Storm-Chaser
New Member
The 95 SLO I own has developed a group of (apparently) related problems that are tied to the transmission/air conditioning system.
The transmission initially developed a slightly-hard shift into second, and initially the cruise crontrol would not work. Letting off the throttle prior to the shift to second prevent the hard shift. And most times if the car was turning prior to the shift into second, the hard shift would not occur. Fuses tied to the cruise crontrol were good and my initial impression was a bad VSS, which I have not had time to replace.
Over the last week, the car has shown a general trend of running hotter the faster I drive, followed by a drop in mileage. I suspected the compressor clutch was not releasing, and after verifying the compressor did not disengage or cycle over a five (5) minute period at idle, suspected the compressor clutch coil may be bad (it's ordered, I am on the road, and of course it arrived yesterday AFTER I had left).
Then Thursday (of course while I'm on the road), the transmission simply shifts out-of-gear at about 70mph ! I turn off the radio and the A/C to listen and the transmission immediately re-engages. I turn the A/C back on, and the transmission again immediately drops into neutral, as if I'm manually shifting into neutral. Once the problem starts, it is fairly easy to repeat. There was (and hasn't) been any slipping or shuddering, so the problem appears to be tied to the electrical control of the valve body. Okay, so I'm thinking I get to sweat a little until I get home, and I shift the majority of my driving to late evening.
The problem seems to be tied primarily to engine temp. Typically it has ran in between "M" and "A". Its now running between "R" and "M" with the A/C off, and will increase up to "O" at 70-75 mph if the A/C is left on before it starts electronically dropping into neutral (it's been near-100, so life has not been fun).
Friday, I started noticing occasional "misses" as if the engine needed plugs/wires - again when the A/C is running. Turn the A/C off and the problem stops. I also noted some minor flickering in the dome light last night, while driving with the A/C off.
I suspect the powertrain control module is going bad (and of course the new "spare" is sitting in my other Taurus in MS). But when I spoke with my brother who's a DSE at Ford, and he thinks the clutch coil may be pulling so much amperage, that its causing voltage/amperage drops that are affecting various electrical components - hence the tie to the air conditioning system.
Right now I am sitting at the Flying J in Dallas, trying to locate a salvage yard and an Autozone to pull the codes. Its suppose to be 100 again today and I only have 580 miles to drive home...
:cuss:
I will check back latter periodically, before (attempting to) get on the road late this evening.
The transmission initially developed a slightly-hard shift into second, and initially the cruise crontrol would not work. Letting off the throttle prior to the shift to second prevent the hard shift. And most times if the car was turning prior to the shift into second, the hard shift would not occur. Fuses tied to the cruise crontrol were good and my initial impression was a bad VSS, which I have not had time to replace.
Over the last week, the car has shown a general trend of running hotter the faster I drive, followed by a drop in mileage. I suspected the compressor clutch was not releasing, and after verifying the compressor did not disengage or cycle over a five (5) minute period at idle, suspected the compressor clutch coil may be bad (it's ordered, I am on the road, and of course it arrived yesterday AFTER I had left).
Then Thursday (of course while I'm on the road), the transmission simply shifts out-of-gear at about 70mph ! I turn off the radio and the A/C to listen and the transmission immediately re-engages. I turn the A/C back on, and the transmission again immediately drops into neutral, as if I'm manually shifting into neutral. Once the problem starts, it is fairly easy to repeat. There was (and hasn't) been any slipping or shuddering, so the problem appears to be tied to the electrical control of the valve body. Okay, so I'm thinking I get to sweat a little until I get home, and I shift the majority of my driving to late evening.
The problem seems to be tied primarily to engine temp. Typically it has ran in between "M" and "A". Its now running between "R" and "M" with the A/C off, and will increase up to "O" at 70-75 mph if the A/C is left on before it starts electronically dropping into neutral (it's been near-100, so life has not been fun).
Friday, I started noticing occasional "misses" as if the engine needed plugs/wires - again when the A/C is running. Turn the A/C off and the problem stops. I also noted some minor flickering in the dome light last night, while driving with the A/C off.
I suspect the powertrain control module is going bad (and of course the new "spare" is sitting in my other Taurus in MS). But when I spoke with my brother who's a DSE at Ford, and he thinks the clutch coil may be pulling so much amperage, that its causing voltage/amperage drops that are affecting various electrical components - hence the tie to the air conditioning system.
Right now I am sitting at the Flying J in Dallas, trying to locate a salvage yard and an Autozone to pull the codes. Its suppose to be 100 again today and I only have 580 miles to drive home...
:cuss:
I will check back latter periodically, before (attempting to) get on the road late this evening.
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