Hi, guys, really great to find out this website. Maybe someone can give me advice on my 98 contour SE. OK, there is the story. I'm in Kitchener. I bought this contour SE two month ago, the odometer reading was 200k. I didn't drive on the highway until this Monday on a trip to Niagara Falls. After I got there, the auto transmission start to function very funny. It won't engage after the red light stop, I have to step on the accelerator hard, then suddenly it engaged and car thrust out. From gear 1 to gear 2, the change is harsh and the engine speed is not stable (up and down until the speed was brought up). After 60km/h, every thing works smooth. The problem has been the same since last trip.
The thing is there has been a transmission rebuilt on the first owner at about 100k. This car hasn't give me any rouble when I only drove on local. It seems the problem is from gear 1 to gear 2 when speed is under 40km/h.
Does it mean this auto transmssion is nearly dead? How can I deal with it? I don't want put another 2000 dollars into this car. Maybe a used transmission? or maybe it is only problem with the torque convertor? Oh, there is another thing, when the car idle at red light, the engine periodicly shaking, it seems the engine engaged for a while then lost, and then engaged. The shaking is from that change.
Thanks a lot guys.