Hard shifting & no speedometer

[rocky1961]

I have a 1998 windstar with a 3.8. I took my daughter Christmas shopping and noticed the car did not want to shift out of first gear. I shifted it manually to second and then DRIVE and that worked until I stopped at a light. I took off in DRIVE and the car did shift to second and third on its own but it shifted late and hard. Also, the speedometer quit working and the overdive light on the shifter just turned on by itself and then went out. By the time we got home, the SERVICE ENGINE SOON light was on. All these symptoms happened in a relatively short amount of time (5 miles). I suspect something electrical but am not sure. Is there a speed sensor fuse on these cars? Any ideas?

[rocky1961]

Update-- I haven't driven the car since Christmas, so I figured I would give a test ride to see if anything had changed. Now the car is shifting normally and the speedometer is working. The SERVICE ENGINE SOON light is still on and the O/D still comes on by itself but the car is driving fine. I guess I'll get the codes checked and go from there. I need to get the darn thing inspected this month so I need to kill the Service light soon.

[Ed_Strong]

Like you said... get the codes checked first and see where they lead you...!
One thing that goes out easy on this vehicles is the TRS or Transmission Range Sensor.
Do a search here on this forum bulleting and see what others have gone thru and dont forget to post back when you get it fixed so others could benefit from your experience! Good luck and happy hunting!