I have a 1993 Mercury Tracer, (station wagon) 4 cylinder (2.3 liter) and the car has 146,000 miles on it. The car has a "new" tranny taken from a junk car, the original had a major meltdown and it needed to be replaced, so my mechanic friend replaced the original with one from another Mercury Tracer which had approximately 70,000 miles on it. My problem is, the transmission (they call it a trans axle I guess) is acting up. It takes off in first gear fine but won't shift. If I put it in neutral then back to drive (the drive that shows the "D" in a circle) then it shifts to the next gear. BUT, after a few seconds it slips out of gear. Then I repeat the process and again, it shifts to the next gear only to slip out again! Now, after awhile it will down shift by itself, stay that way for a few seconds, then it will straighten out and shift through the gears just fine. Sometimes it takes only once or twice to get it to shift correctly, but other times it will do this for up to 5 or 10 miles. It is strange and frustrating, even to my mechanic who is very good. The gears do not slip, it just pops out of gear. It's very annoying and also I'm afraid it might be a prelude to a major problem. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you in advance! (P.S. I am a disabled person on a fixed and very tight income, but will make whatever donation I can when I receive my monthly check for November 2007. Right now though I desperately need my car).

Assuming that you did service the trans, so a plugged filter isnt an option. Could be a sticky governor or something in the valve body from the trans sitting for a while. Try a flush, it might help free up whatever the problem may be

2CarPro Jack wrote:

Assuming that you did service the trans, so a plugged filter isnt an option. Could be a sticky governor or something in the valve body from the trans sitting for a while. Try a flush, it might help free up whatever the problem may be

Yes, the transmission fluid was drained, filter replaced with a new one. How do I flush the tranny, and What do I use to flush it, and do I need to replace the filter again after it has been flushed? Thank you.

A trans shop will have the right equipment to do a full flush......might help and might not.

2CarPro Jack wrote:

A trans shop will have the right equipment to do a full flush......might help and might not.

Thanks so much I appreciate your suggestions. Will let you know if flushing it helps out. Thanks again!

i have the same exact problem with my 93 tracer, i found some bad vacuem lines i thought,might be the problem ,but it was not,my next move is tranny flush,fluid filter,somthing is not telling this tranny to shift,i will let you knowif i fix this thing