Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Need high rpms until car will shift

Came home parked the car, everythings fine. An hour later went do do some driving and immediatly the car wouldn't shift correctly. I have to take it up to 3500 rpms then let off the gas for it to go into second. It also doesn't seem to want to go into overdrive on the highway. Had one O/D light flashing episode but none since. Rained recently and had to navigate some large puddles. Oil level is fine. Any ideas? Thanks, John

Are you saying engine oil level is fine or tranny fluid?

Did you check the tranny while the engine was running or off? An ATX needs to be checked with the engine running.
If the tranny is low, that will give you shifting problems.

Yes, I check the tranny oil while the engine was hot and running. John

This could be caused by several things, so we will rule them out one by one.

When was the last time you changed your ATF? If you have changed it recently, have you changed the fluid on a regular schedule?

Changed ATF 3 weeks ago. 20,000 miles before then.

Well then I think we are looking at one of two things that might be causeing this...

Shift Solenoids, located on the solenoid block on the valve body

OR

MLPS, Manual Lever Position Sensor... AKA Range Sensor.

You can safely change the range sensor yourself and it's not at all overly involved. On the V6, you will have to remove a few things out of the way to get to it, but other then that it's no problem. You can get the sensor from Bill Jenkins for about $21, plus shipping. You can find it here.

As far as replacing the sensor, you would place the car in drive. Off of course! You will see on the sensor that there's two marks that line up on top of the sensor. You then unbolt the sensor and install the new one. Make sure that you line the marks, located on top of the sensor, and bolt it down. Once everything is secure, you move your shifter to the park position and back to drive. Recheck the sensor to make sure the marks are still lineing up. If so, you are good to go. This is sort of failsafe, so don't worry.

As for the shift solenoids... This assembly will run you about $160. It also requires that you remove the valve body cover. Which on a V6 means that you will have to remove such things as the battery, battery tray, things like that. This one is a little more involve, since you will be digging around on valve body. so if that make you uncomfortable, then I suggest you take it to a shop.

I will say this as well... There could also be a problem with the pistons that shift solenoid control. They could be stuck or leaking inside the valve body. If this turns out to the be the case, you will have to replace the valve body. We have had a lot of luck from a company, that I cannot think of right now, that sells remain'd valve bodys for a fair price. Plus, they are all rebuilt with Sonnax Master Rebuild kit, which addresses a ton of known weakpoints in the CD4E. I will try to hunt down that information and post it.

Thanks. From the search info, I was leaning toward the MLPS also. It just so happens that I have the original MLPS that we changed out two years ago. It turned out to be something else so I think the sensor is still good. I'll do it this afternoon. Thanks for the putting it in drive tip. I'll post the results. John

Changed MLPS and still have the same problem. I removed the battery during that process so I'm sure any codes that were stored are now erased. What I'm wondering is, do I need to drive around and see if I can force a cel or blinking O/D light so there will be a code for the mechanic to read tomorrow? Thanks a lot, John