Just an update its now making a whining noise.. old man told me something about the belts? any possibilities?


Hi guys just thought id run something by you guys to see if anyone has encountered this problem before ( did a search couldn't find much).

The car is a AU falcon, for awhile when it was started and Drive selected it would drive off and when it was time to switch to 2nd gear it would free rev for a second or two then get into gear and be fine for the rest of the day.

However today it started to do it after a few hours driving which was odd even in 2nd-3rd transition, and eventually got worse.

But i turned the car off for literally 30secs -1min the problem would then be gone? Happened again, did the same thing, turned the car off and on and its fine again.

Any ideas? All previous cars i have owned have been manuals so im a little clueless here.

Cheers in advance.


When searching: Best answer i could relate to this problem was a solenoid issue, but it was on a older EB model, no idea if the gear boxes are similar.

Last edited by jaseau on Fri Nov 26, 2010 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi jaseau,

I just traded my old AU in after this problem started to become more prevalent, as you said it tended to do it when it was cold but as time went on it started doing it even after hours of driving, many times I was sitting dead in the water having to shift gears until it finally found drive again.

I had my mechanic take a look at it and he said the fluid levels were fine so the problem must have been something more severe. I'd personally take it to see an auto specialist and have it serviced, I assume it's done a large amount of k's? Mine had about 200000km on the clock when this started.

Could be the solinoids

Mate
Sounds like S5 soleniod

Definitely check the fluid level before spending any serious money on it. The BTRs can be very sensitive to low fluid level. I had very similar symptoms on my EF, noticed the fluid was down just a little (EF has a dipstick), added 500mls of fluid and the problem went away permanently. 500mls! Cheap fix - worth a shot.

I think yours has a fill plug on the side instead of a dipstick, so it may be easier to get a shop with a hoist to check the level and top up if necessary. Shouldn't cost much.

thanks for the help guys, i guess ill check the fluids but if not guess its not a home job.

Can anyone recommend any good gearbox joints in the ringwood area or in the region?

hi jaseau
my 99 au was changing from first into second a little hard when first taking off from home in the mornings.
i recently took it to my local mechanic and he did a service wich was just to drain the old fluid out
and put a new filter and gasket on the tranny !
apparently the fluid that came out of the transmission was very old and almost black so the mechanic
reckons it could have been the original tranny fluid in the box!!!
anyway i paid $140 for the service all up wich i was happy with.
but because there is still fluid left in the torque convertor he told me to come back in about twelve months and drain it again to get rid of the rest of the s**t in there.
it is best to fully flush the box but that is around the $350 to $400+ mark.
pete.

Hi,

I think anything with a BBM is prone to wearing through the auto gearbox loom it sits in the wrong spot...

I've seen a few EF's and EL's where the gearbox loom runs over the back of the BBM assembly and eventually rubs through and starts earthing the wires out... It causes all sort of odd things to happen... Just check the loom is still in tact, it may have been fixed on AU falcons though, I'm not sure...

Cheers,
Tim

thanks again guys.

Will do a flush and a service on it either tomorrow or sunday.

Just an update its now making a whining noise.. old man told me something about the belts? any possibilities?

Usually belts squeal... It is possible... I think some belts may be directional? If there is nothing on it to indicate that you can always turn it around and run it backwards, this generally gets rid of the problem... Just make sure your tensioner is OK, after a while they start to wear and end up on the piss and not running true to the other pulleys...

If its the belt you should notice the whine change with revs...

Cheers,
Tim

Hi fordmods member - "peetys here", and other members who can assist

Im new to fords ( im into holdens, but just got a ford this week, long story, the owner had lost the keys, she said i could have the car, so spent money getting this done).

Its a 2001 series 2 ford falcon forte ex taxi, LPG, 640,000KM. Dont know any other history.

The car hadnt moved in a month. Once i got it started, i saw a massive oil stain on the road, under where the transmission is. The car is slow to get into gear, especially reverse, and when it drives, it does like a little bunny hop burnout getting into gear, doesnt go faster than 40km/h, the revs go up and down. No warning lights are on on the dash... but i reckon the transmission oil is low.

Im not sure how it could have leaked so much oil in the 1 month the car sat there without keys.

Is there any cheap way i can get out of this, as ive spent enough dough on the keys (mobile man, cutting and programming).

Can i buy tranny fluid, and fill it up so i can drive the car home. Where do i fill it from ( ive read filler plug, but detailed info where this is located etc would be appreciated.

And "peetys here". ...... im in sydney too, where did you get the tranny service for $140, and contact number would be appreciated.

It just seems fords are way more difficult than holdens...

Appreciate any help, especially from anyone living to where the car currently is... BURWOOD ROAD, Burwood/ Campsie, SYDNEY.

Thanks ALL

Personally I think you'll find the BTR gearboxes are not bad at all... Other than the bush wear they get in top gear they seem to be pretty good... Personally I think Holdens are more complicated and cut more corners than Ford ever did, esp with rear suspension...

The filler plug on an AU is in the side of the transmission up high (not sure which side now, but it will just look like a bung), you'll need some sort of bend nozzle and positive displacement hand pump to get it in there... Things with dipsticks could be filled via the dip stick tube (yes deleting the dip stick tube was not a smart move)...

It could leak oil from anywhere... Until you jack it up and have a look or clean it and leave it to see where fresh oil comes from how are we meant to help you?

Not many places it gonna leak from and yes its unusual to loose what sounds like a good litre or 2 of oil in a month... BTR's were prone to the selector shaft seal leaking, or the sump gasket is leaking maybe? Other than that the band adjuster lock nuts could have come loose, servo could be leaking, tail shaft bush could be leaking...

I suggest jacking it up and cleaning it and then post up a photo of the leak and we'll happily tell you what its call and where its common or not and you then ask papa smurf on here for the price on genuine parts to repair it or go to an automotive place and get aftermarket parts at your leisure...

Yes putting more oil in it will fix the problem... But why not stop the leak first? Transmission fluid is not cheap and if your putting it in as often as your filling up with fuel its joke...

Cheers,
Tim

hey mate

my old man has el with a au box in it and i was doing a similar thing

we found the fluid was buggerd it was to thick to get up onto the clutch plate's when it was cold there for not giving them any grip but was ok when warm.

we changed the fluid and was all good for about a month but now it is having trouble's again might have ran with bad fluid for too long.

Drop ur pan of the tranny and if the fluid is brown and smells you know u have a problem

remember he had a massive oil stain under the car already... When the transmission is low on fluid it will struggle to select a gear, esp reverse as reverse requires a huge amount of pressure to engage...

Cheers,
Tim

Hi

Thanks for the prompt response guys.

The car is 25km away from home.... on the side of a street.
Is it safe to drive it at the 40km/h to get it home then i could jack it up and start investigating where the filler plug is, dropping the pan etc???

Or is there some quick way i can get oil in it to drive it home, i dont really want to jack up a car on the side of the road away from home.

Im thinking if it were a VS VT holden, id just fill it up from the dipstick and i could drive it.

Im sensing this AU is gonna frustrate me.

Cheers, Pete