Hello, all.. not exactly a new member but spend more time reading through threads than posting them, often find clues to help me track down whatever obscure problems I happen to be coping with at that particular moment. My heart belongs to the many Fords in my past, but at the moment have a 1998 Mercury Mystique and a 2003 Mountaineer. I'm still a little puzzled about how that happened. I've had Monte (yes, the Mountaineer) about a year and a half, have put a fair amount of $ into him but all in all have felt it's been worthwhile. I just had brakes and rotors done in early Feb., a pulley and drive belt replaced, oil change etc. Told them at the time I could feel a slight transmission slip (auto trans 5R55s, 4.0L SOHC V6) at around 25-30 mph, most noticeable when engine cold, wanted it checked. They pretty much checked the fluid (I think it's ridiculous and SO user-unfriendly to have to crawl under a vehicle to do that!), didn't seem to think the 2nd to 3rd shift hesitation too alarming because, after all, it IS an older vehicle with some 215,000 miles on it. So, a mere $2000+ later, Monte and I were back on the road.

Then Fri last week a 5 mile drive up the highway in rush hour traffic turned into a hair-raising, white-knuckle, oh hell we're not gonna make it kind of nightmare. The 2nd to 3rd shift failed entirely, it was like the engine was being kicked into neutral, the rpms would suddenly ramp up and forward motion would peter away, I'd yank my foot off the accelerator so if it DID manage to grab a gear I wouldn't get jerked into next week and hopefully not drop the tranny in the middle of the road. I made it back into town, to the repair shop, and drove away in a loaner for the weekend. The word today is a recommendation to replace it, they've located one with 77,000 miles on it, with labor it'd set me back another $4675.. I am trying not to hyperventilate, but it ain't easy. I can squeak up the money, but will that REALLY fix it, will it just be the latest in what's likely to be an unending litany of catastrophic issues, and a constant drain on both my hopes and my resources? If I DON'T have it done, then the $2000+ I put in LAST month is just a flat loss, a total waste. You gear-heads out there.. what would YOU do? Would you roll the dice on making Monte well, or drop a losing proposition like a hot potato? Please, I'd appreciate your input.