Auto Transmission Issue

Riksta · 16-08-2007, 10:43 PM

Well tonight I had my first bit of a scare in the AU.

I've noticed recently when cold, the transmission is in drive but when it goes to change a gear it feels and acts like its in neutral instead of drive, ie rev the car and it revs with no power to wheels. Normally a quick off then on the accelerator clicks it back in and on the way, and it only ever happened a couple of times near my house while cold.

Tonight I was heading up the hill and it did it to me instead of kicking to (I think) third gear, I pulled my foot off and on, and it didn't click back. I'm like "uh oh". Put it into neutral manually then back to drive and accelerated, nope nothing. At this stage I'm starting to roll back down the slight incline so I braked and pulled it backwards onto the side of the road, put it into 1 and worked my way up to drive with no issues.

However, I guess I need to know what the issue would or could be, and how to rectify it. If it needs a mechanic to do it, so be it I'll get it done. I'm not stuffing round with something like this, had there been someone behind me I would have, quite literally, been rooted up the bum.

Any help/suggestions/solutions greatly appreciated. Like I said, its only ever when its cold and fresh (ie heading away from home) that it happens if that helps diagnosis.

JC · 17-08-2007, 12:50 AM

First place to start is to check fluid level. Low fluid means not enough line pressure to hold/change gears properly. If that's not the problem, then from there it just gets to be bad news unfortunately - any one or more of the solenoids/valves that control the gears could be stuffed, the planetary gear set could be missing teeth (lots of them based on your problem), etc. Still, start with the fluid and see how it goes.

Riksta · 17-08-2007, 07:48 AM

Ahh crap, I'm hoping its Fluid then - the car's only done ~91,000km - if its big issues with the gearbox I'd hate to be thinking how the previous owner drove it

:

So how would I go about checking fluid levels and stuff, or is it a job for the mechanic? (sorry, not very mechanically minded here).

JC · 17-08-2007, 08:51 AM

You can check it yourself, but it's probably better to get a mechanic (auto trans specialist) to look at it - that way they can tell you if there's anything wrong at the same time as doing a fluid top up and filter replacement. She be around the $150 mark, plus an additional $80/100 if you go for a full flush.

Riksta · 17-08-2007, 09:12 AM

Thanks heaps JC.

Not the kinda thing I need right now with my current $ situation but I'll find it, like I said I'm not gonna muck around with something like this that could be a safety issue.

JeffAU1 · 17-08-2007, 12:02 PM

IVe got the same issue, but at the moment its just in the cold that its an issue.

I got a trans flush done about 12 months ago and that did not fix mine.

PM me with how you go !

GK · 17-08-2007, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffAU1

IVe got the same issue, but at the moment its just in the cold that its an issue.

I got a trans flush done about 12 months ago and that did not fix mine.

PM me with how you go !

I bet you another .75 litres of fluid would help.

I had the same in my wagon lately, not quite enough after the flush. A little more, beautiful!

GK

Riksta · 17-08-2007, 04:00 PM

How long do these "Flush & Fill" jobs take?

Like, is it only an hour or so that I could sit in the waiting room with a book, or should I get a mate to follow me and take me home after I drop the car off?

sly · 17-08-2007, 04:18 PM

Most days would be a "while you wait" job. If they're really busy they may ask you to leave it for half a day or so. I had a service and full flush recently, took about 2 hours and they were fairly busy.

Riksta · 17-08-2007, 04:56 PM

Cool, thanks for that.

And thanks to everyone else for the input & help, appreciated. I'll let you know how it all goes - hopefully try and get it all done & sorted early next week.

duaned · 17-08-2007, 09:39 PM

Funny issue this! In the cold (first started) my car would no engage any gear at all! When it did eventually find reverse, reversing out of my slanting driveway would make it go into neutral! Problem solved now. All it was was short on trans fluid. Only 300ml in fact!

blacklabel · 18-08-2007, 01:16 PM

All the replies are on the money. I have also been through this whole scenario only a couple of months back.My problems were really caused through my lack of regular maintenance and fluid replacement in my auto.
Not only was my fluid filthy and causing problems, but it also contributed to leaky gaskets and also to a failed No5 Solenoid/relay.
I was having no drive/random falling out of drive/late-erratic shifts, and all kinds of SCARY things happening when driving.It is not a good feeling when you go around a sweeping corner or roundabout and have your tranny throw itself out of drive with traffic right up your butt at 50-60kms per hour!

The good news for me was that my failed solenoid/relay was only a $29.95 part.
That fixed the missing/erratic shifts.
Replacing the fluid,new filters and new gaskets to stop my leaks solved the other problems.It only takes a small ammount of fluid loss to begin affecting performance.I actually only ran the new fluid for 1 month and then replaced it again,to really flush through all the crap.
Now I get my auto fully serviced every 3 months-regardless of kms.
Touch wood,everythings sweet-and after 250,00km is a pretty good reflection on the ford autos.
...and it's great not having 50c piece sized patches of fluid grubbing up the driveway!

congo3sr · 18-08-2007, 07:49 PM

Hey Fellas,while we,re on the subject,can anyone recommend a good auto trans service mob west of melbourne?
cheers George

congo3sr · 19-08-2007, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by congo3sr

Hey Fellas,while we,re on the subject,can anyone recommend a good auto trans service mob west of melbourne?
cheers George

:

JC · 19-08-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by congo3sr

Hey Fellas,while we,re on the subject,can anyone recommend a good auto trans service mob west of melbourne?
cheers George

Yellow pages is your friend. I'm in Canberra, so can give you the name of two places here, but can't really help for western Melbourne. G&D maybe??

(Oh, for the Canberrans reading this thread, Tuggeranong Transmission and Brakes is the place to go, followed closely by AutoTorque in Phillip)

GK · 19-08-2007, 11:06 PM

I use Fluidrive in Coburg, more North than West of Melbourne though.

GK

Riksta · 31-08-2007, 01:06 PM

Just a bump and a progress update - I have the car booked in at my mechanic for an auto transmission service on Tuesday.

It hasn't been going back to neutral as much lately, however the issue is still there (only when cold) and I noticed it "clunked" from first to second the other day - so at the moment I'm only driving it for essential stuff until its been looked at on Tuesday.

blacklabel · 31-08-2007, 04:14 PM

Good to hear. It sounds exactly like the issues I had,re my earlier reply to your post.
I'll put money on your No;5 solenoid/relay being poked and your fluid being low and dirty.They normally use a "service kit" when carrying out a full tranny service-filter/pan gasket etc...
Make sure your mechanic checks the small side-cover gaskets(there are 2) as well as just replacing the pan gasket.And I'd get him to check the main rear housing seal too-which he should be while it's up on the hoist anyway.
Good luck!

Riksta · 31-08-2007, 04:35 PM

Thanks, I guess Tuesday evening I should be able to post pretty well everything he's done to it.

Should I mention the #5 solenoid to him, get him to check that out while he's at it?

blacklabel · 31-08-2007, 05:03 PM

Hell yeah, as that was the culprit that was causing my shifting problems.As soon as that was replaced,almost all was back to normal.My other problems were low and dirty fluid,and minor leaky gaskets.
Plus, after your analysis,he should-as a pro,be checking your solenoids as a matter of priority for this type of problem.