Hi guys,

I've not been driving long, and not had this car long (Fusion 2 (2004) auto 1.4), it has a few quirks, but is a great starter car.

Today, it twice had the following problem:

Stopped at traffic lights, put hand brake on, left in 'gear'. once green, took off handbrake (as per usual), accelerated... but instead of moving forward, I was rolling backward while the engine was revving dementedly! Straight on foot brake, popped it into neutral, and back into gear, this time it pulled forward no problem.

This happened again about half hour later after parking on a hill for a few min, with the engine ticking.

I'm a new driver, and not very car knowledgeable, but this doesn't sound right.

The only thing I did differently today, was to have a rear tyre changed at the garage, and pop in fuel and some redex (as the previous lot loaning the car didn't seem to take much care of it).

Do you think I might have an intermittent transmission problem? A friend (who know's much more than I) said don't worry, it happens.

However, I have my first long drive in a few days (220mile round trip) which involves a lot of hills... is this something I need to get checked, or am I doing something wrong? Should I didtch using the handbrake waiting at lights, and keep to the foot brake?

Cheers!

its quite possible, if you have to put it in neutral and back into gear it could well be that its not getting into gear. I would suggest you start by getting the codes read. Have you at any point had a transmission error appear on screen?

Hi there, thanks for the quick response.

yes, about 10 days ago a transmission error appeared that turned itself off after about 5 min idling and did not return.

Is it likely a transmission problem? Be good to know before I take it in somewhere.

thanks again.

No worries,

I know that my CMAX would on occassion roll back a small amount before I set the Hill Start Assist which helped to resolve this, but if its going nuts as it seems, then yes this could be an issue.

Last time I had this issuem I had my phone connected to the car via bluetooth OBD, when I started the car, it went berkserk! revving all over the place and flashing a number of issues including transmission error, so if you have anything connceted I suggest you disconnect it.

But yeah the transmission error is likely related, I think you need to get the error codes read to identify what was reported.

cheers, no gadgets plugged in, sounds like if will be something related to the transmission, not enough Time now to get a service.

definitely worth getting it checked out though, I would suggest getting yourself a code reader so you can check yourself!

newb question, are they expensive?

Less than £15

not at all.... from a fiver to £15 for average kit. My recommendation would be a modified ELM327 cable and FORSCAN, This is the kit that will give you full diagnostics of your car.

Click on my signature, "Error on your car?" and read the two links. It gives you a nice introduction to it and explains everything for you :)

Alternatively as you have the 1.4 Fusion, I have a cable for sale which you will find of use. Its the F Super and can be used for diagnostics with Ford Super software on the laptop. I have it on sale at the moment for about a tenner if you want it.

sounds to me like it could be low on transition fluid. auto boxes need fluid pressure to work correctly. if there isn't enough pressure there the auto boxes play up ALOT. if there isn't enough fluid moving around the gears will not engage correctly also you have wet clutches in a gear box that need to be kept cool

yes,

its finally caused me a problem. Facing down hill, had to reverse, it would not do it. Took 5 attempts, had to do it while keeping the handbrake on eventually. Resulted in me bumping into a post... Dammit.

definately go for a fluid flush and change?