Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Tranny Problems

One the way to work this morning, my car wasn't shifting very well. Very high rpm's followed by a whirriling noise.
Then, I seen some smoke in my rear view mirror in which I exited the freeway to park my poor car.
After I waited until it stopped smoking (it was coming from the right hand side of the engine).
I checked the tranny fluid and it's red, with black on the dipstick.
After waiting for 1 1/2 hours I was able to get my car towed and I was able to borrow a car until after work. My friend thinks it's one of the tranny cooler lines that runs back to the radiator. That would be strange, they were just replaced in January this year when I had a new radiator installed.
I have the 1995 V6 Duratec Automatic. Anyone have any ideas? Does it sound like a radiator line to the tranny? It isn't going to go anymore. When you put it in gear I get nothing.
So, either I need a new tranny line to the radiator, or they said they could rebuild the tranny.
Any ideas?

If the transmission isn't going into any gear, I suspect that your fluid is all leaked out. I would look at the lines from the transmission to the radiator (as you suspect.)

If you get that resolved and the transmission is still giving you problems, then you may need to investigate the more expensive option. It basically depends on how long you ran it dry. If you were able to successfully put it in park when you pulled over, you may be ok.

As far as having the lines replaced, if they did not tighted the connection properly, it could have slowly backed itself loose.

good luck,
David

I was able to put the car into park when I pulled over. And I was able to put it into drive one last time when we tried to get the car on the car dolly. I was glad my car broke down on a hill. We tried about 3 times to roll the car onto the dolly.
So, maybe it is just that line going from the tranny to the radiator, and like you said, the fluid drained out.
Thanks David. I feel better about the problem. At least I have some idea of what could be wrong.
I am sure we will find out soon. Even if worse comes to work, my friend can rebuild the tranny. 185,000 miles is a long way for the orginal tranny. I hope we can fix this problem.. I was looking forward to 200,000 miles!

Ok, here's a follow up.
We checked the fluid again, and it looks like there is more tranny fluid on the dipstick then before. It's almost like it's backing up. I had the tranny fluid added (changed) back in January when the radiator was replaced. I haven't added any since then.
When we first start the car, the tranny will go into gear. Briefly it goes into gear (long enough to get it off of the car dolly), then it stops.
Does anyone have any idea or experience with this issue?
Any suggestions?

Greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Not sure from your post, did you check the fluid with the engine running. You can have a level with engine off then have it go away running. Make sure the engine is running when you check the level. You need to run it through Drive, neutral, reverse, then check it while in neutral. Make sure the parking brake in on.

Yes, the car was running when we checked the transmission fluid level.
We didn't engage the parking brake on the automatic V6.
We did check it in all gears and nada. The tranny does engage briefly upon starting the car, then it stops. We're stumpted.

Also, does anyone recommend a place to buy a tranny from? New or used. Which do you all prefer? A new tranny or a rebuild? I know I'm ahead of the real issue, but if it does turn out to be a bad tranny, I wanted to find out where is a good place to buy a new tranny from?

rebuilt to better than OEM spec with cooler added.

Anyone suggest a transgo kit or something like that for her? I've been told that a tranny kit for like 35 bucks is a worth while thing to add while doing a re-build. I hope this person who you that can re-build your tranny know what he is doing. I know a few people that had their tranny's re-built and they slip all the time. I wish you luck!

Yes, my mom's husband and his son rebuild tranny's all the time. One a Subaru SVX, Nissan Maxima, Ford Ranger, are only a few examples of tranny's they fixed/rebuilt. I trust they know what they are doing.
They usually end up with their friends car, with a bad tranny, so they fix it and sell it.
So, you think a rebuild is the best way to go? Do you think that is what my tranny needs?