Escort Automatic Transmission

Hi...

I have a '93 Escort 1.9 with 4 spd O/D automatic transmission. Two days
ago I noticed the O/D didn't kick in when I hit 60 kph (40 mph) as usual.
Temperature was below freezing and, when the tranny heated up the problem
disappeared. I thought, ok, it's old with a ton of mileage on it so this
year it'll be tired and I'll have to be patient. The next day the O/D
didn't kick in and hasn't been seen since. I also noticed the car being
sluggish from a standing stop and was worried the torque converter was
slipping as well.

I took the car to a tranny shop yesterday and they road-tested it. When
they came back they said, when in drive, the car is always in 3rd gear,
never changes. You can manually shift to 1st gear in low but when selecting
drive you only get 3rd. They checked for ECM error codes and found none.
When I asked what might be the cause I was told it was an "internal problem"
which, I think, they will turn into a rebuild which is worth far more than
the car.

Question is, does anyone have similar experience with this tranny and what
is the likely cause. Christmas is coming up and we didn't budget for
replacing the car!

Help!

Mike Himelfarb wrote:

> Hi...
>
> I have a '93 Escort 1.9 with 4 spd O/D automatic transmission. Two days
> ago I noticed the O/D didn't kick in when I hit 60 kph (40 mph) as usual.
> Temperature was below freezing and, when the tranny heated up the problem
> disappeared. I thought, ok, it's old with a ton of mileage on it so this
> year it'll be tired and I'll have to be patient. The next day the O/D
> didn't kick in and hasn't been seen since. I also noticed the car being
> sluggish from a standing stop and was worried the torque converter was
> slipping as well.
>
> I took the car to a tranny shop yesterday and they road-tested it. When
> they came back they said, when in drive, the car is always in 3rd gear,
> never changes. You can manually shift to 1st gear in low but when selecting
> drive you only get 3rd. They checked for ECM error codes and found none.
> When I asked what might be the cause I was told it was an "internal problem"
> which, I think, they will turn into a rebuild which is worth far more than
> the car.
>
> Question is, does anyone have similar experience with this tranny and what
> is the likely cause. Christmas is coming up and we didn't budget for
> replacing the car!
>
> Help!
>
>
get a second opinion