Transmission not taking gear

[mpgrewal]

G'day all,
My Ford Facon AUII V6 2001 Auto sometimes doesn't accept first gear generally in the mornings (after rest period). When I keep on pressing accelerator few times, it suddenly accepts it with a thud. The car has done 180k kms

I have following questions

1. Can you suggest a good mechanic in Clayton/Springvale who is expert in fixing automatic transmission, and provide repair warranty too

2. What is the cost to replace the transmission (new tranny and refurbished one)

3. Last time transmission oil was changed, the mechanic filled in 5 litres (it was still below the hole and doesn't leak), however when I checked manual at home, it says 4 litres (refill), Can it be a problem.

Thanks for reading.

[FGII-XR6]

firstly check your fluid level if it is low ( slow leak ? ) it will struggle to get into gear when cold. once it warms up the fluid volume increases ( heat expands things) and it then works ok. a transmission service would be a good idea
when he changed the fluid last tine did he do the filter and adjust the bands too?

[mpgrewal]

Hi au3,
Thanks for replying. This one has sealed gasket so checking fluid level isn't easy (no indicator). I reckon fluid level will be rather high as the mech poured in 5 litres where as the manual say 4 lts. Can someone who has same car model as mine, confirm how much trans. fluid is reqd

The mech. changed the transmissions filter too, but may not have tuned the bands, as he was a basic mech.

[FGII-XR6]

if you undo the filler plug and stick your finger in it will give you an idea how full it is, full is to the bottom of the filler so really you can't over fill it if it has a slow leak you may have gradually reached the stage you are at now

[mpgrewal]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

if you undo the filler plug and stick your finger in it will give you an idea how full it is, full is to the bottom of the filler so really you can't over fill it if it has a slow leak you may have gradually reached the stage you are at now

Thanks, what is slow leak, how to detect and fix it. The transmission gasket has never leaked. However, I have noticed a petrol burning smell under the car (positioned approx bottom of the driver seat) where the exhaust meets the engine.

[The Monty]

You cant over fill it. You fill it through the hole until it is about to come out, so your problem isnt too much trans fluid.
Also, not being picky, but its an inline 6, not a V6.
Go to an automatic transmission place, plenty around, and they look at gearboxes all day.
Book it in for a full sevice and FLUSH.
It will cost about $300.
This changes the filter, empties all the trans fluid out, and flushes it with new fluid. Then they fill it completely (around 11L I think).
Your problem will be low fluid. Do you live on a hill? Does it get worse or better when you are on a hill?
A full recon unit will be around the $1500-$2000 mark.

[mpgrewal]

Originally Posted by The Monty

You cant over fill it. You fill it through the hole until it is about to come out, so your problem isnt too much trans fluid.
Also, not being picky, but its an inline 6, not a V6.
Go to an automatic transmission place, plenty around, and they look at gearboxes all day.
Book it in for a full sevice and FLUSH.
It will cost about $300.
This changes the filter, empties all the trans fluid out, and flushes it with new fluid. Then they fill it completely (around 11L I think).
Your problem will be low fluid. Do you live on a hill? Does it get worse or better when you are on a hill?
A full recon unit will be around the $1500-$2000 mark.

I had already spent money on full flush and transmission filter change last week. But the mechanic filled only 5 litres after completely draining all the transmission fluid. When he put the finger in the filler plug, it will still quite low. I think the car manual saying 4 litres refill confused him. As you are saying 11L, so I reckon its still underfilled.

Question: How do we know that it is full now, shall the fluid start draining from the filler plug?

Thanks to both of you, I think we are getting to the root of the problem.

[saber]

Originally Posted by mpgrewal

I had already spent money on full flush and transmission filter change last week. But the mechanic filled only 5 litres after completely draining all the transmission fluid. When he put the finger in the filler plug, it will still quite low. I think the car manual saying 4 litres refill confused him. As you are saying 11L, so I reckon its still underfilled.

Question: How do we know that it is full now, shall the fluid start draining from the filler plug?

Thanks to both of you, I think we are getting to the root of the problem.

What you have described is not a full flush (as per The Monty post).
What the mechanic did was a transmission service. He only changes the fluid in the pan, not all the fluid which resides in torque converter. A full fluid change (from memory, could be wrong) in an AU tranny is 14L or so.From memory, a BF tranny is around 10L or so.

A someone else has already stated, you can’t overfill an AU tranny. The fill point is a hole (which a 15mm headed bolt screws into) on the driver’s side of the car.
You know the tranny is full when the fluid starts to dribble out of the fill hole after you pump some fluid in.

I would hazard a guess, and state that if the mechanic removed all the tranny fluid, and only replaced it with 4-5L, the tranny would have stopped dead altogether, unlike the conditions you’ve described in your opening post.

The conditions you’ve described somewhat mirror what my old mans AUIII tranny experienced. He covered around 320000km without a service!
Basically, the tranny would slip in first gear. When I refer to slip, I mean the car wouldn’t go forward in first gear. If you pressed the accelerator, the revs would just rise, but you wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Once the car hit second (luckily I was going down a hill, so I picked up enough speed to force the tranny to change) and beyond, the car shifted fine. After the tranny warmed up, it would engaged and shift in any gear without issue.

Luckily for me, a transmission service (exactly what your mechanic did) fixed the problem. A standard service requires 4L of fluid. The old mans tranny needed around 4.6L or so.
Why the 0.6L difference? Well, initially I pumped in 4L of fluid into the tranny. At this point, fluid started to dribble out of the fill hole.
I started the car, let it idle for a minute, then manually changed through all the gears (ie changed to R, then N, then 3, 2, 1 and back to P).
I turned off the car, let it sit for 5mins or so, then took off the fill bolt and tried to pump in more fluid. It took another 0.6L or so, before it started to dribble out of the hole.
Took her for a test drive, and she was fine! In the 5000km or so of driving the old man has done since, he hasn’t complained, so it must be working fine.

Now I’m not stating that the 0.6L will mean the difference between a shifting tranny in 1st gear or not, but it might make a difference.

As you have already completed a tranny service, and that didn’t fix the problem, it would appear that either your tranny is still underfilled (as per my previous paragrahs) or your tranny may need to be rebuilt.
How many kays have your car done? Before the service just completed, when was the last time you serviced the transmission?
I would find it hard to believe that you had some sort of slow leak. Surely the mechanic would have picked this up when they were servicing the tranny???
In any case (and if you wanna check yourself), stick you head underneath the drivers side door, and look up at the tranny. If there is a leak, you should see fluid stains.

Unfortunately, I don't live down that way, else I could have recommended you a decent tranny specialist in Bundoora...

[The Monty]

Its full when it starts to overflow out of the plug hole. If he only put in 5L when doing a full flush, I would take it back and get him to pay for a full reco. Driving around with 5L onboard is going to destroy it.
Also, ditch the mechanic for transmission work, take it to an Auto Transmission place.
I used to have this problem with both my AU's, but they were leaking from the output shaft seal. If you hop under the car, and its moist or dripping from where the extension housing meets up with the end of the tailshaft/output shaft, its the little seal that seals it.
Its about$16 and quite easy to do on a hoist, 4 bolts to take off the tailshaft from the diff, and slip out the tailshaft, pull out the old seal (it gets a bit hard when its old) and tap in a new one with a hammer.

[The Monty]

For the smell, you would have a hole in your exhaust, or your extractors are a little loose, or your cat is blocked.

[saber]

Originally Posted by The Monty

For the smell, you would have a hole in your exhaust, or your extractors are a little loose, or your cat is blocked.

+1

A petrol smell will not be caused by transmission oil dripping on the exhaust. Suggest you take The Monty advice and look at those areas...

[mpgrewal]

Thank you all, thats quality feedback. It seems I'm a victim of a poor and dogdy mechanic. Will ask him to act as per these suggestions. Will let you know how I go.

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by mpgrewal

Thank you all, thats quality feedback. It seems I'm a victim of a poor and dogdy mechanic. Will ask him to act as per these suggestions. Will let you know how I go.

I wouldn't let him near my car again . any 1/2 decent mechanic would know how to do this properly, it's the same principal as filling a diff or manual transmission

[saber]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

I wouldn't let him near my car again . any 1/2 decent mechanic would know how to do this properly, it's the same principal as filling a diff or manual transmission

+1

I too wouldn’t go back. I would take your car to a specialist auto transmission place, and get them to look at it. I see you have already started a new thread for a decent tranny specialist, that’s a good start.

Conversely, you could buy a 1L bottle of tranny fluid (Castrol TQ95 is one popular choice, and can be brought from Supercheap for around $10. Refer to the owner’s manual for other tranny fluids you can use) and fill it up yourself.

It really is pretty straightforward. Get yourself a 15mm spanner (or 16mm, I forget but I can check or somebody else here can confirm), a piece of garden hose and a funnel.
First off, ensure the car is cold and on a flat surface. Remove the bolt from the transmission (located on the driver’s side of the tranny) and insert the garden hose into the hole.
Now insert the funnel in the other end, and start pouring the fluid into the funnel. Keep pouring fluid until it begins to come out the hole. This means the tranny is now full of fluid.
Once full, remove the hose, and screw the bolt back on. Go for a drive and see if the problem is fixed. Hopefully it will be!

Here is an excellent thread with pics showing where the bolt is located. It also shows you how to service the tranny...

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=21444

[FGII-XR6]

sound like he has underfilled it to me as well, it needs to be filled to the level of the hole. I never use anyone but a transmission specialist , these guys do it all day every day and in a service don't just change the fluid they check and adjust the bands and look for tell tale signs of failure ( which can sometimes be avoided if they catch it early enough)

[mik]

definatly sounds low on oil.

[Charlsey]

Hey guys, reading this thread as I have probs with my AUII tranny. I checked the oil level as per manual- but when I took the plug out the oil came out quickly- I'm pretty sure thats not supposed to happen. and when I pumped more in it came out straight away. It was up on stands and level btw.
any ideas on whats going on?

[BHDOGS]

Was it abit hot still?

[Davo3460]

The correct way to fill the transmission is fill till it dribbles out the filler hole leave plug out start the car put more fluid in till it again dribbles from the filler hole stop engine put plug back in and your done

[falconnut]

Thanks thread makes me very glad my mechanic knows au's.

Its deffinetly low on oil, i had old toyota's with 3/4 speeds do this.

Take it to a tranny specialist.