EF Fairmont Auto Transmission Issues - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

oz_orion · 06-24-2003, 21:04

I've been having a few problems with my transmission in the past week and I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on what might be happening.

All of these issues happened all of a sudden, the car was working normally one minute, then these problems developed the next and have been happening ever since:

* The transmission doesn't gear up while accelerating from 2nd to 3rd unless you take your foot off the accelerator, the car will happily rev to red line if you keep the pressure on.

* Sometimes when driving up hill, at about 40kmph, the car suddenly gears down the revs shoot through the roof (4k-5k).

* Occasionally the car will stay in a high gear even when you come to a complete stop meaning it starts accelerating very slowly when you take off again.

I checked the fluid on the third day of the problems occuring, it was a little low and I topped it up (about 400mls), though there was no change.

Anyone able to suggest what might be going on and what I can do about it?

Thanks,

James

9psi EB · 06-24-2003, 21:42

Sounds like a possible solenoid fault and the trans is going into limp mode.

Best bet is to take it to a trans place and get them to do some diagnostics on it.

9psi EB

rossi · 06-24-2003, 21:50

Either the S5 solenoid has gone, or your clutch pack is worn.

What the auto is trying to do as your accelerating, is moving from gear to gear via a clutch band. What it is doing looks something like this:

1 - clutch - 2 - clutch - 3 - clutch - 4.

As it has a bit of a load on it, it's slipping, and as you ease off, it binds together and you've got third.

As the S5 is a variable solenoid and controls the changing, most likely this will be the first problem. Hopefully it's not a clutch prob.

Take it to your local auto guy, ( don't tell him what's wrong with it), get him to take it for a drive (should be free for a con*****tion), and he should tell you what you already know, and how to fix it.

If it's happen all of a sudden something might have broken on the inside causing the wear you don't need. If you feel really keen, drop the oil and see if there is any metal fragments swimming around.

I'd suggest the other option first, then drop the oil on the weekend when you're not busy.

St00 · 06-24-2003, 22:42

My EL has had a similar prob, with it not gearing up. Its mostly on very cold mornings, and it may only happen once and thats usually after i turn the corner out of my joint.

My EA used to do it a lot more frequently though (almost every time i turned a corner).

A mate's old man said that its happened in the falcons he owns (92 LTD and a 96 Futura wagon) and that its just something to live with but still if there is a solution to this problem, I'm open to it :)

TopGhia · 06-25-2003, 02:11

Get the fault codes read first, or learn how to read them, saves a lot of f--king around.

cheers

oz_orion · 06-25-2003, 17:33

From what I've heard, you need some special equipment see the fault codes don't you? Some kind of reader that plugs in to the car?

rossi · 06-25-2003, 17:40

You can actually do it with a light tester, if you wanted to (or even a multitester).
But of course it is easier if you have one of those small digital handheld jobs as it displays the actual error codes, instead of you trying to decipher the intermittent flashing.

But yes it is possible.