My 93 Sable stopped shifting into overdrive unless I'm going down a hill or coasting. The minute I put my foot back on the gas it downshifts to drive. The car has a 3.8 liter engine and runs great otherwise. Cost me about 3 mpg. Code 648 is the only code left. I fixed the 565 which was a bad wire to the canister purge solonoid. (Hoped by some vacuum miracle it would fix the shift).
What does the poor shifting mean. Shifts good otherwise.
Well, a 648 code is 4th gear failure in the service manual. You need to have a transmission shop put a tester on it and see if they can shift it manually. Try to find a couple that might give you a free diagnosis before you make a decision.
BOB
This model year transmission had a lot of trouble with the speedometer drive and governor gears in the transaxle. I have fixed several of these transmissions with similar problems, and it was always the governor. Ford had a lot of Technical service bulletins on it.
Could you give me an idea of cost for speedo drive or governor gears? I advertised the car for $2500 and got no hits so I'm nervous about letting the dealer look at it.
If I remember correctly, I spent about $150 for governor, forget what speedo cost. It's a real pain to access, you can do it from below, but need a lift or a jack with a lot of lift.
I took it to a Ford Garage. $100 later they say it has a burned out overdrive band. Will have to remove the transmission, split it and replace the band, maybe more since pieces are probably in the oil. Estimated anywhere from $700 to over $1500. I'm going to try to sell or trade it.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.