LiveMusic Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 2001 Ford Taurus, 42K miles. Sometimes when it's sat up a day or so, when I crank it up and put it in reverse to back out, there is hesitation. It doesn't instantly back up. I hear no sound but it's like it has to kinda get warmed up or something. Is there reason for concern? After that first initial movement, it behaves normally. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Manual or automatic? I know my '86 Honda Prelude (a manual, 221K miles (yeah, I know)) does not have that problem, and my mom's '99 Ford Escort (also a manual) didn't either. Now maybe automatics have this problem, maybe the fluid's settled or something. I've never really driven an automatic, maybe once or twice, and the car sucked, so I wouldn't have been able to tell if there was hesitation or not. Maybe you should take it to your local Ford dealer to get an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanThomas Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Sounds like an automatic to me. Automatics work via hydraulic pressure. Have you checked the fluid lately? You should take it to a transmission shop and have a service done. They replace the fluid, clean or replace some filters and a bunch of seals. They should also be able to evaluate your problem. Signatures can appear at the bottom of your posts. This option may be disabled by the message board administrators at any time, however. You may use UBB Code in your signature, but not HTML. UBB Code Images are permitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Did you do the obvious, check the tranny fluid? -remember to check it while the car is running & warmed up. I've had new & old cars that hesitated a second or two after putting it in gear. It doesn't necessarily mean the trans. is going; It's fluid that drives the transmission & some cars just take a bit longer to get the hydro pressure up. -If the response time gets longer & longer, that's not good news. Matt In two days, it won't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GY Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Is the hesitation the engine or does the transmission slip? Your 2001 has sensors that tell the computer whats up. It could be one of them is going south. I need more info. We've got an '89 Taurus wagon (airport car). It sometimes almost stalls (engine) when put into drive from a cold start. The best thing you can do with any vehicle is give the engine 2 - 3 mintues of warmup time before putting it into drive. Lightly accellerate the first few miles if possible. I get a kick out of these soccer moms who start it, cram it into drive and mash the pedal to the floor. And they wonder why they blow head gaskets! Better yet are the ones who go from reverse into drive without coming to a complete stop. Then they complain about $2k tranny repair. GY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Yeah, you can't go from reverse to drive without a complete stop first in automatics, but I've got it down to an art in my stick, yo. And I give it a minute to warm up a little. But sometimes I'm in such a hurry... Anywho, you're right about transmission fluid, that's probably what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFOracle Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 If you've got more than 50,000 miles on it, it wouldn't hurt to change the transmission fluid. Keep the tranny nice and happy with new juice. Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong: James Bryce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee M. Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Sounds like you might have a sticky valve in the valve body. The valve sticks for a moment or two, and when it finally does open, the pressure that has built up from the fluid being backed up is greater than normal and it "bangs" into gear. I would try changing the fluid and filter first. This normally leaves 5 to 6 quarts of old fluid in the torque converter, so you might want to have the trans flushed as well. This will get ALL the old fluid out. Good Luck, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 [quote]Originally posted by GY: [b]I get a kick out of these soccer moms who start it, cram it into drive and mash the pedal to the floor. And they wonder why they blow head gaskets! Better yet are the ones who go from reverse into drive without coming to a complete stop. Then they complain about $2k tranny repair.[/b][/quote]You have just described my wife's driving habits. :rolleyes: On top of that, she makes turns into the driveway apron at 30 mph (funny seeing the munchkins heads bouncing all over)and can't understand why she needs a front-end alignment every 5,000 miles. (which, of course, I have the honor of paying for) -arrrgh! In two days, it won't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Call your dealership and have them check for service bulletins first. Ford has a fairly consistent lag in their automatic transmissions. There are computer controlled solenoids in that tranny. It may be nothing, then again, it may be the precurser to a problem so call the dealer & have them check for service bulletins and then give them the VIN and have them run a check for recalls. I managed a fleet of 100 plus Ford cars and light trucks until November of 2001, mostly Taurus' & Sables that were turned over each year. They really are pretty good cars. If you have the 2 valve 3.0 liter engine it'll be very dependable with good maintenance practices. I only had one engine failure in 7 years with the 3.0 liters. The 24 valvers were pretty good too but I didn't have enough of them to form a definitve opinion. In that time frame I only had 2 major trans problems too but I did have some recalls on transmissions, depends on which model trans. If your dealer won't help, send me a private mail with the vin of the vehicle. I still have some friends in the retail/dealership trade and may be able to get some info as to bulletins & recalls on your vehicle. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeton Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 First thing to do is check the fluid (as mentioned earlier) Do it when it's warm (like after driving around town for a while), running (in park) and sitting on a level surface. You may have to wipe the stick a couple of times to get a good reading. It should be somewhere in the crosshatch area, or between MIN and MAX. The reason you do it when it's warm is because ATF expands when it gets heated- if it's not up to operating temp it will give a false (low) reading. Also- check the colour of the fluid. It should be light orange or pink (i forget what type of dye they used in 2001). /**** When to take it to the dealer: ****/ o if it is dark, smells burnt, or "sparkles" when you turn the dipstick in light. o if it is foamy. A very small amount on the top of the dipstick is ok, but if it suds like dishwater then that's a problem- the fluid will become compressible and won't engage clutches and bands as it should. Over time this will wear out all the friction material (and it won't cool/lubricate as it should). If it's foamy and white and/or smells like antifreeze then there is an internal leak in the radiator. Ethyline glycol will trash a transmission in a very short amount of time. If the level is ok, or if topping it up doesn't fix it, it could be a quirk. Also note that as the weather gets colder the fluid will get thicker and take longer to get up to temp and operating level. If it gets worse, though, talk to the dealer. Getting it serviced (change fluid/filter) might best be done by the dealer in this case also. Sometimes, if a transmission is failing, changing the fluid will actually kill it the rest of the way. If Pete's Oil Can did the service, the dealer might balk and try to use it to cop out of a warranty repair. If the dealer does the service, they have no excuse, and they would be better equipped and more apt to look for impending trouble before it fails. This doesn't mean that dealers are all bad, but they will try to get out of a big-ticket warranty item if they can. FWIW, i was (am?) ATRA Rebuilder certified in the early 90's. I don't do this type of work anymore, and a bit of things have changed since then, so listen to Uncle Milty over me :D ================================================== #include Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattC Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 I love my ford cars, but I have to say that their transmissions are less than superb. Between my taurus, my drummer's probe and my brother's probe, we've seen 8 transmissions. ...think funky thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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