Ford Taurus: Transmission life cycle near end?

Greetings,

your input is greatly appreciated in analyzing the following problem. Two weeks ago, my 1991 Ford Taurus (3.8 Engine, Automatic Transmission) stopped working. It had to be towed. When shifting in ?D?, it would drive 2 meters and then stop. The same for ?R?. Restarting a few moments later, would allow only for the same. (Few seconds movement, and that's all). Transmission fluid level was still ok. I checked that right after it stopped the first time. The engine was at operating temperature. Level was fine. Aday later, I noticed however that it was a little bit leaking under the Transmission fluid pan.

Anyhow, all mechanics I spoke to said that the transmission is dead. I was not ready to invest so much in a car that ruined me anyway. As a desperate act, I thought I would just replace the transmission filter. A friend helped me carry the task.He was not convinced that it would help,but he did it to please me. It worked! The filter was very dirty. Black was the fluid inside with a lot of deposits. The car was running, and the noise I was hearing on the driver side close to the air filter was gone. My friend was even more surprised than I was. The filter was only 22 $ CAN. We naturally put new fluid. I still have some problems however. When starting, it would go well until it reaches the 20 km / h speed, then it would have hard time reaching 40 or 50 km / h. When pushing the gas pedal, I see the number of RPM going high as much as 3000, but it would stay for a long while at 40 km /h, and the car would shake forth and back. It feels as if it wants to jump. Often I think it would just stop on the road. I release then th gas pedal for a while and then push again very gently and patiently... (The people driving behind me get upset, and I feel bad. I see them changing the lane. They are exhausted. )

I thought that it's a problem with the fuel system. I did a fuel system cleaning. I also replaced the fuel filter. It was indeed very dirty. (I thought that a clogged fuel filter would be the source of the problem.) The car runs very well when reaching the 60 km/ h , and even better at

80 or 100 km / h. But the situation remains the same at lower speeds, and especially after restarting at a light or a stop sign. Can I assume that the fuel pump is working well because the engine is running at higher RPM's when accelerating? I have read also somewhere that the Speed Censor might be defect. I must add that I always had electrical problems in that car. Right now the parking lights are not switched on automatically when starting the car. (As they used to) . The bulbs are ok. The fuses are ok. There seems to be some bad contacts. The radio led go sometimes off, and come back when I move the coins tray.

Or would you rather tend to confirm that the Transmission is very tired and will retire soon?

Thank you kindly for your insights!

Reply to
fuente
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It's dead. You may have got it going temporarily, but it won't last long. I suspect all the black stuff was clutch material. The loss of pull is the clutches slipping.Almost everyone I know who owns or has owned a Taurus has lost a trans. I begged my daughter not to buy one for that reason. She just thought it was my bias against Fords. She bought it .You can guess the rest. This has to be the biggest tarnsmission failure epidemic in the history of the automobile. Pardon my ranting

Reply to
TOLYN9

The prime party to blame are the corporate accountants at auto manufacturing companies. Substituting cheap plastic parts where metal would have been more effective but more costly by perhaps a dollar per transmission. I suppose when you scale that dollar over several hundred thousand vehicles you start seeing a savings - but at the expense of the customer.

Reply to
COTTP

If you want to chance patching it up temporarily....don't drive it aymore... drop pan and change fluid to old Type F...I bet you put Dex/MErc III in it... It is sudden death for a slipping trans. Keep the filter in there, just drop pan and put type F fluid in,. alsocheck to see if there is an access cover and plug in teh torque converter to drain it..I don't think there is a FWD Taurus. And for certain add two bottles or Lucas Transmission fix additive. It is thick and red like strawberry jam.. Use two bottles in place of that much fluid.... this might make it move better.

Reply to
Uncle Dodo

Are you sure Type F fluid is acceptable? The Ford manual says that Dextron-Mercon III is required. ( To be honest with you, first I didn't know, and I bought Type F, but I didn't use it for the transmission. ) The manual says that the Type F fluid is acceptable for the Power steering in the Ford Taurus.

May I remove some of the transmission fluid, and add this additive? Does this one really help restore the efficiency of the components? There are so many products that promise wonders!

I will give a try anyway.

I am also following another lead. I am not a mechanics. I am trying to read as much as possible, and learn from you. Some people wrote that the "Trottle Postion Sensor" might be responsible for the hesitation and jurking at lower speeds. (I have hard time going from 20 to 40 km / h) When I am over 60 km/ h, then it's much easier to go to 80 or even 100 km/h. ( It's a headache, but I cannot afford to lose this car at this moment. I would be really stuck. I need it to take the children to school.)

Thanks for the advice!

Reply to
fuente

I'm no mechanic either, but based on the replies so far and on your description of what has happened, the transmission is probably on it's last leg. From what I have read, type F fluid will cause harder shifting in a properly working transmission that requires Dextron III or Mercon (I think it is less slippery than Mercon). When a transmission is slipping, type F will help the clutches grab and may make it work again for awhile.

I had an 87 Cougar that developed symptoms similar to what you currently have (very slow to shift, run high rpms, etc). The problem was in the cable that connected to the throttle and ran to the transmission (there is a throttle position sensor on the motor, but I don't think this is the sensor you read about). In my case, there were 2 or 3 cables connected to the throttle. One went to the accelerator pedal, maybe one to the cruise control and another to the transmission. In my case, on the one that went to the transmission, the grommet/clip had crumbled where this cable connected, allowing the throttle to open several degrees before this cable would start to move. I put in a new grommet and adjusted so that the cable moved the instant the throttle started to move and my problems went away. I cannot say your Taurus is set up the same, but I'd bet this is the "Throttle Position Sensor" you read about. You may check both ends of this cable as looseness on either end will send the wrong signal to the transmission if it has one.

Good luck, bb

Reply to
bobby

That crap he pulled out from the pan was his transmission's guts. I like the Type F idea. I sure hope he reports back how much,if any, time it buys for the thing. That could be a helpful tip in dire emergencies.

Reply to
MaxAluminum

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