[DopeStar 156]

..... I need help with my Taurus.

Last weekend I took a road trip, a couple hundred miles or so and the car was shifting really hard in traffic. After the pace picked up it was fine and around town driving all fine, no issues. Today as I was heading home from school the car in traffic started doing the same thing again except when traffic flow increased the O/D OFF light started blinking. I was doing 50 MPH at 2,500 RPMs. I pulled off the highway to my local AAMCO and they threw a scanner on it and found 3 codes. One was something like "Gear 4 ratio incorrect" the other pertained to a shift solenoid or sensor, I forget which they said, and the last one was that something was stuck open. Forgive my lack of information but transmissions aren't really my fortee and unfortunately I didn't get any paperwork since I decided to just take the car home. I'll call them again tomorrow and see if they can read me the codes they pulled so I can post with details.

Does anyone have an idea what is wrong or what they were talking about? Sadly transmissions for the most part are foriegn to me.......

This is my main vehicle I use for work, school, and nights out at long distances, a duty I dare not give my 20 year old Cadillac. Any help is greatly appreciated......

 

[LS1Mike]

How many miles on the car? When was the fluid last changed, if ever?
It will have solenoids. The can stick and cause hard shifting or no shifting at all.
These can be replaced SOMETIMES without a rebuild.
You may need a service or depending on miles it may be time for a rebuild.

 

[Night Wolf]

The overdrive light flashing is either the detection of a shorted EPC (Electronic Pressure Controller) or a defective sensor. Bad shifts are a sign of the EPC, while good perfrormance would suggest a bad sensor. Also a quick check is the wiring conections being dirty/comtaninated. Cleaning and di-electric grease could fix your connections, that being the case.

It is just like a "check engine" light for the transmission.

I'm sure you'll find plenty of info about your car here:

http://www.fordtaurus.net/forums/

This is my main vehicle I use for work, school, and nights out at long distances, a duty I dare not give my 20 year old Cadillac. Any help is greatly appreciated......

Why don't you want to use the 20-y/o Caddy for such purposes?

 

[DopeStar 156]

Why don't you want to use the 20-y/o Caddy for such purposes?

I'm trying to preserve my car as much as I can by keeping the miles low. Plus a lotta the places I park my Taurus, my Cadillac would end up with emblems, hubcaps, and trim pieces stolen. On average I do about 100 miles a day. Thanks for the link I'll have to browse the site and see if there's someone else with my problem.....

 

[dkozloski]

A common Ford problem is dirty/corroded connections on the transmission/controller harness and plugs. Sometimes just unplugging and repluging everything will fix it for a year or more. My Ford Ranger has done the same thing a couple of times.

 

[DopeStar 156]

A common Ford problem is dirty/corroded connections on the transmission/controller harness and plugs. Sometimes just unplugging and repluging everything will fix it for a year or more. My Ford Ranger has done the same thing a couple of times.

I honestly need the car to just suck it up and hold out for another 6 months to a year until I get my Bachelor's Degree in Communications and a job so I can buy or lease something new. I'll check the connection tomorrow, thanks. Where is it?

 

[DopeStar 156]

Ok I called AAMCO back today and got the codes they pulled......

- Shift Solenoid Performance C Stuck
- Gear 4 Ratio Incorrect
- IMRC Stuck Closed

 

[Blackout]

Ok I called AAMCO back today and got the codes they pulled......

- Shift Solenoid Performance C Stuck
- Gear 4 Ratio Incorrect
- IMRC Stuck Closed

My professional opinion is that you need to fix the shift solenoid, your 4th gear ratio as well as your IMRC. But since I have yet to look at the car I'm just guessing off the top of my head:thumbsup:

 

[Playdrv4me]

GM Transmissions > Everything else

 

[ryannel2003]

^With the exception of the GMT-900 6 speed auto of course. My STS's 4 speed unit is much smoother in operation, and it's 9 years old with 71k miles.

 

[Playdrv4me]

^With the exception of the GMT-900 6 speed auto of course. My STS's 4 speed unit is much smoother in operation, and it's 9 years old with 71k miles.

LOL I was thinking the same thing JUST after I saved that reply!

 

[72186]

I'll vouch for GM transmissions as well, except for the 4T60-E. 4.9 Cadillacs go through those things all the time.

I wish I could mate my Deville to like a 4T65E-HD or something.

 

[Night Wolf]

I'll vouch for GM transmissions as well, except for the 4T60-E. 4.9 Cadillacs go through those things all the time.

I wish I could mate my Deville to like a 4T65E-HD or something.

I wouldn't say ~150k miles with unknown maintenance and driving history is "all the time" By the time 4.9 Caddy's reach their 3rd+ owners, they are usually pretty ragged out.

My '93 Coupe DeVille had 120k on it when it was stolen. The trans just then started shifting a bit out of normal, which I think was the vaccum modulator valve, a cheap and easy fix (good to replace anyway) It was on the list of things to do, but then it was taken from me, so it was no longer an issue - maybe the new owner replaced it?

GM can build a killer auto trans tho, heck even the TH400 was used in the high end Rolls of the era.

 

[72186]

^ My Deville has been through three transmissions in it's whole life (my dad is the original owner.) We have a '93 waiting on a trans rebuild in the driveway, and the VCC solenoids on my sister's and dad's '93s are shot.

So "all the time" might be hyperbole, but 4.9's definitely go through them faster then other cars with the same trans.

 

[Night Wolf]

It's all realitive.

1) We are on a Cadillac-owners site

2) Typically, people first join/go to online owners sites because they have a problem with their car and they need help.

3) Cadillac/4.9 was one of, if not the first car/engine to be used with the 4T60E, others were still using the 440T4 (same trans without electronic control)

4) 4.9 IS the most powerful engine to be mated to the 4T60E

5) 4.9 cars are also the heaviest cars to use the 4T60E.

6) Other then tuning, the 4T60E was not beefed up for the 4.9.

7) The newest 4.9 car is now 14 yrs old.

I'm not saying they don't fail, or some people don't have multiple problems. I'm just saying it's not an "as often" occurance as it is made out to be on the forums, where there is a relatively large percentage of people with problems compared to overall memebrs. In contrast, the amount of problems out on the road with the average Joe, compared to total number of specific vehicles running around. Just like it's made out to be that if you buy a pre-'99 NorthStar then the H/G will blow within 5k miles of your ownership (regardless of miles/age) and that it WILL go. Yet there are plenty of 90's N* Caddys driving around just fine all over.... actually in all my interstate driving over the years, I've only seen a few N* Caddy's pulled over on the side of the road period.

 

[dirt_cheap_fleetwood]

They do eat through these transmissions. My '88 had a blown trans when I bought it and the original owner was an 85 year old man. The car only had 66k miles and the trans was burnt to hell on the inside. Had it rebuilt and 1500 miles later it devoured another one (and I go easy on her). Thank God for the warranty.

 

[Playdrv4me]

They do eat through these transmissions. My '88 had a blown trans when I bought it and the original owner was an 85 year old man. The car only had 66k miles and the trans was burnt to hell on the inside. Had it rebuilt and 1500 miles later it devoured another one (and I go easy on her). Thank God for the warranty.

How did you get a warranty on an '88? (Or do you mean Trans warranty on the rebuild?)

 

[dirt_cheap_fleetwood]

How did you get a warranty on an '88? (Or do you mean Trans warranty on the rebuild?)

Yeah. The rebuilt trans had a one year warranty.