# 1996 Escort Transmission problems

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-escort-transmission-problems/78525>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** ford\
**Created:** [April 7, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-escort-transmission-problems/78525 "2013-04-07T05:56:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rhayes525](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba8739/32.png) [@rhayes525](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rhayes525)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-escort-transmission-problems/78525/1 "2013-04-07T05:56:34Z")

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Hello, I have a 1996 escort wagon with strange auto transmission behavior. Sometimes during the summer months but mostly during the winter; the transmission will start off in 3rd gear from a stop and wont go any higher or lower. If I drive it around for a while, it will suddenly shift into 4th then the transmission will act normally for a while then for no reason will just suddenly start off in 3rd gear from a dead stop. It has been doing this for about 8 months now. 146k miles. I have tried shifting through all the gears manually. It will drop down into first when I put the lever there, but when I move the lever back up into drive, it goes right back into 3rd. Help plz

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**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1996-escort-transmission-problems/78525/2 "2013-04-07T16:18:52Z")

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When was the last time the transmission fluid was changed?