02 Transmission Issues

[Off n Gone]

I am the original owner of an '02 Bird with 125,000 miles and going strong....ish.
I am in the Los Angeles area with lots of stop and go driving and lots of heat.
My transmission has been having issues for the last couple of years. When I had the trans fluid changed at about 110,000 miles the shop owner told me the smell chased everyone out of the shop. This was shortly after the dealer changed the trans fluid maybe, 5000 miles prior. The transmission works fine when it is cold. When it heat up, it has problems up-shifting. It slip-shifts, I think on the 2-3 shift, and hesitates to down shift when attempting to increase speed slowly. My car rarely flips on the radiator fans, the needle is stuck midway after 2-3 minutes warming up, but now I can hear the fans kick in when the trans is hot and having issues.
I see lots of issues with the '03 + Valve bodies, but nothing on the '02. I've heard that the 3rd gear actuating pin wears out the aluminum hole it is in. I had a Transmission guy tell me it could be the Catalytic Converters...
I just had the car smog checked 2 months ago - no codes - runs exceptionally clean... don't think it's converters.
A trans from the Ford Dealership is going to run about $3500, a local shop around $2000, a bench job about $1200.

Anyone with similar issues on the '02's?

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[tbird]

I had a 2001 Mercury Sable that I bought new, at around 75,000 miles I started having issues with the transmission. I put some Lucas Transmission fix in it, and it worked perfectly again! At about 190,000 miles, I had another transmission problem, but this time the transmission light, etc came on. Ford dealer said I needed a new transmission. I put more Lucas Transmission fix in, and prayed, 🙂 and it the light went off again, and I drove the car until eventually it blew a head gasket! YMMV

 

[Off n Gone]

That may be a good fix on a trans with a fill tube, and I've used similar products for other cars to help swell the rubber o-rings and gaskets with good success.... but the 02-05 is filled through the drain - no fill tube. I can't even check to see if it has fluid, let alone the level. Anything I put in would immediately drain back out, if the unit is properly filled....but.....maybe for $20 and an afternoon, it could be worth a shot. $20/ $2000 ? - That's something to think about... Thanks!

 

[tbird]

Anything I put in would immediately drain back out, if the unit is properly filled....but.....maybe for $20 and an afternoon, it could be worth a shot. $20/ $2000 ? - That's something to think about... Thanks!

If you can put transmission fluid in, you can get lucus in there too, right? Maybe not as easy, but doable.

 

[JW in Dixie]

Whadda ya hav to do? Turn the car upside down? 🙁