I know this doesn't belong here in a truck forum but I'm having problems with tranny in my car (2000 contour) and I don't know where to turn. This has cost me a fortune and still having problems.Anyone willing to help out would be appreciated. Probably shouldn't discuss it here my e-mail address is 3hamiltons@tds.net if anyone is willing to cantact me. Thanks.

 

Those fortunes, did they buy a warranty along with the trouble?

DIY or drunken brother-in-law repair jobs have their drawbacks. Perhaps you should find a good auto trans shop, if such a thing exists in your area.

 

I don't think any one will care if you post it here, whats the problem? You may not find many people with front wheel drive transaxle knowledge because they were never used in trucks but I have seen other people post car problems here before and it didn't cause any trouble.
-Johnboy

 

What he said. There are techs here that work on these and others with this particular vehicle. Good luck.

 

Ok gonna be long. Problem started with o/d light blinking & hard shift. Tech. said it needed new converter.Cost $1,020.00. Ran fine for months then when you would coast and step on gas was like car was in neutral. Only D & OD other gears were still there.Could put car in neutral turn off key and recrank and it would shift fine until you coast down a hill same problem again. Tech said the computer wasn't giving any trouble codes thought it was some kind of switch that sits near manifold. $128.00 more dollars. Worked good for a week same problem. Still no trouble codes. Tech said he thought it was the drive servo. Replaced servo piston,servo spring,new forward friction plates,solenoid pk. Tech drove car still same problem. Replaced input turbine sensor.$850.00 more. Drove car for 2 weeks seem to shift fine except that 1-2 shift is a bit hard at times. Yesterday o/d light started flashing again. When it flashes you can turn key off and restart the problem goes away for a while. Did it 2 times on my wife in a 50 mile trip. I drove the same 50 mile trip no problems. This tech has been in business for a long time and it really has him stumped. Not a lot of options as far as tranny shops around here. Any help GREATLY appreciated.

 

If that light is flashing then there is a code, its in there somewhere. Sometimes I have to switch the scanner to generic mode to retrieve them.

That transmission is called a CD4E, it is a problematic transmission, people in the industry call it a CB4ME (come back for me) because of the amount of problems this unit tends to have.

The only time I have seen coasting problems with this transmission it has been the solenoid blocks. If in fact it is not setting any codes and the light is flashing I would think its the PCM, but its not likely.

If it was here I would want to monitor the PCM signals coming and going to the PCM, I even have a box that I can put between the trans and computer to watch the signals, it will also allow me take control of the transmission to see if the problem is the PCM or the trans. This should be the next question that needs to be answered to help trouble shoot the complaint with the car.

 

Thanks for the input. Not sure what he uses to look for codes. I had it at another shop the first time around and the mechanic had a device like you are talking about. He put it on and drove it a couple of days and it told him it was slipping in 2 & 3. That shop doesn't do tranny repair so I took it to a tranny shop thats when he replaced the convertor. Was fine for 10 months then the coasting problem started. What about AANCO tranny shops? Are they any good ? I have one of those about 75 miles from me. Only one local independent shop near me.I've drove it a couple hundred miles since the light last blinked with no problem but it has got to the point that I don't trust it.

 

I'm 42 yrs old and this guy has been working on trannys as long as I can remember. He is NOT a backyard mechanic.

 

I would really advise against taking your car to aamco. They have a very poor reputation.

 

Well I have taken a couple of different vehicles to AAMCO for rebuilds. They did a good job, just get a warranty. My local one here did really good and I had one done in Indy that was really good.

Also something to consider is the codes, some are generic and some are Ford specific so he needs to be able to read the Ford codes.

 

A shop is only as good as its employees and technicians.

Half of the best transmission technicians that I know work for a AAmco the others work for themselves.