Goes out in Drive but not Drive 2

[jess2004]

I have a 1996 taurus with 97,000 miles. About 2 weeks ago, it started having a problem. Everytime I came to a complete stop, the car would go out of gear and act as if it were in Neutral rather than Drive. I can shift the car into Neutral and back into Drive and it would be fine until I stopped again. So, I've been driving it in Drive 2 and it doesn't have any problem stalling. Could it be a cable or does the transmission possibley have a problem?

[VernTheFern]

I have a 1996 taurus wagon with this same problem. If I am in overdrive after a complete stop the car acts as if it is in neutral, however I have had no problems in drive. I replaced the transmission range sensor two montsh ago and wonder if it might be related.

[Dave P]

1996 Taurus, 3.0L 2V, AX4N T/Axle, 108,000 Miles

Looses 1st gear at stops, have to move to nuetral & back to get it to engage. I haven't tried it in Drive "2" yet, will try that tonight.

I see this problem is a very common post, often it is blamed on the aluminum forward piston designed into the AX4S Transaxle. However, Myself, along with many others have had the exact same problem with our AX4N transaxle. This problem is too common not to be able to come up with a root cause and a viable solution.

Any Experts out there?
Any good TSBs on this subject as it applies to the AX4N?

[Larry in CA]

I have a '94 Sable with the same problem. When the car is first driven, everything is fine but after about fifteen or twenty minutes, the tranny just slips when you start from a stop. Once you are running, it is okay until you have to stop again.

If you drive using the second drive position, you have no problem. This sounds like a very common problem for Taurus' and Sables.

[Doxtater]

I also have a 97 sable with the same problem when stopping the tranny goes into neutral. D1,D2 and reverse I have no issue with. Someone please help I had the tranny fluid and filter changed last week but still having same issue.

[1970Troubleshooter]

Here is another country heard from. I have a 94 Taurus that my teenage boys drive, and same exact problem just started. Trans works well when cold, but after warm up becomes erratic. Driving in OD at 50mph or so, come to full stop, and trans disengages. Rev up to 1500 rpm or so and trans kicks in with a thump. 137,000 miles on car. I suspect real solution is a rebuild. I will try SeaFoam trans cure or Lucas tranny fix to try to buy a few thousand more miles. Anyone know the definitive solution?