tranny problems

[turbotbirdguy19]

My 99 has been giving me problems and I just want to know what you guys think.First off from a 25-30 kickdown,the car will sometimes seem like it pops out of gear,I know this has been discussed a few times but dont know if anyone ever knew what caused it.Second,It seems like the trannys been skipping gears when shifting,It seems like it will go from 1st and 2nd gear for a quick second then instantly go to third.It only does this when driving it with a little more than half throttle.The trans is not slipping but but it seems to slip when shifting,but It does not do it all the time.I was on the interstate today and there is a C4 on my a$$,and im already doing 80,and anyone with a third gen knows thats a very good spot for these cars,I nail it and it slowly gets up to 105 and that was it. It didnt pull at all.It almost sounded like it was hitting a rev limiter or something.Anyway on the way back home,I try it again,but this time it had no prob getting up to 130+.Im guessing the trannys on its way out,Im expecting that.I dont know if the tranny would of caused the car to only get up to 105.The car has bee very well maintained,Tranny always serviced and never really driven hard.Yeah theIMRC is working right to.Any Ideas?

 

[RoadSHO]

Interesting that you mentioned the car was cutting out at 105 mph like it had a speed govenor. Mine did that same thing to me last January. At WOT it would get to 105 mph in fourth gear and crap out. I was thinking it might be a fuel pump problem but the car has great power at all other ranges. I did install the X-cal superchip from Doug Lewis last month and it sure helps the car shift better and the rev limits are way higher. Might read some of the threads about it. I have the opportunity to open it up tomorrow and will check the top end. I will report back next week on how the X-cal chip helped or not.

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Its really strange though,this is the only time its done it,it usally has no prob getting past 140,and when I tried it on the way home it was fine.I thought maybe the pump was getting weak,when I got home I did a fuel pressure test and its at 35 psi,I just changed the filter a while back too.Im thinking its the trans,the car does have 113,000 miles right now so im a little over the rebuild at 100,000 miles.Ford trannny suck.My 88 thunderbird turbo coupe has an a4ld in it and its on the 4th one but thats my fault because that trans is only supposed to hold 150 horse and its not made for 13 sec bursts that the car can do now,im in the process of swapping in a world class t5 now.I just hope it lasts enough to get me back and forth to school.One of my courses(ford fact program UTI) deal in rebulding ford trannys so maybe that will be good

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

anyone else have an idea?

 

[Mac98SHO]

These cars have quirks, the PCM does adjust to you driving style.. and sometimes.. has brain fart(Lack of technical term)... Case and point couple of days ago.. I got out in traffic... WOT then dropped back to about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle needless to say the PCM... kept the car in second until 5k then shifted... I think I confused it.

Usaully the PCM adjusts, and on my car.. 55 to about 70 mph.. is about the best reaction after 70mph.. the PCM wont **** down two gears.

Another example.. I drove my SHO in the city for about 2 weeks.. then went to the Hwy.. it shift too soon and like carp... after my beating on it 65 mile.. I think... it started to acting proper.

I would keep an eye on it or reset you computer to see if it does it again... I think it takes about 15 mintues for the PCM to re-learn.. and tad longer to adjust to you.

Good Luck

 

[RoadSHO]

Opened up my car to 120 mph today. No problem with it shifting or speed limitations. I think your problem might be in the computer, because since I installed the FPS X-CAL superchip I have not had that situation come up.

Note: After I hit 120 mph I started braking for an upcomming turn, got slowed done to about 60 mph started sweeping through the turn and my radar started going off. Met a CHP cruiser on the other side of the turn. Boy, do I feel lucky!

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Yeah Im thinking programming also,I do baby the car alot like I said before the trans acts funny sometimes,but not always.How long does high power mode last for?.Im still gonna have the tranny relaced eventully.How long should I have to disconnect the battery for a reset and what about relearning,what steps do I got to got through?That would of sucked if he clocked you going 120+,but then again he would probley been confused to see a taurus zip by at that speed!

 

[RoadSHO]

From what I have heard disconnecting the battery for about 10 minutes will clear SES code light and reset your computer. The car will run rough for about 5 minutes. Just drive it hard for awhile and the computer seems to relearn the parameters over again. I am not sure what you mean by high power mode.

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

From what i understand,OBD2 adapts to driver.If you baby the car all the time and get on it,It really seems sluggish.If you drive the car like you stole it all the time,you can tell a huge difference in the power.Im guessing wht this does is timing and maybe toruqe converter lockup or something.I do know you can defitnly tell a big difference on how the car shifts.It seems the more you baby the car the tranny shifts harder,but if I drive it hard for a while the tranny shifts smooth.I think ford just really screwed up the programming on the 3rd gens.Im pretty sur my trans is on the way out,when you kick it down at 30,it shouldnt be jumping out of gear.some say thats programming but Im not sure.when I took it to the tranny shop they could not find anything wrong.All he said was does this thing have an exaust leak or someting cause Ive never heard any taurus sound like this.As far as the ses goes its never thrown one.I got the car from th e original ownwer who was very nuts about the car.He had EVERY recipet from oil changes to light bulbs.The cars never been smoked in,the only thing in the ash tray was a swiffer cloth he used to get dust off the dash.after you reset the comp,what things do you have to go through for relearning everything?

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Reset the computer,trans still being screwy.Whats usally cheaper,a reman or to get rebuilt?

 

[Mr. SHO]

Swapping ATXes is a bear. Even if you are a good mechanic, it's probably the most annoying job you can do on a SHO. Best bet is to drive it in to a SHO ATX expert while you can still move it under its own power.

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

yeah,I was gonna do it at school but dropping everything is a major PITA.Im just gonna take it to a local tranny shop.Ive called a few and when you say 99 sho,they all say the same thing:"now who makes that?"I want to make sure its the trans first though.Is a rebuild cheaper or a reman?my buddies 97 trans went out and he got it rplaced with a rema,I think it was 1500.00 for labor and trans,which I think is very cheap.You get what you pay for though but now the thing is slow as ****.His cars always been kinda slow,I just think his has been very abused and neglected.I **** him bad every time we run each other and we have the same mods.I was reading somewhere that the sho converter is different than a slo's.Is that right?how will I know if they put the right one in?I dont like taking my car ANYWHERE to have work done,I am a firm believer that if you want it done right,do it yourself,but I dont have the time to put in a tranny right now.Im not throwing a code yet but im sure something will come up soon for the trans.

 

[lancSHO]

I had the same issue a couple times in my SHO. The first night I got her I took her onto the highway to see what she had.....and 91 is where she stopped. About a week later, my buddy with his Mazda 626 wants to run [99 V6 5spd]. So we go from a roll & this time I get to 118 & she gives out, but I was so far ahead my buddy thought I gave up! I mentioned something to my dealer about clearing the memory in the computer; I don't know if they did but the night I got it back she had no problem hitting 135. I also had this happen on the dyno as well. While doing a great 3rd gear pull she gets to 110, holds for a second and then continues up the band. Wtf?

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Well just got back from my camping trip and on the way home checked again.If you nail it from 80 it wont go over 105.If you are just driving normal up to it will do over 105.Its not going into to overdrive from an 80 kickdown.I really think its trans related though.It goes into overdrive any other time .It sounds like its hitting a real slow rev lilmiter.

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Ok now it will get up back up to 135 or so,I didnt want to go any faster.It seems a little sluggish though,it does not pull like it used to.I have no clue,damn fords.Im going to school for ford right now,maybe Ill figure it out sooner or later.If the converter was going bad wouldnt that throw a SES?