2002 Ford Escape 3.0L Automatic 106k miles

The other night, I was coming out of the in-laws long gravel driveway. The transmission had gotten up to 2nd gear until we approached the last grade, where it downshifted to 1st. One of the front wheels began to spin slightly, and then it seemed as if the transmission slipped. After a couple of seconds, it caught again and we were on our way.

The next morning, my wife was leaving for work, and said it did the same thing as the night before, only worse while she was coming out of our gravel driveway. BTW, our driveway has about the same incline. When I got in from work, I couldn't get it to do it. I tried driving it any way I could think of, and it acted just fine.

During both instances, the Escape was cold and the "slips" happened within 1 minute after it was first started. I don't exactly remember the temps; I'm going to guess in the 40's.

I have checked the fluid, and it checked at the safe level. So, it has plenty in it. It does need changing. It's not burnt, only discolored. But, I don't believe that's going to help at this point.

I called two transmission shops, and both have said that it doesn't sound as if the transmission is shot. To them, it sounds like an axle issue. Both axle boots look good, though.

Any ideas anyone?

Nightrain

 

Is this a steep upgrade? Maybe you just had one wheel lose traction momentarily.

 

It is a steep upgrade, but I finally got it to do it today on pavement. It only slipped for about half a second.

I'm going to try changing the fluid and filter tomorrow, but I feel that it's not going to help at this point.

Thanks for your reply.

Nightrain

 

Some of the earlier threads have mentioned issues involving the transmissions slipping on the earlier Escapes. It seemed to involve the years 2001-2003.

 

Well, I'm not going to "count my chickens before they hatch", but I think the situation is getting better...

I had the transmission completely flushed today, and it's like a whole different Escape.

Ever since we bought the Escape with 98k on the clock, it had a slight "shudder" when going from 3rd to overdrive. The slower you were accelerating when you hit the 40 MPH mark, the worse the "shudder" was.

After I got the transmission flushed today, the "shudder" has completely disappeared. It doesn't matter how slow or fast you're accelerating, it's gone.

Could this have fixed the slipping problem? I guess tomorrow morning when the Escape is nice and cold, we'll find out for sure.

Thanks to those who have replied.

Nightrain

 

On my wife's 03 there was a shudder about 30k. Didi a trans flush at 40k and it went away. As a mechanic I know a flush won't correct any internal issue, but I wonder if the filter design has something to do with it. Maybe when the fluid gets dirty it doesn't flow through the filter quite right? Not sure, but it shifts fine now.

 

Ironically, my wife's '02 has started doing the same. I think a flush will go on the schedule for next week.

 

Man, I hate that ya'lls Escape has started the same thing...

I haven't got to take ours for a little drive yet to see if the flush really helped the slipping, but I'll get to it here in a bit and let you know what happens.

I was still going to drop the pan and change the filter, but I think that I'm going to leave well enough alone for right now.

Nightrain

 

Welp, I just got back from driving the Escape, and so far, none of the slipping or prior shuddering has returned... As of yet, anyway.

I'm hoping that the flush has really helped the transmission, but I'm not going to un-cross my fingers just yet...

Nightrain

 

It is very common for a flush to fix these problems on these Escapes...

The fluid is designed to actually allow the clutches to better engage. It has a bit of a "gritty" texture to it. As it breaks down it acts more of a lubricant and less of a friction modifier, hence the slipping and shuttering.

I'm not sure you can easily replace the filter on these... it's more of a screen than a filter anyhow, and designed to last the life of the vehicle, so it's not likely going to help.