AUII – Auto trans problem???

[SA-AUII-MAX]

When leaving the filling station last Wednesday I did have the unpleasant surprise that there was no drive in all forward gears. It felt like being in Neutral. All sudden when I revved the car a bit (±2500 RPM) Drive kicked in with force. People looking at me if I had gone mad. Then it would drive like 'normal'. Over the weekend serviced the transmission and put a new filter and oil in. There was ± 3.5 ltrs old oil that didn't smell burned or was neither heavy contaminated. Checked the elec. wires from and to the gearbox and cleaned the connectors. Made a test ride, smooth shifting, all fine. This morning however, when the box was still cold, it had problems going from first to second gear, no drive in second. As the revs came down 'bang' got drive again and all went fine for some 30 min. When I had to turn right at an intersection, waiting for on coming traffic to pass by, I saw a gap, put foot, nothing-!!, and as the revs came down 'bang' traction, all most wrote my Fairmont off. Again people looking at me if I had gone mad.
The car has done ± 240 000 km and never had box problems before. Often I'm towing a horsebox though and fully loaded its coming close to 2500kgs towing weight in total. I'm using the heavy duty tow-pack from Ford. The gearbox has to work now and then but has never overheated or giving shifting problems.
Any clue's what's going on?

[XR6_4EVA]

Same problem as me mate. Your Tranny is on its way out.

Mine had been refusing to drive in any gear. Basically every gear = Neutral.

One day at the lights i went to drive off and that was the end of it, permanant neutral. 2500 bux later i got a new auto.

Sort out your funds for the worst case scenario and get it checked, that kind of money can really stuff you over.l

[bodes-sh]

seems more like low fluid level. they tend to play up a bit when the fluid is even slightly low as they are very temperamental. try adding a bit more fluid and see if it makes any difference first, if not, it might be time for a rebuild...

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by XR6 4EVA

2500 bux later

:O
It must be some sort of magical, special Auto for that sort of money.

[XR6_4EVA]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

:O
It must be some sort of magical, special Auto for that sort of money.

Rough estimate, 2000 for the auto and around 500 for bearings all round i think.

Wasnt reconditioned it was new.

[Mr Hardware]

oh, new. ok.

[Kryton]

i had exactly the same thing on my 1 year old 2000 AU but it was the reverse gear.
would do it every now and then but never around any Ford service center.
Box was replaced under warranty even though they couldnt find the fault at the time, they later mentioned that it was rooted.

[blueoval]

This a good warning to all AU owners with regards to symptoms to watch out for.

I know my planetary gear set is whining in first gear, but when the time comes for it to be unbearable, I know I'll have to get it looked at.

But this example of no drive in any gear sounds bad. Especially when you need it in a emergency situation. Get it looked at straight away.

If your tight on funds for a while, Id recommend you get a second hand unit from a wrecker thats in working order to get you by for now.

HTH ;)

[The Mighty Red]

If it only happens when the trans is cold it could just need topping up with fluid....Mine was freee revving in gear when cold not long ago .....I bought a small pump bottle ($20 from repco) jacked the car up and stuck 1 litre of fluid in the trans and it seems to have fixed the problem....

[Dauphin]

I've got a trans leak I'm getting fixed on Thursday. The fluid had been leaking so much that it was constantly dropping out of gear when turning right, even when warm, and would require some right food to kick it back in. The fluid was in very good condition, just not enough of it left.

So try getting it topped up first. The right turn thing suggests it's just a fluid leak.

Any obvious spots on your driveway under the box?

Make sure you also have a cooler installed as part of the heavy duty tow pack, just to be sure. The car may have had a front-on accident in the past and it may never have been replaced.

[SA-AUII-MAX]

Thanks guys for your info. I'm quickly at home for lunch and checking your replies.
Later today when I'm done I have a look at the oil level again. Before I drained and replaced the oil and filter I checked the oil level. Its level was about 10mm under the filling plug hole when cold and it was leaking oil a little before. Changed the O-ring on the gear sensor too. Anyway I will keep you posted and hopefully I can fix it. A new box is costing here in South Africa about R60000,–. Don't know what your dollar is going for at the moment, but it's a lot of money.
Thank you all
Max

[JC]

Originally Posted by SA-AUII-MAX

Thanks guys for your info. I'm quickly at home for lunch and checking your replies.
Later today when I'm done I have a look at the oil level again. Before I drained and replaced the oil and filter I checked the oil level. Its level was about 10mm under the filling plug hole when cold and it was leaking oil a little before. Changed the O-ring on the gear sensor too. Anyway I will keep you posted and hopefully I can fix it. A new box is costing here in South Africa about R60000,–. Don't know what your dollar is going for at the moment, but it's a lot of money.
Thank you all
Max

That's about AUD$8826.30. ie, heaps. Hope it's just low fluid for you.

[SA-AUII-MAX]

Okay, the update, crawled into my pit well prepared, TQ95, suction gun, lots of beer!!
Gearbox is still pretty hot after the days drive, but after releasing the filler plug no oil running out. Something I was actually prepared for. Instead could at almost a liter of TQ95.
Going to start on those beers now that I had with me for the worst case, but I'm going to let the box cool down and check the level later again, hoping that the problem is solved.
Cheers..................on the 'boks'
Max

[XR6_4EVA]

Let us know budd!

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by SA-AUII-MAX

Okay, the update, crawled into my pit well prepared, TQ95, suction gun, lots of beer!!
Gearbox is still pretty hot after the days drive, but after releasing the filler plug no oil running out. Something I was actually prepared for. Instead could at almost a liter of TQ95.
Going to start on those beers now that I had with me for the worst case, but I'm going to let the box cool down and check the level later again, hoping that the problem is solved.
Cheers..................on the 'boks'
Max

Suction Gun? Where did you suck it from?

[Mr Hardware]

Suction Gun? Where did you suck it from?

Just like with the beer, i don't think it was for the car

[Windsor220]

Had this problem a couple of weeks ago. Did exactly the same thing. Box was 1 litre down on oil so topped it up now its fine.

[SA-AUII-MAX]

Okay, some good and some bad news. First the good, the drive is more solid, the bad it still doesn't kick in all the time at once when putting it in D-rive (mainly when hot). Don't need to rev it that hard anymore but there is a delay. Start to think now if this is not pump or (C2) clutch related.
What are you guys paying for a new (not a recon) gearbox in your country?

[SA-AUII-MAX]

Right, an other day gone, so is the box. Later on this afternoon it started to slip and when putting the foot down the box is screaming like a bat out of hell. Checked the car at the local Ford agent for error codes and so on, but this is all clean. Gonna strip the box down and will keep an up-date going from time to time.
Again thanks to all who replied to this post.
Max

[bodes-sh]

bugger hey...how many km are on it? even a low km auto from here would be expensive to ship there...good luck with the rebuild

[The Judge]

$8800 AU for a box???? Are you kidding? Bro I'll hand deliver a good box personally to ya front door with dancin girls & beers on ice for half that price! Ha Ha maybe not. But geeeezuz that seems a bit rich eh?? I'd do some more research on importation prices mate. I used to import bulldozer boxes from the USA into Australia for a quarter of that price. And they weigh about 5 times that of a falcon box. Unless ya know ya tranny rebuilds, do more research on finding a replacement @ a decent price. Good luck bro.

[SA-AUII-MAX]

See, my old man in law did own a AUI before. When this gearbox also started to play up it was still under some kind of warranty. So it got a recon. Two month later, something else, later an other problem. In the end the local agent replaced not less than six times the box. But the confidence is gone. The local agent is checking for me if they can do something about the price. I hope they come right. If not i like the idea with dancing girls & beer on ice, but lets take one step at the time.
Later
Max

[SA-AUII-MAX]

Okay, been a while but the tranny is off, cleaned and stripped. It did take me a while but I'm rather busy during the week and driving the 'ball and chains' Focus is not bad neither. It's less difficult then I expected, just don't take all the components and clutches apart when you remove them from the box, leave this until you want to put it back in. Then clean it and replace the parts. Doing it this way I focus only one item at the time, making it less hectic. So far I've purchased the major overhaul gasket and seal kit, all friction plates, they come in a kit as well, and the bush for the prop shaft which located is in the tailpiece. Need to order some 'white metal bearings' for the C3 clutch, they have ceased and that why I did found some very fine shavings in the oil.

Right, what I actually want to ask is, the torque converter has no drain plug, so one has to turn it upside down to drain it empty. Does one fill it up again before installment, or will the oil pump fill it up after installation and when I'm starting up. The last way will be less 'messy' tough.

[The Judge]

nah i just whack the converter in and the pump will fill her up. takes about half dozen top ups with oil, in between just do a short lap up and down ya street, come back and top up. keep doin that till she's full, then do ya proper road tests. good luck mate eh