Hi!
I have a 94 Ford Crwon Victoria with 180,000 miles. I got it from my grandmother in 2008. It’s a great car a runs like a dream most of the time. Here’s the problem though…for the past three summers, when the temperature outside gets above about 70 degress, it starts giving me tramsmission problems. The shifting becomes rough, and it revs and jerks. It does this all summer and then when the weather cools off again it runs beautifully. Do I need a new transmission or is there something less expensive that I can do to fix this? Why does the transmission act up only in warm weather?
Is the fluid level correct? Is it pink or red, without a burnt smell? Has the transmission fluid been replaced according to the maintenance schedule? Was the correct fluid used (preferably not something from a chain oil-change place)?
Give info on transmission service history, as noted.
Also info on cooling system history.
If either of these things have been neglected, step one is to get them up to date.
After that, if it was me and you just wanted to keep the thing rolling as long as possible at lowest possible cost, I’d add an auxiliary external transmission cooler. My offhand guess would be that you have a failing solenoid inside of the transmission. It gets buggy when it gets too hot, so keeping it cooler might keep it under control for a while.
However, if you want it to go another 180K miles then take it to a good, local transmission shop for a diagnosis. If it is just a buggy solenoid, it might be an instance where it isn’t hard to replace it.
An 18 year old car could certainly have a partially clogged radiator and this would likely have an impact on the transmission’s functioning by making the transmission cooler that is in the base of the radiator less effective.
If I were you, the first thing that I would do is to have the radiator flushed in order to see if that improves the situation. Even if it doesn’t help with the transmission, this type of service may be long overdue on the car, and could help you to get more life out of it in the long run.
Thank you so much everyone for your comments so far. I have had the transmission serviced within the last six months (not from a chain oil-change place), but I have not thought of addressing the cooling system. I will look into this. Also, when the transmission does act up, I am constantly checking the fluid which remains pink and does not have any burnt smell at all.
Temperature related problems such as this is usually due to worn out piston seals or sealing rings
Hello everyone, new here! Looking online for the past three years I ended up in this page, my car has the same symptoms and there is no way to find the issue, all mechanic don’t have a clue. There is any way to find out if Lizzy fixed his car?
Thanks