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99 Taurus not selecting gears


TaurusBear
08-14-2005, 12:31 PM
I thought I would share my 99 automatic transmission problem in case it can help someone else. (My car: 99 Taurus SE, 3.0L, 6-cyl)

I have not had any problems (sounds, thumps, jerking, slipping, etc) before this occurance. One morning I went to my car to go to work. I started the car and put it into Drive. When I got passed the (P)ark setting, it was as if there were no more gears. Usually the gear selector on the steering column will "notch" into place for each of the gears as I pass over them. This morning, the R-N-OD-D-1 acted as one big gear. The selector would freely move across all the gears. If I release the selector over a gear, it would remain there. But if I push the selector (without pulling it toward me) it would eventually "fall" into Neutral. It would go back into (P)ark without trouble.

When I popped the hood, I was able to move the gear selector on the transmission by hand into each gear. Once selected in this manner, the car would go into gear and "drive" as usual (obviously I couldn't drive anywhere without being able to change gears while driving).

I had it towed to a transmission shop where I was told the selector cable was broken. This cable runs from the Gear Selector arm on the steering column to the transmission. The part itself was $110. The labor was another $130. While in the shop, I requested a flush/fill of the transmission fluid ($150) getting a synthetic blend fluid fill.

The replacement of the cable fixed the problem.

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