please help me 99 ford escort

well heres the problem: MY cars starts great but when i put it into drive it doesnt move it just revs up. i looked under the hood and checked the motor oil its fine but when i looked at the levels for the transmission fluid, i found it to have oil on the stick. i know it is motor oil but if anyone can help me figure out what is wrong with it that would help me greatly. i bought a transmission filter kit but found it not to be the right one for my transmission (it was too small, didnt fit). please help me out this is the car that get me and my children around and me to class thank yu

Welcome to Automotive Forums!

Your tranny takes Mercon ATF. Check the level on your vehicle.

1. Park on a level surface.
2. Start the car.
3. Step on the brake and cycle the shifter through all the gear ranges.
4. Put it in Park.
5 Leaving the engine running check the fluid level. Should be between the 2 marks.
6. Add Mercon fluid if needed.

Your ATF should be red in color. If it is brown it should be replaced.

It could be also a problem with the vacuum modulator. If there is a loss of vacuum due to faulty modulator, or even a damaged vacuum line then it would cause this exact issue. Another thing I was thinking, and hopefully it isn't the case, but it could be the transmission oil pump has stopped working. Have you retrieved the fault codes? Might be a good place to start. If you can feel the click as you move the shifter from park to drive, then it should not be a problem with the linkages or linkage cables.

It could be also a problem with the vacuum modulator. If there is a loss of vacuum due to faulty modulator, or even a damaged vacuum line then it would cause this exact issue.

Transmission is computer controlled...has no modulator!

It could be also a problem with the vacuum modulator. If there is a loss of vacuum due to faulty modulator, or even a damaged vacuum line then it would cause this exact issue. Another thing I was thinking, and hopefully it isn't the case, but it could be the transmission oil pump has stopped working. Have you retrieved the fault codes? Might be a good place to start. If you can feel the click as you move the shifter from park to drive, then it should not be a problem with the linkages or linkage cables.

I'm not convinced that the transmission oil pump would throw a code!