Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting big transmission problems!

Hi all:

You might remember me from a posting in August of 2003, when I'd had to have my 1997 Contour GL (4-cyl.automatic) transmission replaced at 57,000 miles. Paid 3k and had the work done at Capitol Ford in Santa Fe so I'd get a warranty on the service.

Well, last Tuesday evening my car died in Espanola. Towed it to Capital Ford. They just called to say I need ANOTHER transmission!! It was completely fried, after 8k miles! Thank heavens it's still under warranty (3 yrs, 36k miles) so it won't cost me anything and they'll even pay my towing charges. They're getting a transmission in from Albuquerque today and will have it installed by Friday.

But..something is just not right! Either they didn't put the first one in properly or there's some other problem. I'm a good driver and don't shift between gears at all, even with the steep hills here in Los Alamos, NM. Haven't even turned off the automatic overdrive once.

Any ideas on what might be wrong??

Karin

Yeah, I think your problem is your going to Ford.

Actually you should try installing a transmission cooler, a few people on here have and it keeps it cooler, which in a hot climate like New Mexico will be good for it and may make it last longer.

Or it could be they installed a defective tranny. Who knows at least you get a new one for free.

The automatic transmissions are a known weak point in the Contours. You might try to talk the service manager into installing an extra transmission cooler for your car free of charge - to protect themselves from the warranty claim again. It'll be $100 well spent for them & added insurance for both of you.

All those steep hills, your tranny is overheating and burning up. An added external cooler would help a LOT - especially considering the temperatures that the 4 cylinder engine generates.

Hi HitMan and TourDeForce:

Thanks for the tip about the tranny cooler. The dealership is getting one in for me. The tech working on my car said he wasn't sure it would fit, but I told them I'd gotten this info from the contour website from folks who know what they're talking about!

Cheers,
Karin