iamlunchbox

I have a 2002 ford taurus ses 24v 105,000 miles. About a month ago my wife called me on the way home from work. She said the car wouldn't go over 20 miles an hour an the rpms would shoot up. I told her to stop and i'd be right over. About 5 minutes later she called me back and said she started the car again and its running fine. Ran great ever since. Tonight I'm driving home from a friends house. Pull out of his driveway, get to about 20 miles an hour and it feels like its in neutral. I pull into a parking lot and tried turning it off and back on but it didn't change. I did this 2 more times in about a mile. The third time it worked and drove perfectly fine the 20 miles home from there. Any ideas? I'm baffled. No check engine lights. Probably going to take it to a trans shop tomorrow but trying to get some ideas of what to expect.

Thanks in advance

Bert

Something is definitely sticking. Has the trans been serviced regularly and the fluid full? Could also be an electrical problem.

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Bert

iamlunchbox

It has been serviced regularly and is just coming up on being due for a fluid change

R.S.LOGAN

Dont know if a bit of s*** in the valve block would cause this .Fluid change might flush it out if that's the fault .

360ci

Sounds like it's very low on fluid. My '99 acted similar, where drive or reverse acted as the same as being in neutral. Low fluid means the gears can't grab. By low I mean not registering any fluid on the transmission dipstick at all. Sounds like your 2-3 quarts low at least. there's a seal that can cause such a leak. I filledup my trans with over 4 quarts, drove to the dealer 18 miles away, and it was down at least 75% of what I put in. New seal for a few hundred bucks and all has been good. My Taurus was right around the 100K mile mark at the time of this problem.

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'00 Durango R/T 360ci 290hp (modded); 138,500m
'06 Pontiac G6 GT 3.5L 220hp; 44,000m
'12 Chrysler 200 Limited 3.6L 283hp; 13,000m
'99 Taurus 3.0L 2V Vulcan 145hp; 154,300m - Traded
Amsoil in all vehicles!

tomw

The electronic pressure control solenoid may be fritzing out. It adjusts the pressure in the system based on how much throttle is applied, firmer shifts for more gas pedal in general. If it dies, the system line pressure may be too low for proper operation. The fact that it started working again points thataway... Could also be the EPC valve is getting jammed open by crud. Two decent alternatives anyway.
tom