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Ford Torque Converter

Norman of Hollywood, FL, writes:
I am the owner of a 1996 Ford Mustang GT. My mother is the owner of a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis, and my Grandfather is the owner of a 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis. Within the last five months all three of us had to have our 4.6 liter V8 transmission rebuilt due to a fault in the design of the Torque Converter which made the transmission lock up on occasion and create a shudder when changing gears.

Luckily, the Grand Marquis owned by my mother and grandfather were still under warranty and the Ford dealership rebuilt the transmission at no charge to them, knowing that this is a common problem with Ford vechicles before 1999.

My Ford Mustang just happened to be past its warranty period and I had to take my car to a transmission specialist to have it rebuilt. I took my car to AAMCO Transmissions in Ft. Lauderdale and they diagnosed the problem as the same one the Grand Marquis has and all other Ford vechicles have. My total repair bill consists of $1,400.00 which I had to pay.

After repairing my vechicle I checked on the internet to see if this is a noted problem with Ford Cars. All transmission problems point to this Toque converter problem and suggest rebuilding it. AAMCO mentioned that they get Ford vechicles day in and day out for this problem and they have records from Ford mentioning this problem.

To me this is a very serious matter that needs to be brought up because no person should have to pay and change a transmission just because of a bad design from Ford. I love Ford cars and I stand behind Ford 100% but if this problem cannot be rectified my feeling of trust in Ford will be lost.

Automan Responds:
If the torque converter is bad, it should not cause the entire transmission to be rebuilt. If a converter goes bad due to an internal defect, then you just change the converter. If the problem is a control problem in the valve body then you address that too ... you do not need to r&r the whole unit unless you have been driving on it a long time and caused internal damage.

Ford probably just did a crate swap and did it under the warranty. Most transmissions go bad because of heat. Do you have a transmission cooler on your vehicles? If not, I strongly recommend one be installed by a professional to survive the heat down in Florida.

I have had absolutely no known failures occur with this unit, and I have not had to research the unit because of its reliability, Fluid, filter and service is the only thing I do for my customers at 30k intervals. -- Automan is an independent mechanic in North Carolina.

Shannon of Wichita, KS (3/2/03):
I have a 1996 Ford Mustang and the torque converter is bad. I read your response to the fellow that had a GT and his parents had Grand Marquis. Your reply was very biased. I have been reading up on this for the past year. Several complaints have been made about the same problem. Also when I called several shops about my problem, they all said "yeah, the 96 Mustang is known for that"

The cost of replacing this is going to be expensive. I want Ford to have to pay for these repairs. This problem is known enough by tech's all over and is on the internet under reports in the Ford websites even. I think they should be financially responsible for a faulty part. Cars are expensive enough as it is.

Good luck, Shannon. The car is seven years old, which is way past the expiration of the warranty. If you find a way to get Ford to pay for it, let us know. We won't be holding our breath.

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