93 Escort auto-tranny shifting problem

[Wildwrench]

Hello Everyone,
My 93 Escort (1.9L) has a transmission problem: it will not upshift to OD or start out in low when I put the selector in Drive. I have recently had the fluid and filter changed. Before that, it just shifted too late into OD. More recently, I had it in a diagnostic shop . They concluded that there was some internal problem resulting in fluctuating fluid pressure (?). said I should replace the tranny.

I only have 118,000 miles on the car, having bought it 45,000 miles ago. Probably the fluid and filter had not been changed before.

After it left the first shop, where the filter and fluid was changed, the car had more problems. A few times, it would not move in any selector position. Other times, it would seemingly slip out of gear. This second thing always occurred in the first mile (tranny cold). After getting the car back from the diagnostic shop, I have not had the starting-out and first-mile problems. I drove it 25 miles recently and the only problem was once you put the selector in Drive, it would not upshift or downshift automatically.

Before seriously thinking about spending about $1100 for a replacement, I'd like to get the opinions from a few experts on this forum. Thanks for any enlightenment you can provide.

[mightymoose_22]

My suggestion would be to go get a second opinion from another shop... preferably a specialized transmission shop.

Also, I have no idea where you got the $1100 quote from for a new tranny, but that seems awfully steep.

[Markb873]

All I can say is your dealing with a 14 year old transmission. I would fear that attempting to fix this would just lead to the next problem. I would either press my luck on a scrapyard trans, or pay for a rebuilt one. Espescially since it sounds like the transmission shop didn't really know what was wrong either. A second opinionion wouldn't be out of the question.

-Mark

[Wildwrench]

Thanks for responding. The $1100 broke down as $600 for a rebuilt transmission and $500 for removal and installation. Do these figures sound reasonable?

[Markb873]

Sounds good to me.

[mightymoose_22]

Well... I had assumed you might be doing it yourself. That explains the steep cost. I think $500 for labor is still a bit much. It's about a two hour job if they give the effort. That tranny comes out really easy.

The cost of the transmission sounds reasonable, though you can probably beat it if you shop around.