Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Possible Tranny Problem?

I have been having some concerns about the transmission on my 98 SE Contour (ATX). For the past couple months, I've noticed that the transmission seems to have a hard time getting into gear while accelerating - it seemed to rev higher than usual before switching gears (~3000 - 3500 RPM). The performance change has been barely noticeable, and I thought maybe it was my imagination.

Well, this past weekend, I did a bunch of work on the car (all work listed for completeness):

1. Installed new stereo.

2. Cleaned Battery Terminals (extremely corroded)

3. Replaced Cabin Air Filter

4. Changed oil & filter

5. Cleaned EGR Passages (my CEL has been on for the past month)

6. Drained/Replaced Tranny Fluid 3x (the fluid that was in there looked like used motor oil - I doubt the previous owner ever changed it).

After doing the work, I've noticed that now the car seems to have an even harder time getting into gear under acceleration (revs 3500 - 4000 before shifting), and if I accelerate hard, it gets as high as 5500 RPM (once it almost got into the red area). I've also noticed that if I accelerate and then brake quickly, the car seems to clunk.

It's become obvious that something is wrong. My question is, should I be taking the car to a transmission shop? Is there anything I can do to alleviate the problem?

Below is some further info on the car. Thanks for any inputs you can provide!

Contour 98 SE
ATX - 69000 miles

There is a fix for the 1-2 'bang shift' as it's been called here. This sounds a lot like what your describing when you accelerate and then brake quickly. Try a search for 'bang shift' which should provide the info you can take to the dealer for this low cost fix. (The TSS sensor was updated IIRC)

Links:
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tranny&Number=257675&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1
http://fordparts.com/cart/?pn=+1S7Z-7M101-KA

The shift RPMs will be higher on hard accels and should reach up to and beyond 6250+ on WOT pulls. For normal cruising, 3500 does seem higher than normal, and may indicate a problem. This could be corrected by the bang shift fix mentioned above. Changing the fluid 3x was a good idea as burnt fluid will only make any problems get worse faster.

Thanks for the info! I just ordered the part and will try it this weekend and see if it helps.

The CD4e ATX in our cars has many design flaws that cause early failure. Bring your car to a good transmission shop (not an exchange house) and have the line pressure, CT pressure and front lube pressure tested. If any are out of spec you can have the valve body rebuilt and updated with mods and oversize valves that will prevent the inevitable total transmission failure. The sensor mod will not prevent incorrect internal pressures from killing your tranny.

the Valve body can be change without tranny removal.

They all have it, they all need it, so get it done. Most good shops know what to do.

For now, check your fluid and slow down.

jeff

One other thing that I would like to mention here, is the fact that you changed so much fluid in a short amount of time. If the condition of your fluid was that bad, it had become abrasive! It had also caused a lot of scares in the bores of the valve body. These scares will be filled with grit for the most part, but when you added the new fluid into the system, it will clean out all those scares and allow your pistons to leak inside the valve body. Hince the reason you now notice the shifting has gotten worse!

For now, go out and buy yourself a bottle of Lucas Oil Transmission Fix. This stuff is not snake oil, believe me! I had a heavily worn valve body at one time and this stuff had my tranny work good enough that when I finally got the money for a rebuild, the shop could not find anything wrong! That was until I told them the stuff was in there and they did a quick drain and fill. This deluited the mixture enough to allow the leakage to take place so they could more accuratly determine the full stint of my problem.

Here is my testimonial! Try it out and see if it at least can help your tranny stay afloat until you can get your it reworked.