96 Contour Transmission Problems

[Bassbonebobo]

Hello. I have a 96 Contour with the 2.0L 4 cylinder and 4 speed automatic transmission. About a week ago I had an issue with the transmission not engaging anything with the selector in Drive. If the selecor was in reverse, first or second it worked perfectly. It would only go into gear with the selector in drive if the car was travelling about 25mph or faster. Then last saturday the problem dissapeared entirely. Car ran perfectly. Better than it had in years even.

Saturday night was a different story. As soon as the car is started the transmission engages first gear, regardless of selector position. It works fine in all forward gears but it also moves forward in neutural. When reverse is selected the car rolls forward an inch or two then stops. It feels similar to sitting on an incline with the car in gear and holding position at idle. It isn't not going into gear, it feels like it is trying to go into reverse without disengaging the forward gearing.

The car is currently on jackstands in the driveway. If it is started in neutural the transmission engages and gives the wheels a kick and then they free wheel. The wheels can be stopped by hand without much effort. If you turn the wheels forward it feels as if the transmission engages very briefly and then disengages, similar to when the car is first started. I have checked the selector cable and it appears to be fine. The transmission does disengage when the car is turned off so it can be pushed around easily enought. When I fisrt put the car on the jackstands I discovered that the front wheels could be turned by hand with the selector in park.

Anyone ever seen an issue like this? Is it most likely a problem with the fluid, electrical, or an internal issue in the transmission? As far as I can tell the transmission itself is doing its job. It seems like an input issue of some kind (garbage in garbage out). I could be wrong though. I am in way over my head when it comes to automatics.

[G O R T]

Originally Posted by Bassbonebobo

I have checked the selector cable and it appears to be fine.

Is there any slop in the console shifter?

You really need to be sure the shifter detents align with the selector detents.

Loosen the cable at the selector lever and put the lever in neutral. See if it still moves the wheels.

[Bassbonebobo]

I double checked the selector cable and went ahead and tried realligning a second time. There wasn't any noticable change after readjusting the cable. I mentioned before that the wheels turn in park. Looking at it again with a second set of eyes it is just the differential allowing the wheels to turn. They turn in opposite directions and cannot both be turned in the same direction at the same time. The same is true with the engine turning and the selector in reverse.

The next question is, is this vehicle safe to drive at all right now? I am hesitant to drive it. The main concern being that whatever is keeping it in gear when it shouldn't be might suddenly change and try to kick it into reverse. Is this even a possibilty?