Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Tranny acting up

so I was driving down the road when I heard this whistling sound coming from my 98 contour se 2.0 zetec atx thought nothing of it. When I got to where I was going I put it in reverse to back into a spot it hesitated for a min then went. I didn't think much of it because a couple hours later it was running fine. Drove for about half hour then it just went out of gear and wouldn't go back in. I shut the car off and sat there for a min. after about 5 min I got sick of waiting and started it back up put it in gear and it jumped right in and started going. after about 100 ft it fell back out of gear. I stopped shut it off and immedeately started it back up put it in gear went right into gear then about 50-100 ft later it kicked back out. this happened for about half mile then I decided to call AAA. It didn't feel like it was slipping though it was like it was either in gear or out. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

Sounds like it could be a burned-up band, since you state that it would not stay in gear. Also, the first thing you mentioned was a whistling sound and then it was slow to engage reverse. Whistling sounds are normally associated to the pump, just before they go out.

If I had to take a wild stab at it, which i am, I would say that your pump started pumping flaky, which would have slowed down the reaction time of the servo piston, which in turn caused your bands to slip.

You will most likely have to get it to a shop to find out for sure what happened, but that is a guess. Since you have a 98, it just might be worth rebuilding. If it is the pump, they are not all that exspensive, but they aren't cheap either. If the Bands were affected, you would be look at a total overhaul. That could get pretty pricey!!

So like I said, have a tranny shop look at it. Most tranny shops will take a look at it for free. If they cannot find the problem without tearing into the tranny, then they will start chargeing fee's.

Good luck!

is it difficult to change the pump?

The pump might be pretty hard for a weekend warrior to change out. I am sure that you might need some special tools.

My CD-Rom is freaking on me, so I can't check my Ford Service Manual. Sorry.

I talked to a mechanic today that said maybe it isn't the pump but the filter. like something is clogging the filter or the neck of the filter is cracked. he said that would make more sense since it is going into gear at first then something is clogging the flow of fluid and it is lowering the pressure enough to drop out of gear. just thought I would bounce that off you guys to see your thoughts on it.

FYI, the filter in the ATX requires the removal and disassembly of the transmission to replace. It is not a scheduled maintenance item.

If he happens to be right, can you say "Expensive filter?"

Steve

is there anyway to check the tranny w/o pulling it from the car? if not is there anyway to pull it from the car w/o dropping the sub-frame? I have a real hard time trusting any shops. they are all too quick to say "oh you need a new tranny that'll be 2500 dollars please"

what should the line pressure be? and what would be the procedure for checking it? also if the tc is out might as well replace or rebuild? one more thing is there anywhere that breaks down how to pull the engine then the tranny?

thanks for all your help so far!! still struggling with getting it back on the road though.