Trying to help here:
Transmission issues and what other owners have found or said:
Could be low fluid
You may need the dealer to do a software re-flash
If you are with Ford, change to a Lincoln dealer, since the drive train is all Lincoln LS and the guys there are more familiar with these issues
One owner says:
After reversing and shifting to drive transmission drops into neutral then slams into gear. Dealer cannot find anything wrong.When I first got the car I met a gentleman who was the lead engineer for Ford that led the production of Retro Birds. He went on to tell me not to let just any mechanic work on it. He said even at Ford dealerships I should request the mechanic that had been specifically trained on these cars be the only one to work on it. He stated that there was a lot of complicated engineering that went into these cars and only trained personell should work on them. Obviously my dealership has no mechanics trained on this car. When I questioned their diagnosis and they got onto the computer to check it out they shook their head at how complicated and hard to work on, that the
AC system was.
Another:
I went to a Transmission guy who said; only Ford can fix. The dealer trusted the transmission guy It may be a simple thing or nothing at all but at the time even Ford agreed that a slipping into neutral and banging into gear was a problem. Consumer Report says the 04 had a minor transmission complaint level which disappeared for the 05 so maybe it is really nothing but I would stay on the dealer, especially if it happens again....and being on record now might help if the problem surfaces later.
I had the transmission serviced. The machine they use, drains the old fluid out and replaces it with the exact same amount of fluid. This means if your fluid level is low (and there is no dipstick to check the level) it will stay low even after service.
Well, with the new clean fluid my transmission really acted up. It would stay in neutral longer after the lever was put into D5 or D4 and it would not necessarily go into First (1st) gear when it did engage. A few times it would go into a gear too high to start the car moving, and the engine would die.
I brought the car back in and asked the technician that serviced the transmission to take it for a test drive. When he returned he put the car up in the air and checked the fluid level. He lowered the car and added first one quart of fluid, then another quart and one half. He then asked me to test drive the car. What a difference! For three years I was driving the car with a 2 1/2 quart deficit of
transmission fluid. On the road trip, the car performed well except for a few of those rough shifts that I had grown accustomed to, and a few times it would stay in neutral after coming to a stop.
It is now 3 days since my Select-shift transmission has had the correct amount of
transmission fluid. What I'm amazed by is that it functioned as well as it did on the road trip 2 1/2 quarts low! Now the transmission shifts very smoothly and efficiently.
To all those people out there that are having problems with their transmission, Have a technician check the fluid level, you too may be low on fluid. Also spend the $210. to do a complete service with new fluid if your fluid is black like mine was at 46,000 miles
Finally this one said: I did point out that my car was manuf. in early Sept. '04 and that it was covered by a recall for
transmission fluid problem.
Dealer confirmed the recall and stated my car had been serviced under that recall - they put an additive to the trans. fluid. Dealer acknowledged to me that the recall was because of a shifting problem and the additive was supposed to fix the problem. I then requested dealer add the recall additive to my trans. again since car was now four years older with 25K plus miles. Since I was picking up the car at the time, service writer agreed to add the additive on my next visit. I'll report the results after that occurs.
Do you know when your car was manuf.? If it was before Sept. 22, '04 have dealer check computer records to see if trans. additive was added.
