Hi guys,

Just bought a 2004 Limited (108K miles currently) back in February, and haven't even put 2000 miles on it. Over the weekend it seems to have developed an "interesting quirk".

It doesn't seem to want to engage reverse. Put it in reverse and it doesn't give that feel of engagement. It will move very slowly, and if you are lucky it will engage after a 30 seconds or so.

Drive is fine, immediate engagement, runs fine.

I checked the fluid and it was a tad low, so I added a pint, which brought it to the middle of the hash marks.

Here's the kicker, before we bought it the dealership took it to Ford to have the transmission fixed under the recall.

So am I looking at a new transmission for my "new" van?

 

I know it's not enough, but Ford will reinburse you for, I believe, it's either 1400.00 or 1500.00. Better than nothing back at all. We deal with same thing happen in vans. We got the thing fixed and got rid of it.
Ford Engine Repair Huntington Beach

 

Thanks for the reply. Ford essentially told me it wasn't their problem. The used car dealer that sold me stepped up and replaced it at their cost. Hopefully it's now good for another 100K, which will take my wife about 20 years to achieve.

 

 

We had to replace the transmission.

 

The Reverse clutch has to be engaged for it to work and it's ONLY used in reverse. I'd check/replace the range sensor that tells the PCM which gear is selected by the shift lever. Slow engagement would be the result of the fluid going bad.

 

its a valve body issue- and the fluid will eventually turn dark and at that point its dead. Get it into a trans shop asap---its a relatively inexpensive fix (no transmission repair is inexpensive) but if you wait, it will be a full trans rebuild.