Automatic Transmission problems of the 1998 Ford Escort

I have had near accidents relating to car fuel pump or transmission shops couldn't find any problems but the drivablity of my 98 Escort zx2 cost me more money in problem solving, 1,500 plus in recent repairs including emergency and repeat repairs and faulty repairs. My fuel economy is 160 miles per tank to almost 200 miles. No one can seem to find the problem(s). Large thunking in rear trunk (scary)when im taking off and reaching a steady speed. Take the car to major Ford dealerships, to no avail. Car doesn't always "go" from a complete stop in traffic,this has caused quite a scare as well. Thank you for helping and making note of my account. Debbie.

The failure involves the interlock that keeps you from shifting out of park without applying the brake. My left rear turn signal bulb had burned out. I stopped the car, put it in park, and set the emergency brake, to get out and check the other turn signals. First I turned on the left side and verified that the left rear bulb wasn't working. Then I asked the passenger in the car to switch on the right signals. She leaned on the shift lever to try to reach the turn signal lever, and when she did, the car went into reverse. It moved back slowly since the emergency brake was on, so I jumped out of the way and got in and stopped it. Upon further investigation, I found this: that if the left rear turn signal bulb is bad, the shift interlock is released when you turn on the left turn signal, allowing the shift lever to be moved out of park without stepping on the brake first. When I put in the new bulb, the behavior did not happen anymore. I put the bad bulb back in, and it started doing it again. If I had not set the parking brake, I could have been run over. My concern is that this defect may exist in several model years on this vehicle and possibly other Ford vehicles. This problem was on a 1998 Ford Escort sedan with automatic transmission.

While driving the gears on the vehicle change from drive to neutral on their own. Manufacturer will be contacted by owner.

The vehicles gear shift locked and couldn't be moved from park to drive. Manufacturer notified.

When vehicle gets started up it will not move out of park. Vehicle will just sit there and not move anywhere.

Transmission broke down while traveling 65mph. Prior to break down, had heard a snapping sound. Vehicle stopped dead. Was towed to an independent mechanic, and had transmission replaced with a used one since old transmission was not repairable.

Automatic transmission will not downshift to change gears once it has warmed up a bit. Has taken vehicle to dealer & it was test driven for over a week. Mechanic could not find cause of non downshifting.

Transmission shifts hard.

Ts.

I was driving the car on July 15th and stopped at the red light before crossing the tracks and when the light turned green I attempted to go forward and the car would not go forward. I flagged the people behind me to back up and I couldn't go backwards. I panicked because it was early morning rush hour and my 5 year old daughter was with me but after a couple of minutes the car slowly went forward. I called service and made the appointment to take the car in on July 22 which was the earliest they could get me in. On the morning I went to take the car in I was driving down the street at 30 miles per hour and the car started to slow down and I looked at the dashboard and realized that the indicator lights were all on. Fortunately I was able to pull over and had my fiance' with me. I took the car in and needless to say it took two weeks to get a replacement transmission which they said would be brand new and on the receipt it says reman transmission and that there was also a leak at the emv valve which the.

Backing out of driveway and looking in the mirror to see if any one was coming, all of a sudden vehicle flew forward and hit fence. Then wheels turned to the right, missing the telepole. Vehicle ended up hitting trees and stopped. Air bag did not deploy. Had seat belt on.

Fuel guage fails to register the correct amount of fuel. Also, transmission would jump/jerk forward if placed into gear. Whenever the brakes are applied, the transmission would jerk. Rear passenger door cannot be open from the inside. Took to dealer & had transmission replaced. Mechanic indicated nothing was wrong.

I have been in the service center 3 times for this vibration and 1 special service bulletin. I was also told by the service manager after having my iat sensor replaced in my transmisson and he told me sometimes their service technicians replace parts that.