97 Escort Low Mileage Transmission Failure Help please !!!

I purchased a 97 Escort/Tracer Wagon w/44,000 miles on it a while back. At 55,000 miles, the tranny failed. I had the local ford place fix it. New pump.....then New Valve body....then new valve body because the last new one went bad....then a new torque convertor... etc... 5 visits and 2900 bucks later, it finally seems to work....for about another 10,000 miles (14 months) and it is now dead again...just out of warranty of course. I am fighting w/ the dealership repair shop now...but I am wondering.....Is there something inherently bad in this particlular transmission case, or something else outside of it inherent to the car that might be causeing these failures ? They are about to fix it again, and when that doesn't work, I'm off to a different tranny shop and done with ford poroducts forever I'm afraid. But I'd hate to drop another tranny in only to have it fail because we have been missing something. Has ANYONE had any similar experience like this with these things ? I have a sneaking suspicion that they aren't fixing and haven't found the real source of the problem yet.

The symptomi was/is, slipping on takeoff after stopping. It finally totally toasted the first time around, burnt fluid, etc. Now, every thing inside is clean, fluid pink, no metal, etc....we'll see what they say. I really like the car when it runs, and I think it's got alotta miles left in it if we can ever fix this darn tranny, but I'm beginning to have my doubts. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

HK

Hi..the Ford Escorts have very,VERY good transmissions! There are very few complaints about them..pretty much anywhere.Sure..there is the odd failure..lemon.Most..if any problems with them at all are very minor.There aren't many Escorts for sale that have had transmission work.. for sale needing transmision work..few in the boneyard with bad transmissions.The bad ones in the bone are usually from bad accidents were the case was smashed.
This being said..I don't think yours is any good.I think you got a bad one and the dealer is simply making money.
Yours could be inherentlly bad..a porous case..cracked case..casting flaws..I of course don't know.
"Fixing" any transmission I am not a fan of.VERY minor repairs..adjustments..ok.But as you have had done..changing hard parts..pumps etc., I don't buy.Either you take the thing out and have it PROPERLY dismantled,CLEANED and rebuilt..or you simply change the whole thing with another unit.The changing of hard parts almost ALWAYS means there is crap left in there..plate material,metal shavings.This is next to impossible to remove without dismantling the entire transmission.Flushng..AFTER all the crap has gotten to circulate around AGAIN don't cut it.Transmission failures like yours are common in this regard.MANY of the best tranny shops simply don't fiddle around like this.They rebuild your transmission and you are happy.
In your case I think that there has been too much fiddling with this transmission already.PLUS! there is a good chance that the case is no good.Either way this thing is not really any longer fixable..nor worth it considerring the value of a 97 Escort tranny/case.THIS time it ALL has to come apart and be inspected and rebuilt.Not wise after it has had so many original parts replaced.

If I were you I would simply forget about this transmission.Period.NO more fiddling.I would find a reputable wrecker.Check around for prices.Don't neccessarily go with the cheapest one.Buy a good used transmission and have them install it.There is not much chance that an Escort transmission in the boneyard has been fiddled with.It will probablly be an original.The other alternative is a lot more money..find a VERY good transmission shop that will supply a complete rebuilt transmission.NOT involving YOUR transmission..case..rebuilding it.

Good luck..

I agree with Arnold. Go find a good used tranny. Only go to Ford as a last rsort on anything. I think this is the first complaint I've seen on an Escort Automatic Transmission so your problem is unusual.

"Hi..the Ford Escorts have very,VERY good transmissions!"

LOL thats a flat out lie lol escorts ALL auto 's POS tranny's (i know many people that are on there 4th in under 6yrs) and the manual has a diff so weak the stock power can easily shatter it.