crazy sable

hello again guys ,,well i back working on my sons 1993 sable 3.8 with around 180,000 miles on it ,,tried the seft test code reading and it's a weird prosess but i think we did it right ,,there were 2 codes that point toward a transmission issue with the shift solinoids,,86+62 if we read them right..
well yesterday while he was driving it home from work it would shift only once and seems to be stuck in gear ,,he has a 3 speed tranny in it and he drives it in drive not overdrive ,,we changed the filter and fluid today and it seems ok ..but it still at times does not shift up,,then all of a sudden it will shift and drive and shift fine ,,does this sound like possibly a solinoid problem or possibly something else ,,i always thought that a solinoid would be either good or bad... i didn't think there was a "sometimes"..
i'm guessing the solinoid is behind the inspection pan on the drivers side ..and that looks like a joy to remove..the part doesn't seem to be an expencive part but it looks like it may be tough to get to ,,anything i should try before pulling the cover ? and is there anything to look for or be careful of when changing the solinoid?
thanks in advance
crazy sable

chipset

You might want to recheck your codes. That car has a 3 digit code. If your driving in
DRIVE only and not allowing it to shift up into over drive you will get a shift solinoid
code.

crazy sable

hey thanks alot,,is there a special way to read the codes ,,the check engine light flashes are so erratic some long pauses some short some almost instantly..first ford i had to read the codes on and not the usual flashing codes i'm more used to..but thanks for letting me know there 3 digit codes ..the ones i read were 2 digit but again it's hard to tell where they start and stop ..lol..lol..guess it's a traial and error test ,,also i see theres 3 different types of codes KOEO, CM and KOER ,,i understand the letters but whats the difference between the KOEO and the CM codes and will both codes appear in the self test sequence?
another question ,,about the shifter selection ,,my son beleives he should drive the car in the drive position ,,and he's kinda hard headed when it comes to advice from the guy who fixes the car(ME),,lol.. ..will driving the sable in the drive position cause transmission issues prematurely?he drives about 40-50 miles round trip to work each day and then normal around town driving ..
thanks again
crazy sable

chipset

Buy a hand held code reader. They are about 40 - 50 bucks. They give you an actual
print read out on the code reader screen. They show you the number of the code. Comes with the book to see what the codes mean. Driving the car in DRIVE only is for towing. Not allowing it to go into overdrive can over heat the transmission and keep
engine rpm up higher than supposed to. NOT GOOD. Not to say the bad gas mileage.
Yes it could cause transmission problems and maybe damage. The AOD is not one of the best transmissions out here. They didn't get their problems sorted out till late 94 - 95.
you might want to MAKE your boy drive in over drive or make sure he saves up about
$2500.00 to repair the transmission when it quits,and it will. If it will still shift up to O.D.
that is. They didn't put over drive on the shifter because they wanted to fill in some space. All codes will show KOEO,CM,or KOER if they are permenant set codes and have had 3 continuous run time problems.