I found that gives me consistent and reliable third gear shifts is to hold the gear shift in place until I've let the clutch completely out. This prevents the tranny from popping out. You can even feel it when it wants to pop out, which might be every 20-30 shifts. I only do this for the third gear shift. It's become a habit. Your not hurting anything (better than grinding gears), and it's a lot cheaper than rebuilding the tranny.

Marvin Stockman