149,000 miles on my 93, 3.0L automatic. Clean fluid, shifts as crisply as one would expect.

Twice in about the last 100 miles worth of in-town driving, I am sitting at a light, and suddenly, its as if the trans went into neutral. Step on the gas, and it doesn't move forward. Moved it into low, then D1, and back t D, and there is nothing there. This sucks..... :-(

I put it into park, and then dropped it back into reverse, and it was "back" then into drive, and it takes off like it should, and shifts okay, and gives no indication that it has issues.

Always hard to guess via the internet, but is this the death of my car, or maybe a sensor, or some kind of adjustment/checkout? Are nearly all trans issues, the end of the trans and a requirement for a new one?

I don't much trust the major chain trans shops, and don't really know any of the smaller local ones, so I really would like an opinion from someone who doesn't stand to get paid $3400 dollars, rather than some less expensive solution.

Much obliged for any comments, or suggestions. Love my Taurus. Been dreading the failure of the trans for 50K miles, based on its reputation.

Thanks,

John

 

SOUNDS LIKE THE LINKAGE TO ME. GO TO A LOCAL REPUTABLE TRANSMISSION SHOP FOR A LOOK LET THEM KNOW ITS NOT WORTH IT TO DO THE TRANSMISSION BUT YOU WOULD LIKE A LOOK. MOST LIKELY SOMETHING SMALL. I THINK..

 

Thanks. I was thinking along the same lines as you suggested. Not much faith in most repair shops, but if I make it clear there is no big payday on this car, maybe they will want to search out all the possibilities, to make some money.

I called four of the 'national' chains, and two actually said they would test, and try 'this and that' while the others just said, $1800-$2200 .....

FWIW, they all said the same thing tho, based on what I told them, which has to do with one of the pistons splitting, and causing it to lose drive with the engine. I think based on them all getting the same result, that may well be the problem. Apparently, this piston was recalled, or at least made a big deal out of, and this model year suffers from it, sooner or later. Kind of comforting, in an odd way, that maybe I won't be getting taken.....

I run the car in overdrive all the time, and apparently the piston is the overdrive circuit, so when it fails, like at a traffic light, putting it in another gear, won't help, and it has to go into park, and then back to gear. They all volunteered that if I put it into drive, before I came to a stop, it would not occur, but I am not of a mind to do a lot of road testing to check it out, as it might fail completely one time, and the aggravation would not be worth it.

Very clean car, 22/27 mpg, never an emissions test problem, so I guess I will go for it, and see what happens. I just need to figure out who can do the best job, and it does matter because a mom and pop shop, isn't gonna be much help for a warantee if I move, or if I travel out of state. Places like AAMCO come to mind, but the stories I have heard, give me pause.

Either way, thanks for listening, and thanks for the advice. I will definitely play like I am not gonna pay the big bucks for an old car repair, and maybe I will get lucky.

Regards from Utah,

John