Transmission

[bluebird05]

Once in a very great while. I back the car out of the garage and shift from R to D5 and the transmission slips out of gear and the engine flares ( races at high RPM) for a few seconds then the tranny catches while in Drive without the engine winding down to an idle. Therefore it slams into Drive with a lurch and rear wheels spinning. For the first time this event happened last week while parallel parking and after I drove the car 45 miles. Pretty scary with people holding an infant standing in front of the car while I stood on the brakes. Next thing I would have done is cut the ignition.

Has anyone else had the infrequent problem? My local Ford store has the car today but tells me they need to duplicate the problem in order to fix. This is a bodily injury / product liability claim waiting to happen and I want to avoid anyone getting hurt. Has Ford recognized a defect in the ThunderBird transmission or is this just my car? Has anyone else had this problem and if so how was it resolved?

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Transmission

Once in a very great while. I back the car out of the garage and shift from R to D5 and the transmission slips out of gear and the engine flares ( races at high RPM) for a few seconds then the tranny catches while in Drive without the engine winding down to an idle. Therefore it slams into Drive with a lurch and rear wheels spinning. For the first time this event happened last week while parallel parking and after I drove the car 45 miles. Pretty scary with people holding an infant standing in front of the car while I stood on the brakes. Next thing I would have done is cut the ignition.

Has anyone else had the infrequent problem? My local Ford store has the car today but tells me they need to duplicate the problem in order to fix. This is a bodily injury / product liability claim waiting to happen and I want to avoid anyone getting hurt. Has Ford recognized a defect in the ThunderBird transmission or is this just my car? Has anyone else had this problem and if so how was it resolved?

My '04 does a pretty hard shift from park into reverse when it's warmed up after being driven for at least a few miles......doesn't seem to happen when cold. It "hunts" for a gear in light acceleration sometimes.......and downshift?..........when you want to pass?

FORGETABOUTIT!............kick down is pathetic slow to happen.

Over-all the transmission SUCKS as a performance piece.

But so far it's just annoying.

Nothing nearly so crazy and scary as what you describe.

I do have a question.

I always let the engine find a slower idle speed before putting it into reverse when I first start it up........ I figure it's better to wait a few extra seconds rather than take the hard "hit" as it goes into gear.

Do you think that might help the situation at all?........or is it just as likely to happen at a slower idle too?

[Borla Babe]

Re: Transmission

The brake and gas pedals are very close together, many owners have experienced just what you describe Robert. Many found that they were not only stepping on the brake but part of their foot was also pushing on the gas too, which causes the car to lurch forward. Be very careful, check where you are placing your foot when you brake, you might find that enough of your foot hangs over the side of the pedal that when you push down with your foot, that side of your foot that hangs over comes in contact with the gas pedal too. Many of us have had to retrain ourselves as to where we place our foot on the brake pedal.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Transmission

The brake and gas pedals are very close together, many owners have experienced just what you describe Robert. Many found that they were not only stepping on the brake but part of their foot was also pushing on the gas too, which causes the car to lurch forward. Be very careful, check where you are placing your foot when you brake, you might find that enough of your foot hangs over the side of the pedal that when you push down with your foot, that side of your foot that hangs over comes in contact with the gas pedal too. Many of us have had to retrain ourselves as to where we place our foot on the brake pedal.

........WOW!

It really could be that simple.

It would explain the entire description of the problem too.


Kinda the automotive equivalent of calling the TV repair man for a broken set only to have him show up and charge you $150 to put the plug back in the wall socket.

The throttle feel in these cars is awfully light.

We're a long way from the days of accelerator pedals attached by cable to a double pump holley with extra spring pressure working against you as you mash the pedal.

You really could be slamming both the brake pedal and the throttle at the same time and you probably wouldn't realize it without looking at your feet.

Then again.......put a woman and her baby in front of the car when this happens and the thought that you'd look at your feet to check is a little beyond just hard to imagine.

[BJHEN]

Re: Transmission

Robert, I had what sounds like the exact same problem with my '05. See here:

http://www.thunderbirdnest.com/forum...ad.php?t=21048

My Ford dealer insist they can't do anything until they can duplcate the problem, which they have not been able to do. They have had the car on three different occasions. The last time it was in the shop, they could not find the problem but told me they reprogrammed the tranny - it has slipped once since then. I don't know if they did or not! Since I purchased the car from them and they Ford Certified it, they may have just been trying to appease me.

I did point out that my car was manuf. in early Sept. '04 and that it was covered by a recall for tran. fluid problem. See here:

http://www.portholeauthority.com/the...2005tbird.html

Dealer confirmed the recall and stated my car had been serviced under that recall - they put an additive to the trans. fluid. Dealer acknowledged to me that the recall was because of a shifting problem and the additive was suppose to fix the problem. I then requested dealer add the recall additive to my trans. again since car was now four years older with 25K plus miles. Since I was picking up the car at the time, service writer agreed to add the additive on my next visit. I'll report the results after that occurs.

Do you know when your car was manuf.? If it was before Sept. 22, '04 have dealer check computer records to see if trans. additive was added.

I have watched this problem very closely and best I can tell the trans. never slips if I don't shift from R to D5 too quickly. Problem occurs sporadically if, after backing up, I shift to quickly into D5. If I come to a complete stop after backing, then shift from R to D5 and pause until I feel trans. engage in D5 then there is no slippage. I'm guessing - I know nothing about the workings of an auto trans. - but seems to me there is a lag when shifting from R to D5 which is caused by the trans. fluid not moving through the trans properly to engage D5 as fast as we normally expect it to.

Let us know if your dealer finds a solution.

Good luck,

Cliff

[HKS]

Re: Transmission

Don't wear size 14 tennis shoes lik I did. It is hard to get those in a narrow size.

I always make sure I am not wearing tennis shoes after having a good scare a couple of times.

HKS

The brake and gas pedals are very close together, many owners have experienced just what you describe Robert. Many found that they were not only stepping on the brake but part of their foot was also pushing on the gas too, which causes the car to lurch forward. Be very careful, check where you are placing your foot when you brake, you might find that enough of your foot hangs over the side of the pedal that when you push down with your foot, that side of your foot that hangs over comes in contact with the gas pedal too. Many of us have had to retrain ourselves as to where we place our foot on the brake pedal.

[Salprint]

Re: Transmission

Did you have the Tranny fluid changed? I remember when I bought my '04 they sent out a bulletin that the factory put the wrong tranny fluid in some of the cars. I had to bring it into the dealer and they drained it and put in the correct fluid. The symptoms that you had the wrong fluid were a lot like what you described. Is it possible they did it in '05's as well?

[bluebird05]

Re: Transmission

As BJHEN says my dealer could not duplicate either. Says it has to happen in quick succession for computer to register. Tech bets it will show solinoid problem eventually as he has seen that being the case on other Birds. Thanks for all replies. We shift slow and always have foot on the brake when doing so. Manufacturing date 5/2/05. Nearly the final run. Fluid never changed. Dealer admitted problem with earlier cars. So I am out $240 bucks for the dealer time and am told when it finally breaks even under warranty, I will not get reimbursed. So much for Ford PR.

[EllisonCal]

Re: Transmission

I have experienced a transmission problem similar to yours. Occasionally while in D5 it will go into neutral and if I give it enough gas pedal while in this neutral mode, the car will lurch forward just as you described after it engages the torque converter. I have had it checked a couple times but no one seems to know the cause.
I just returned from a 10,000 mile plus trip cross country with the car and the problem occurred once or twice out of literally hundreds of starts and stops. In the mountains out west I used Select-shift extensively on both up hill (up mountain) and down to minimize brake fade but the tranny performed flawlessly.
In fact the car performed outstanding during the entire trip. Had two oil changes before I got back to the east coast and I have another 440 miles to go before I get home to Charleston,SC.
"Annie" runs better and sounds better now than before I left on our "Epic Road Trip". Ask Brian Metzger, he was the navigator and AAA guide for the various places we stopped over the last 35 days.

ellisoncal

[theflash]

Re: Transmission

I had talked to some Ford Mechanics about this problem.
When I first start the car and back out of the driveway, I back into my neighbor's drive-way that has an incline so the car is lower in the front. Then place the tranny in drive, the tranny does not go into drive. It free-wheels. Then it will shift hard into drive.


He said the tranny is low on fliud. when it warms up the fluid expands and it reachs the full point. Just a small mistake from Ford.

[bluebird05]

Re: Transmission

Flash,
This happened to us also when it first started doing it, but now it is also happening when it's warmed up. Did you have the fluid topped off? How is that done because I think the transmission is sealed? Is yours behaving now?

[theflash]

Re: Transmission

I have stopped backing into my neighbors incline drive-way. That has solved my trans. free-wheel problem when cold.

As for checking and filling the tranny, it is very strange.
It takes a special tool-fitting that will be placed into a fitting on the bottom of the transmission's oil pan.

With the fitting in place the trans. fluid can be pumped in with a power pump that connects to the fitting. You pump some oil in then disconnect the pump, When it is full the extra oil will spill out of the fitting. Then you have to use a hand-vacuum pump that will drain any fliud trapped in the system.
It seems very complicated. There is a complete page of instructions to do this in my Mitchell manaul.

So you will have to take it to Ford or a trans. shop.
Do you have ext warranty? there was some recall on some models.

[bluebird05]

Re: Transmission

Flash,
Yes, we do have an ext. warranty. Brought the bird home from the dealer today. They couldn't duplicate the problem so we asked them to put on the black box to see if we can manually record the problem when it occurs. The dealer said we could use it for 2 weeks, maybe longer. We'll see what happens. Will post again when it does. Thanks for the replies.

[BJHEN]

Re: Transmission

Flash,
Yes, we do have an ext. warranty. Brought the bird home from the dealer today. They couldn't duplicate the problem so we asked them to put on the black box to see if we can manually record the problem when it occurs. The dealer said we could use it for 2 weeks, maybe longer. We'll see what happens. Will post again when it does. Thanks for the replies.

Robert, Please explain "Black Box". I have not heard of this before. I assume it is some type of ele. gadget you plug into car that records things. ???

Thanks,
Cliff

[bluebird05]

Re: Transmission

Yes, the device (it's a small black box with cables) is plugged into the vehicle under dash and up to 4 events can be recorded. You have a cable with a button that you push when the car is acting up. The dealer didn't charge us for it, but we had to put a hefty deposit down due to the fact that it's an expensive piece of equipment.