i have a 98 contour runs great only 111500 miles on it tranny slowly acted up. would start to not want to go in gear, after 25mph then it would pick up and drive now nothing no drive gears reverse still works great...what could be the problem no check engine light. no high rev and slamming back in gear.. fluid looks like it got hot at one time fluids a red tint but greyish in color

 

Trans fluid that appears greyish or soupy usually has been contaminated with coolant.
Anti-freeze is poison to an automatic trans. Need to confirm what appears as contamination is actually that. If all is OK then a look at the trans filter and inside trans is in order.

 

anti freeze in the tranny no possibal way . im pulling off the trans pan to check filter and for metallic objects theirs also a vacume line that is coming fromt the top of the trns pan but its not hooked up on the other end i tryed to find were it would tie into but i could had the air box and all takin off to the throttle body to and it didnt help and were does it go and could it effect the funtion of the trans??

 

Could that hose possibly have sucked in some water wherever it was ? It could be just a vent.
Don't forget the trans gets fluid cooled by a cooler in the radiator.
At one time there were problems with the forward clutch piston cracking and they went to a stamped steel instead of an aluminum piston. May not apply to your trans or problem, but will have to wait and see what you find.

 

why not just r&r the trans? might be cheaper in the long run.

 

That car has the CD4E transmission. It is known for problems.

The loose hose near the battery box is a vent hose. There is a clip at the battery box. Clip it in there so that the end points down. It has no effect on shifting. It would be difficult for water to get in there.

It does not have a filter. It has a built in screen that is not accessible without taking the tranny apart.

The transmission cooler may be built into the radiator. If the radiator corrodes it could leak into the transmission cooler. Remember that the radiator is under pressure.

You could change the transmission fluid and see if that fixes the problem. You could also pressure check the cooling system. If it looses pressure over time you have a leak somewhere.

Here is a video that sheds some light onto the CD4E problems: Ford CD4E transmission failure explained - YouTube

 

Bluewind, Not familiar with the CD4E. Thank you for the info, appreciate it.

 

so i drained the tanny some mettalic but nothing alarming so witht the thought of the radiator leaking in to the trans cooler i checked the coolant tank and the coolant is dingy not bright green. so now is the Q.. i need the car for school eithe way ill have it fixed with the new radiator but is the tranny salvageable at all with a good flush and new fluids and filter??

 

at6:
There is no exchangeable filter in this tranny.
Is it salvageable with a fluid change? The unambiguous answer is: it depends. Specifically it depends where the metal shavings are coming from. Near the end of the video the guy names a company that makes an improved valve body. If your problem is a bad valve body and the resulting shavings have not yet damaged the gears and bands and clutches then a flush with new tranny fluid can buy you time. If the flush does not improve the shifting then replacing the valve body may be necessary.
If the gears, clutches and bands are damaged like in the video then you are out of luck. From here and far away from your car I sense that you noticed the problem early enough.

The coolant: you may not need to replace the radiator. The coolant may be due for flushing and replacing. You need to pressure test the radiator in order to see if it is failing. The shop can do that for you before they do the flushing. They can put a dye in the fluid, put it under pressure and use a black light to see if there is fluid coming out somewhere. They can also keep the pressure for a time and see if it drops. By the way I am not 100% sure that this radiator has a transmission cooler built in. That's the first thing you ask the shop.

I know you want to save money being a student. But this stuff seems new to you and as a student you know there is a learning curve for everything new. The learning curve in "DIY auto-mechanics 101" can lead to very steep "tuition" charges. My advice: have this properly diagnosed by an independent shop.

 

ive looked around priced and their seems to be a filter kit for this trany and the trans does cool threw the radiator im goin to cap off the trans part of the radiator and add a separate cooler just to make safe thoughts i hear and have read this trany runs hot so ill go with a good size cooler thiers some good room to work with for placement. im just goin to have the tranny rebuilt or swap for a rebuilt one which ever comes first!!. and yes first time havin to work with or around a transmition the rest of the car no problem