93 ATX "locked" in first gear?

[Off Road SHO]

Hey all, I'm trying to help out a fellow AZ SHO Club member who just bought a 93 ATX. It only had two codes; MAF sensor and TPS out of range or something like that. A quick cleaning with carb cleaner cleaned up the MAF code and a change out of the TPS cleared that code as well. Now I'm getting a new code of Brake On/Off test failed but that might be operator error.

But it's still in first and it wont shift up. Before I go to all the trouble of helping him pull the tranny out and fit a replacement, I'd like to make absolutely, positively sure that it's the tranny and not the VSS or TSS.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Tom

 

[Jason Bowles]

Hey all, I'm trying to help out a fellow AZ SHO Club member who just bought a 93 ATX. It only had two codes; MAF sensor and TPS out of range or something like that. A quick cleaning with carb cleaner cleaned up the MAF code and a change out of the TPS cleared that code as well. Now I'm getting a new code of Brake On/Off test failed but that might be operator error.

But it's still in first and it wont shift up. Before I go to all the trouble of helping him pull the tranny out and fit a replacement, I'd like to make absolutely, positively sure that it's the tranny and not the VSS or TSS.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Tom

Had the same problem -- IT"S THE TRANNY!!!! Although it should have showed problems prior you know that of a hard shift from 1-2 at hard to mild accel. Sometimes it would shift down hard too.

 

[hawkeye18]

Does it stay in first even when put in 2nd gear via gearshift? Unfortunately, one of the most likely suspects is the tranny. Specifically, the 1-2 solenoid likes to go out, or you may have just burned one too many bands/clutches. Check the fluid at warm idle; is it red, and is there enough? If there's not enough fluid in the tranny, it will do weird wonky things.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Does it stay in first even when put in 2nd gear via gearshift? Unfortunately, one of the most likely suspects is the tranny. Specifically, the 1-2 solenoid likes to go out, or you may have just burned one too many bands/clutches. Check the fluid at warm idle; is it red, and is there enough? If there's not enough fluid in the tranny, it will do weird wonky things.

I will check the level again. I did notice that the fluid smelled a little burnt and is slightly brownish red in color.

Tom

 

[I'll sho u]

Does the spedo work? If the vss is bad the trans WILL not shift out of first gear. I personly have seen 2 or 3 taurus withe the same symptoms within the last year, and the vss was the culprit on all, so don't condem the trans quite yet.

 

[Commish56]

do you have reverse? if no reverse or a problem with it check the forward clutch piston. i just had the same problem and this can be changed with tranny still in car. But could def be VSS. So with either problem you can still save tranny! that is a big plus!

 

[Off Road SHO]

So is the Vehicle Speed Sensor the one above the passenger side axle, under that little aluminum heat shield that is a bitch to get at?

Tom

 

[Ishodu]

Sounds like you found it.

 

[CheckerSHO]

could be vss, but more likely to be stripped off and/or burned out intermediate clutches. Normally a vss problem wont keep you from selecting 2nd gear with the lever(manual 2nd). The forward clutch piston problem prevents you from having any foward movement so it sounds like that is ok.

 

[cetroutt]

i know it's not a SHO but i had a problem kinda like this with my '92 sable gs. it would run and shift fine until i tried to pass someone or sometimes at WOT. it would step down from whatever gear it was in and would lock into first. to fix it i would have to shut it off and let it set for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. everyonetold me i needed a rebuild but i simply changed the trans fluid and used a high mileage fluid. the problem cleared up and it never did it again. i don't know if this would be helpful but i thought i would try.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Damn, this is a bitch to get out! And wouldn't you know it, it has one of those clips from **** holding the speedometer cable into it.

Tom

 

[Off Road SHO]

Curses,

That didn't fix the problem. Time to swap out the tranny.

Curses.


Tom

 

[St Louis SHO]

I hate R&Ring ATX in a SHO. I'm with you Tom.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Yeah, I hate the size and the weight of the atx's the most. We're getting the replacement tranny from his wrecked 95 so I will just drop the 95's whole sub frame with everything attached. Then I can just separate the 95's tranny from it and install it in the 93. I have a real nice OTC tranny jack that I need to put new o-rings into that will really help with the R&R of the trannnies.

Tom

 

[Devin]

In my 94 Topaz when it was low on tranny fluid it would lose the ability to upshift to third and eventually second. The throttle was also very, very difficult to press down.

 

[SHO Continental]

Curses,

Time to swap out the tranny.

Curses.

Tom

I've been there... (VSS and ATX Swap.. )

At least I got to wash the engine compartment while everything was out....

 

[Off Road SHO]

By the way guys, when I was re-attaching the new VSS and speedo gear housing to the speedo cable, I found that if you have the "spring clip from ****" already installed in the sensor and then push the hole onto the cable end, that the clip spreads out inside the housing and clips itself around the cable housing very nicely.

So... don't remove the clips.

Tom

 

[SHORANGERBIRD]

-just redid ATX on '93 i picked up tom. had 2nd, but no 1st or 3rd. bought OH kit which had everything but bands and TC. also bought shift & **** improver kit & installed. check forward clutch piston WELL, as they are prone to cracking. may look good, but any signs of cracks, replace it...also..from experience, be careful wiring shift solenoids and EPC,TCC solenoids. wiring reaches both and could get mixed up. will cause havoc......lesson learned. i had about $250 in parts on mine. shifts great now....

 

[Off Road SHO]

I'm not going to rebuild the 93's tranny. The 95's tranny was already rebuilt when I owned it. Hopefully it wasn't damaged in the accident.

Tom

 

[Shoaz]

Tom, holler if you need a hand with any of that.