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Taurus/Sable Transmission Problems

181 messages,  Last post on Feb 28, 2013 at 7:30 PM

You are in the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, Transmission, Sedan, Wagon

    
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Messages Page 16 of 19

#148 of 181 Re: 2005 Ford Taurus Torque Converter issues [awej1] by kjma2

May 13, 2011 (11:38 am)

Replying to: awej1 (Sep 08, 2010 7:17 pm)
It appears to be a common problem with Ford/Mercury autos for this period. The splines strip out on the torque converter cog so that the output shaft no longer makes a connection. Possibly poor heat treatment/bad parts production. You can't expect that Ford would voluntarily take responsibility when a ton of these drive trains have had the problem; ours with just under 28,000 mi. but out of 3 year warranty. We got lucky though. On the phone the dealer quoted $2,400, A large transmission shop $1,800 and I got mine fixed by a transmission specialist in a small shop for $650.

#150 of 181 Seeking transmission help by rjr162

May 25, 2011 (7:54 pm)

#151 of 181 Seeking transmission help by rjr162

May 25, 2011 (7:54 pm)

Ok, sister-in-law has a 96 Sable. It started doing the hard shift into first from a stop.
 
I hooked up a Snap-On scan tool, and watched the shift solenoids as it wasn't a constant thing at first, but became more common and hit the point where when you were driving it would "drop out of gear" and into neutral, and then back into gear.
 
So when in park, the solenoids read:
A: OFF
B: ON
C: OFF
 
When in drive (or 1st), when the car *would* go the solenoids read:
A: ON
B: ON
C: OFF
 
As you drove slowly around the yard, the car would drop back into neutral and the reader showed the solenoids were in the first list.. when it started moving again it showed the solenoids were now in the second list.. and it would keep doing this for a minute or two before it just got "stuck" in neutral and wouldn't move (and the solenoids were back to the first list.. same as in Park)
 
I tried switching solenoid A with solenoid C to see if that made a difference.. and it didn't. Also, there's no Reverse anymore (this was the case even before I changed solenoid A and C)
 
The kicker to me is, if you unplug the main harness to the transmission (located right next to the side pan cover.. white plug, flat on one side, and curved the rest.. wires from this plug lead internally to the solenoids and TCS), you get drive back (I forget, but don't think reverse is there even with the harness unplugged).
 
This sound like a sensor, solenoid, or broken wire to me.. but I don't have a factory service manual to find any diagnostic steps and/or suggestions as to what may be wrong.
 
There are no codes, unless you unplug the harness which obviously spits out codes for solenoids A, B, C and also the Torque Converter Solenoid or whatever.
 
Has anyone experienced this before, and what did you do to rectify the situation? I don't want to replace the transmission as it's a car she no longer uses, I'd rather mess around with the thing and try to fix it "the hard way" lol.
 
Thanks for any info, input, help, links, whatever you can pass my way.

#152 of 181 2002 Ford Taurus Issue by howiec62

May 27, 2011 (9:21 am)

My 2002 Taurus with 45,000 miles is also going through what most others seem to be. I was driving to work and slowing for red light. As the light turned green I stepped on the gas and all of a sudden I was not going anywhere. Only gear that worked was park. Engine was still running but the car wasn't moving ANYWHERE. I called a local trans. guy and his quote without even looking at it was $2600. Why hasn't Ford done anything about this?? It seems unless somebody is seriously injured they just don't care!! Any comments would be appreciated
 
HC

#153 of 181 Re: 2001Taurus Transmission [dangthing] by whizzy1966

Jun 14, 2011 (5:45 pm)

Replying to: dangthing (Dec 19, 2007 10:34 am)
torque converter is the culprit in about 95% of the transmission failures in the Sables. Its a $650.00 part with about $200.00 labor so around $850.00 if you have an honest shop. We were coming back from the Beach 2 yrs ago and the car just came to a stop like it was in neutral and wouldnt move in any gear. I had Ford tow us to Montgomery,AL Ford Dealership who made us wait 10 hrs to tell us it needed a $3300.00 transmission after looking at it for 5 minutes. I wasn't going to do that but decided to tow it home. Spoke to a Tow shop and they referred me to ALLEN ROBBINS TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS in Prattville,AL. I spoke to the owner on the phone who told me that he was 99% sure he knew the problem and it would be around $650.00 + labor to fix it. Come to find out the guys shop was the authorized ford shop for the dealership there. The dealership closed their shop and he hired them all. He said that that transmission in the Sable and Taurus has always had problems with the Torque converter and the dealership only wants to replace transmission to fix it(more profitable) they dont want to fix the problem ie replace the problem part. They had us running the next morning after we towed it in that night. They worked on it that night till it was repaired and we were in a motel. That is the most honest shop that I have ever seen. They could of took us for alot of money but they were honest. So if you have problems with transmissions in Fords check the torque convertor that is the culprit in most of the problems with transmissions.

#154 of 181 Re: Torque Converter [cmoore20] by taurus_owner

Jun 19, 2011 (6:42 pm)

Replying to: cmoore20 (Feb 16, 2011 1:19 pm)
I too own a 2003 Ford Taurus that all of a sudden quit moving as if it were in neutral in late September 2010 with 146,000 miles. My Ford dealer immediately knew what the most likely cause was before servicing it. Their standard repair is to replace both the Torque Converter and the transmission fluid Pump Shaft, which is driven by the torque converter.
 
Either the shaft binds and then breaks, or the torque converted is defective. In my case it was definitely a defective torque converter, but I let them replace both components anyway. They convinced me they knew exactly what to do.
 
After circulating a flush chemical treatment to remove any particles that might adversely affect the operation of the valves in the transmission, followed by a 30 quart flush of transmission fluid and $1291 later, I was on the road again. I currently have 154,000 miles with no subsequent issues.
 
I wished Ford would have covered some of the cost, as my dealership admitted that this is a very common problem on the 2003 Taurus. Depending on where you happen to get stuck, it could be a safety issue.
 
In an unrelated incident only 3,000 miles in late December 2010, my Camshaft Synchronizer Shaft Assembly "chirped" so badly in the cold, that the engine almost stalled and set a Check Engine Light Code.
 
When they removed the shaft, it looked like a piece of varnished wood. That told me the 5W-20 Synthetic Blend specified by Ford was the wrong engine oil. I switched to Castrol Edge 5W-20 and the car runs better with a slight increase in mileage and no chirping.
 
I would recommend you use the full synthetic oil of your choice in your daughter's 2003 Taurus, and NEVER use that Syn-Blend stuff again.

#155 of 181 1994 ford taurus station wagon 3.8 v6 by tywi

Jul 05, 2011 (5:53 pm)

The power door locks and the power mirrors stopped working. I check the fuse for the mirrors and it was blown. I replaced fuse and it blew out as soon as I put it in. What should I check for?

#156 of 181 Swap it? by randa11

Jul 16, 2011 (9:31 am)

Hiya folks. Driving 600 miles back from vacation our '03 Taurus (3.0L) just decided to stop pulling with no warning, only a slight shudder before complete neutral. Park still holds, so i assume it's the usual cause that i've read about here (torque converter splines). The yellow tag on this car has "AEZ4 / 1F1P-7000-aa. I happen to have a known working tranny from a '01 Taurus with the same 3.0L. The yellow tag on the '01 reads AEZ0 / 1F1P-7000-aa. They both have a"1Z" also on the tag. My question is can i swap them over as is? Hoping i can drop the '01 tranny in my '03. Thanks.

#157 of 181 Heat Related transmission problem? by thecakerator

Jul 21, 2011 (12:20 pm)

last year we purchased a 99 taurus with only 52,000 miles on it. We totally regret our decision but it is what it is at this point. Early this spring we noticed that sometimes the car would stall on us, because while the engine wanted to go, the transmission wouldn't. It was worse on hotter days and eventually last month, we had it totally rebuilt to the tune of $1800.00 (w/ new alternator) It drove fine (according to my husband) for about a month. Now we are in a heat wave and it's doing the same thing. The transmission loses all power and is stuck around 20 mph. It eventually kicks back in, or we turn it off and restart it. The rebuilt trans has a two year warranty on it but at this point, I'm wondering how well of a job the guy did! Does anyone know of any heat related 99 transmission problems? The car at this point has 65,000 miles on it .. new brakes, new struts, new alternator, new fuel pump, new tires, new battery, new transmission ... ugh .. what a waste of money.

Messages Page 16 of 19

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