Overdrive hesitation

1993 ford escort wagon, automatic, 128,000 miles.



car runs fine in drive, when in overdrive on freeway, periodic hesitation.

Are you driving in hilly terrain when this happens? Using OD when towing, with a heavy load or in hills/mountains you may encounter “hunting”. This is a term used for overdrive transmissions that constantly seek the proper gear and can be thought of as “hesitation”. It’s more prevalent with smaller vehicles. Have you serviced the transmission fluid per the owners manual schedule? Read your owners manual recommendations for using OD.

That could be anything. It could be a drivability problem such as a bad plug or plug wire. Dont blame the transmission just yet. Check out all avenues. The worst feeling in the world is repairing/replacing some big expensive component and the problem is still there. Have a drivability tech look at it first and rule out the engine.

transman