Tranny woes

I'm in bumper to bumper highway traffic, got it in neutral because there is no movement.  Drop it into D and there is nothing.  Called a mechanic and got towed.  First I thought the linkage from the shifter got unattached but it's not that.  Anybody ever had or heard of this?  Ford Aerostar, old. I don't walk well. I need this van. No way I'm dropping thousands of Pesos into a new transmission.

Teddi wrote:I'm in bumper to bumper highway traffic, got it in neutral because there is no movement.  Drop it into D and there is nothing.  Called a mechanic and got towed.  First I thought the linkage from the shifter got unattached but it's not that.  Anybody ever had or heard of this?  Ford Aerostar, old.  I don't walk well.  I need this van.  No way I'm dropping thousands of Pesos into a new transmission.

Nothing worse that car problems on a hot, hot day.

If its not the linkage the tranny is shot or terribly low on fluid. What happens in 1, 2 or R?

Ford Aerostars were lemons......

Know nothing about the Aerostar but when this happened in my pickup, I thought it was my transmission but actually my rear end had gone out.

It was a noiseless event. Tranny fluid level normal. Yes, could be the rear end, cheaper than a tranny.

I had something similar happen many years ago with an early '90s Pontiac. I came up a ramp very similar to a cloverleaf and when I finished the curve and tried to accelerate there was just nothing there. There was nothing unusual that happened, no bump, no thump, no grinding, etc. I had sheared the input shaft between the torque converter and the transmission. It just picked that particular time and place to break. And, oh yeah, it was expensive to fix.

It's par for me to check before I buy. I must have Googled and read at least 20 1991 Aerostar customer reviews. They got good marks. That's what got me over the hump.

So far two local mechanics and Canuk Bob have said Aerostars are sugarless lemonade. What can one do to give himself a slight edge in weighing product testimonials? Is there no place to hang my shabby hat?

The biggest problem with them was the onboard computers. They kept blowing and cost about $600 back then. I used to have one but got rid of it after the first blown computer.

Sorry amigo!! If it is the tranny or rearend have them find a used on at the junkyard. Should be lots of them. Labor is cheap here.

Thanks. Maybe I can part it out and get some return. It has a groovy set of potato-hole mags and a perfect motor. Thing is we're in the wrong country to enjoy smiling easy-going takers, at any price.

Just wait until you get a diagnosis from a good mechanic. Don't freak yet. Maybe it's a nothing. About 2 years ago I started my car and prepared to back out of the driveway. Put it in reverse - nada. Put it in drive - nada.two days with the mechanic and done. It was a fuse. 100 pesos. Don't freak.

CanuckBob wrote:The biggest problem with them was the onboard computers. They kept blowing and cost about $600 back then. I used to have one but got rid of it after the first blown computer.

Sorry amigo!! If it is the tranny or rearend have them find a used on at the junkyard. Should be lots of them. Labor is cheap here.

Thanks for your concern.

Trailrunner wrote:Just wait until you get a diagnosis from a good mechanic. Don't freak yet. Maybe it's a nothing. About 2 years ago I started my car and prepared to back out of the driveway. Put it in reverse - nada. Put it in drive - nada.two days with the mechanic and done. It was a fuse. 100 pesos. Don't freak.

Wow! Could it be the famously defective brain controls the tranny too? Last one of those I bought was about 15 years ago for 1000Pesos. That's doable.

Could be. $1000 is reasonable. I assume that's probably a used one from the junkyard? A Google search may tell you something about what it controls.

Had this problem in a Pontiac and it was the torque converter.

That would be an inexpensive fix too.

Guess teddi decided to leave?

Well the tranny and engine are the same as the Taurus. We had two hundred of them and the number of tranny breakdowns was very high. Nothing like a fleet of the same cars to show you the problems a car has.

CanuckBob wrote:Guess teddi decided to leave?

Did he jump.....or was he pushed...…….

More like he got busted for being that guy again and he bailed.

Trailrunner wrote:More like he got busted for being that guy again and he bailed.

Good God, he stands out like a fox in a hen house.

His stories are always different but his MO is always the same.

Yeah I didn't do anything. Once outted he disappeared.........poof.

I remember him best as NavyVet and another name Tolt. . . . the Aztec god. I think. He's had many names here, he checks in around once a year and stays until outed or run off. In that time, he starts out with a sad or funny but ALWAYS an engaging story, which slowly escalates to confrontation and soon after verbal aggression. From there it goes to very angry scary-aggressive PMs, of which I was once the receiver of. Just another sociopath. 

We actually know someone else like that here, exact same MO, but fortunately we don't have to read his snorks anymore.