hard 1-2 shift

[jacjm]

me, and apparently some others, are wondering why a hard 1-2 shift never gets addressed. brand new fluid, 2 bottles of lucas conditioner, and it still shifts hard, but only under moderate to heavy acceleration. accelerating easy it does fine. this leads me to believe it could be something stupid. please, someone familiar with this, PLEASE comment!
95 taurus, 3.0l

[way2old]

All the ones we have seen that have exhibited this have wound up needing rebuilt. Of course, this is just from the few that we have in the fleet. Maybe a transmission person will stop by and read this and offer more insight. Problem with trhansmission diagnosis over the internet, is it is like trying to find a noise without hearing it. Different things can cause the same symptoms. Good luck and I hope a transmission person sees this thread.

[tripletdaddy]

Do you have problems getting it out of gear for just !st or for all gears? Does it make any load noises when pressing in on the clutch pedal or have any clutch slippage? These could possibly indicate oil or grease on the clutch, which will eventually need to be addressed if you keep it that long. I had these problems with my pickup twice and went through 4 clutches and two attempts to stop the oil and grease contamination before the problem was permanently fixed. Tore up three, I think, pinion yokes and u-joints with this problem until it was fixed the first time. The whole bloody mess was expensive!?!

[way2old]

Hey tripletdaddy, I believe his vehicle has an automatic transaxle.

[TaurusKing]

Too many possibilities, take it to a locally-owned, no national chains, trans repair shop. Some will perform rudimentary tests for free. You need access to transmission tester to perform a lot of testing.. here's my take, get it tested see if there's a definite issue that can be addressed. If you're told rebuild is the answer, drive it till it leaves you stranded, but only if your driving is local. Then easy tow to shop, worked for me with my 94, my 99 trashed itself unexpectedly, still made it home, nothing left in that trans but loose metal..

[tripletdaddy]

You say it has an auto trans? Hmm....that would make a difference wouldn't it. You're probably right, though he didn't say either way. I just assumed it was since some years had a manual. Oh well. If he did have a manual, than everything I said would apply.

[brunnj]

Originally Posted by jacjm

me, and apparently some others, are wondering why a hard 1-2 shift never gets addressed. brand new fluid, 2 bottles of lucas conditioner, and it still shifts hard, but only under moderate to heavy acceleration. accelerating easy it does fine. this leads me to believe it could be something stupid. please, someone familiar with this, PLEASE comment!
95 taurus, 3.0l

We had the same problem on a 95 Taurus tranny. Had it rebuilt and still had similar problems. Had to replace the turbine speed sensor after the rebuild since electrical parts were not covered under the rebuild warranty. Have someone check the tranny with a scanner to see if any of the sensors are malfunctioning before a rebuild.

[jacjm]

well, 2 different shops recommended "rebuild" so i got a trans. from a local junkyard (90day warranty) and switched it out myself. no easy task. shifts smooth as a baby's butt now. ax4n trans are junk!

[shorod]

I wonder if you can sell your old tranny to a shop as a "core" and make some of your money back.

-Rod