# Transmission not pulling **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford\ **Created:** [March 26, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344 "2014-03-26T06:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DustinBobbitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@DustinBobbitt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DustinBobbitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/1 "2014-03-26T06:39:30Z")
I have a 4 cylinder 2000 Ford Contour 133k miles Ive only driven the car for about 2 months, Ive never had an issue with it until yesterday other than an occasional hard shift when driving the car hard. Yesterday when I dropped the car in drive it wouldnt pull at all, I sat in my apartments parking lot contiually reving the car high in drive but it wont do anything, its like the car is in neutral. Reverse works and I can drive by manually shifting from first to second and then putting the car in drive, but if I put it into drive before reaching 3rd gear it jumps back to neutral. I checked the linkage, and the lever it connects to on the transmission; when put into drive the position of the lever coincides with the neutral position. I called a few local transmission shops and they diagnosed is as a broken sprag, but from reading online it seems like it could be a clogged transmission filter or a faulty transmission range sensor. Prior to this issue I would sometimes here a whistle coming from under the hood when driving, I didnt know until today that a whistle is indicative of a vaccum leak, but wouldnt it throw on my check engine light? I have checked my transmission fluid, its at the correct level and is a nice cherry red, it doesnt have any bad or burnt odor I am happy to provide any more details as I am desperate for help and will LOVE YOU forever for ur assistance as this is my only car and daily driver, manually shifting everywhere I go is a definite pain and sometimes 3rd doesnt catch right away which Im sure could lead to even more problems. Thanks in advance \<333333 ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/2 "2014-03-26T06:48:25Z")
Unless I miss my guess, this is a Continuously Variable Transmission. And it’s belt driven. I hate to say it, but you’ve going to need a specialist… and a banker… for this one. This is not something you’re going to be able to fix under the shade tree. If I’m wrong about the CVT, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![DustinBobbitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@DustinBobbitt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DustinBobbitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/3 "2014-03-26T07:08:22Z")
The Ford Contour was made with the CD4E transmission, which unless Im mistaken doesn’t appear to be a CVT. > **[List of automobiles with continuously variable transmissions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automobiles_with_continuously_variable_transmissions)** > > The following is a list of automobiles that use continuously variable transmission (CVT) technology to transmit power from their engines to their wheels. I hope this is the case. Thank you for your reply and if you have any more insight to offer it’d be greatly appreciated. I could be wrong; Im no car wizz, Im just using the internet as an aid \<3 ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/4 "2014-03-26T07:18:27Z")
I know the 1997 used a CVT. I think the Wikipedia list is only for new cars. [http://s3.amazonaws.com/2cp-images/question\_images/622/large.jpg](http://s3.amazonaws.com/2cp-images/question_images/622/large.jpg) Having said that, I’m unable to help anyway. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![DustinBobbitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@DustinBobbitt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DustinBobbitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 7:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/5 "2014-03-26T07:54:58Z")
If you scroll it also listed old cars; but like I said Im still not certain about it not bring CVT. Thanks for your time and I am open to any suggestions \<3 ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/6 "2014-03-26T19:34:27Z")
U manually select 1 and u go, than 2, than 3 and than it will also go into OD as well? Or don’t u use OD in town driving? U did not mention OD so I just assumed it worked ok ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/7 "2014-03-26T20:32:34Z")
The transmission in Contour is definitely not a CVT, I don’t think Ford offered a CVT in a U.S. spec car until the Ford Five Hundred came out in 2005. If you’ve only had the car for 2 months and the fluid looked new, then I’m inclined to think that the previous owner/dealership recently changed the fluid prior to the sale and it’s possible the car went 130k miles on the original fluid. In which case the damage is done ---
**Author:** ![DustinBobbitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@DustinBobbitt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/DustinBobbitt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/transmission-not-pulling/84344/8 "2014-03-26T21:24:52Z")
When you start the car overdrive is already enabled, I noticed when driving last night it runs a little better (shifts more smoothly) with OD off; but still dropping it in drive from stopped makes it jump to neutral. I think the issue is the lever the linkage connects to (im assuming this is the transmission range sensor) goes to neutral when I put the car in drive from a standing position; Ive watched it be manually shifted from outside the car and the lever goes to the same position in drive as it does in neutral where I think it should be going to the same position it would if it were in first. It is possible the @FoDaddy, I surely hope that isnt the case ☹ The prior owner was a elderly fellow who used the car as a daily driver; he had bought the car new from the ford dealership and I would assume from the neighborhood he lived in and fact he bought it new he probably had money and took care of it [just an assumption]; but I didnt get any maintenance records