[denisond3]

If your Escort transmission is the same as the 4EAT that is in our 92 Escort, it does a lot of shifting into 4th at fairly low engine speeds. Our EScort was used originally by a sister-in-law on a 30 highway miles commute, and died at 192,000 miles. I suspect that if she had only a 10 miles commute it might have gone out @ 65,000. I rebuilt the tranny, and everything in it looked good - but the new parts included a longer spring for the tranny fluid pump and a new relief valve plunger. The tranny kit had a note about low oil pressure at low rpms being a known problem, and the new spring and plunger were to fix that.
Now I keep the shift lever in D when driving around town (which keeps the tranny from shifting into 4th), instead of putting it into OD (overdrive) -- the position closest to Neutral. It keeps the keeps the rpms up a little, and eliminates a good bit of extra shifting. I move it up to the OD when I get onto a limited access highway and will be going faster than 50 mph.
If your tranny fluid isnt that nice red, I would still do the regular filter/gasket change, though its a nuisance to do because its hard to reach the many pan bolts. And I would advise buying the new oil pressure relief spring and plunger. The parts come together and cost about $20. They can be installed from the outside of the transmission, at the bottom of the side closest to the drivers side tire. Its behind a large hex plug at the edge of the oil pump casting. At least thats how it is on my 92, with that 4EAT.

P.S. Mine will slip on the 2-3 shift infrequently. Its a very noticable slip - going into neutral seemingly, then into 3rd. I dont know why, nor care much, since it happens seldom. I rebuilt it myself, so cant complain to anyone.