98 Windstar Transmission??? Problems

[jbh0521]

Hi. About a year and a half ago, at around 100,000 miles, my Windstar was shifting gears (or not) at the wrong time. It went on sporadically for three days until we got it to a transmission shop that a friend recommended. They checked it out and couldn't find anything wrong with it (no burnt smell, no metallic stuff in the pan). The shop owner drove it 75 miles trying to get it to duplicate the problem and found nothing. I had them do a service job on it and went on my way. It hasn't done it again until today. I am at 120,000 miles now. The car basically gets stuck in what I think is third gear. After driving ten miles this way, it shifted to the right gear and did fine until I slowed down and then it seemed to shift into too low of a gear. When the car slowed down to 25 or so, it was fine and shifted back up fine the rest of the way home. I drove it again tonight around the neighborhood and I had no problems. I need help. Could this be something other than the transmission going bad? Why would it have driven fine for 20,000 miles? Thanks for any help!

Jenny

[rodeo02]

This could be just a range/mode switch issue. It's basically a switch attached to the tranny shift arm that tells the computer which gear you have selected. Next time it acts up, see if the transmission responds to shifting manually (1,2,3,D). If it will go thru all 4 gears that way, it's typically just the switch.
G/luck!
Joel

[lord Kelvin]

I had the same problems and replacing the range-sensor worked for me. I believe it was a sub $20 part. In any event, it was quite easy to replace.

[FredA]

Does your speedo stop working when the problem occurs ?

[lord Kelvin]

My speedo continued to work. My van just kept shifting on its own while highway driving. Example: while driving 65mph, it would occasionally downshift to 2nd gear, which would force me to slow down. It would then eventually shift to 3rd and then to OD. A few minutes later, it repeated again.

[FredA]

Then it is your TRS (Transmission Range Sensor). It is easy to replace yourself. The part cost about $25 at Autozone. I can send you some instructions on how to replace it if you give me your e-mail address.

[bkwoot]

What's the deal with the speedometer stopping? I have a 98 windstar and the same thing happening and when it does the speedometer dives to 0.

Seems like the problem is when you go from 2nd to 3rd