faulty gearbox

[juliajlh]

my 02 ford galaxy diesel automatic will not change gear until the engine has warmed up for 10 minutes. main dealer did a diognostic test, found no faults, sent it to gearbox specialist who cannot find the fault after 2 weeks of testing. please help!!!!

[Simeon]

It could be something as simple as the transmission fluid. Get the fluid changed and you may find it sorted.

[almcd007]

Don't just get it changed get it flushed out and check the seal/filler plug if it's the slightest bit undone - water could have got in and emulsified the oil - after wamring up it becomes thinner and may be the cause. Have you also checked the drain plug ? if this is loose it will leak and water may contaminate it - I'm not a Ford engineer but these are possibilities - flushing it out will get rid of any contamination which may include metal fragments - usually caused when grinding gears - I know some gearboxes have magnets inside to catch/attract these fragments - this maybe causing an obstruction - this won't show on any diagnostic program - it's physical thing that you can usually only see with the naked eye. Good Luck !!

[juliajlh]

thanks to simeon and almedoo7 for gearbox info giving it a try. juliajlh

[DirtyHabit]

Was it "gearbox" specialist an "automatic transmission" specialist ? Manual and Auto boxes are as different as chalk and cheese. I cannot see an good Auto-Tran specialist not being able to find a fault after two weeks. In most cases I would always change the fluid as it can work wonders. I am not familiar with the transmission on the Galaxy, but as a rule the fluid should be a nice clear red colour, like wine. If it is brown or cloudy you should change and flush it, even if there are no problems with the transmission.