[zeroskater9]

Hey guys, i'm new here. The situation is, I have a 2001 Mercury Cougar V6, Automatic, original ownwers and its my sister's car (58000 miles). Just a couple weeks back, the check engine light comes on. My trusty mechanic tells me to run the A/C less, because the car is getting too hot. Just today, I took it to my local Ford dealer, for diagnostic and confirmation of my mechanic, and they tell me the codes they get (P0741 & P1744) are for the transmission and they found transmission fluid and oil leaks. Also, in the morning, or before the car warms up, I've noticed that the car will not fully engage in reverse. Its as if the car, in reverse, goes in neutral for a few seconds, then all of a sudden shifts into reverse and the car will move, then it will go into neutral again, only in the morning. Its almost as if its hesitant or something, but if I push the gas pedal, it'll just rev and when it finally engages it'll move. FYI, we had gotten the tranny rebuilt by our mechanic when it started slipping, less than a year ago, or he might've installed a rebuilt one, not exactly clear on that (46000 miles). Seems that it is barely within the 12000 miles warranty mark. I haven't had any other real problems with the car, except for the fuel pump campaign deal and for some reason the door handle doesn't spring back in place, and that has to get changed and we otherwise love the car. So, I want to know exactly what the codes mean, P0741 & P1744. It seems that the tranny on this car particularly is a recurring problem, or is it on a lot of Automatic 99-02 Cougars...? After I get it fixed, would you guys recommend selling it, or should I keep it. It will be payed off next year, but we don't want this problem coming back, or want other problems as the car ages. My sister drives all over the place, and this is sometimes why I think this car develops such a problem, but otherwise its not like it is driven very hard, just extraneously. Any techs know what might cause the problem and if I should repair the trans or get it fully replaced? And also what I should do if I do plan on keeping the car in good shape, especially with a costly item such as the transmission. Thank you in advance for your advice. I will also post this in the transmission thread area.

 

[NorCalCoug]

The CD4E transmission is prone to heat failure. The best thing to do is get the transmission rebuilt (probably clutch packs going bad) and have the tranny shop add an external plate-style cooler (if possible).

 

[zeroskater9]

Originally posted by: NorCalCoug
The CD4E transmission is prone to heat failure. The best thing to do is get the transmission rebuilt (probably clutch packs going bad) and have the tranny shop add an external plate-style cooler (if possible).

Thank you for your recommendation, so that should most likely cure the recurring problem? I sure hope it will. We are taking the car to our mechanic on Monday. We would like to keep the car longer, as long as the problem doesn't come back. If anybody else has any other ideas as how to keep the transmission from breaking down again, I would greatly appreciate your input. Thank you in advance.

 

[zeroskater9]

Hey guys, sorry to bump this topic again, but I had my mechanic install the tranny cooler. Things did not fare well. My sister drove it to a car wash and she said it was jittery and felt worse than before. When she got home, there was ATF all over the driveway, or at least I thought it was since it was all brown (probably burned). It happened after we left our mechanic's shop. We had it towed back because I was afraid of driving it since I did not want to worsen things. I asked him what he thought it could be, but he said he wasn't really sure and he'd check it out. My Dad wants to just replace the tranny, and wait a few months until my sister graduates from her university and then sell the car. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Also might I add that she said the check engine light did not come one. So what could've happened? Hopefully no damage done to the transmission since it was only driven about 5 miles while the fluid was leaking, right? I just hope everything is fixed soon.