'92 Escort--Automatic Transmission Won't Shift Past 20 MPH

Girlfriend has a '92 automatic. Transmission's been acting up for several months, periodically not wanting to shift into higher gears. Now, it will not shift at all after the first one, about 20 mph. Engine whines, but has power up to about 50 mph. Odometer states 64,xxx miles but don't know if accurate.

Need info on possible causes, other than total rebuild. Been reading about speed sensors, shift solenoids, control modules, as well as replacing fluid/filter and adding a treatment.

Any suggestions, advice is greatly appreciated.

Checked for codes, fluid level, burnt fluid ?

A lot of the spotty and intermittent cases I've read were indeed as you mentioned, speed sensor related. But I don't know of a way to test them. Have to start with the cheapest likelihood and go from there.

Yeah, shop techs do not like to diagnose. They virtually always parrot "rebuild" with older vehicles. My Father unnecessarily replaced a perfectly good transmission only to have to immediately bring it right back for the exact same behavior; where they replaced the speed sensor. To make matters worse, the work led to premature failure of the undercarriage... engine damned near fell out of the bottom of the vehicle.

Thanks for the response Intuit.

Fluid level fine, good color. She was told in the past the car to old for computer codes, but that was at a Jiffy Lube, so who knows.

Friend of hers set her up with a mechanic yesterday. He drove it and said the overdrive is shot, so the RPMs are revving at the higher speeds, and it will eventually fail.

Good news is her stepmom happens to be sellin her car and offered it to her to test drive a few days.

Sad bout your Father's experience, but seems to be the routine. I had called 2 places, AAMCO wanted 2400 to rebuild it; the other wanted 1400. Neither mentioned that it may be something minor such as a speed sensor. They know you're desperate and take advantage of it.

Thanks again.

http://www.thorssell.net/hbook/2digit.html

Yeah there are codes, transmission related even, for those.

A lot of times that's what people will tell you when what they really mean is, they don't have equipment that can pull EEC-IV codes. With a manual however, they could pull the codes using nothing more than a jumper wire or paper-clip... assuming the dash light hasn't burned out.

Repost at FEOA.Net ... I'm not knowledgeable of auto-trans but there are a number of helpful folk (Denisond3, Millball, Bent_Rod, zzzyyxx etcetera) that are. Since the fluids weren't fouled, (and presumably has a clean pan-magnet,) I might suspect that there's a good chance that the TSB fix might apply here.

http://www.google.com/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:feoa.net+no+overdrive+tsb

Thanks for the links/info Intuit. Things are still up in the air, so I'll continue with the research.
I read somewhere that Autozone will check codes for free so I'll check them out. The better informed I/we are in an area that many consider to be another fraternity (lawyers, mechanics, etc.) the better our chances of not getting scammed. That said, props to the mechanics that share their knowledge and experience on these forums and others who want to be helpful. A valuable resource.

Thanks again!

AZ and other places test OBD-II and newer codes only. Her's is EEC-IV.

Looks like it went up in $$ but here's code reader on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3145-Ford-Digital-Reader/dp/B000EW0KHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371312783&sr=8-1&keywords=eec-iv+code+reader
I know it works with three-digit codes but don't know if it'll work with two-digit codes.

Cheapest option is to check to make sure that the Check Engine dash light hasn't burned out. (simply turn the key to run) If it hasn't burned out, can find the instructions for pulling the codes online.
http://www.feoa.net/threads/how-to-pull-codes-without-a-code-reader.61758/

.

Whoops, seems hers uses three digit codes. (only first-gens use two-digit) SO that code reader linked on Amazon will work. Procedures for manually pulling codes should be similar. Here's a link for 2nd-Gen codes...
http://www.feoa.net/threads/1991-1995-gt-cel-check-engine-light-test-trouble-codes.31832/

Thanks for following up Intuit.

Check engine light has been on and off for some time. Get something fixed and it goes away only to return. It's on now. Didn't know personal readers were available. She tends to believe what a mechanic tells her and that's that. Gotta spend more time on these forums.

I'll definitely check into it. Thanks.