au auto problem

[rustyboy]

Maybe you guys can give me a clue,i have a 2002 au 111 ute,sometimes when i select drive it dosent go into gear,if i go back to neutral and select drive again its fine,all gears change fine when driving,its just the initial selecting,is this common or do I have a "special"one? Its starting to p..s me off

[Abacus]

1. Check the auto fluid level. There is no dipstick - you have to jack it up and stick a finger through the fill hole. Pour in the fluid until you can't get any more in.

2. If that doesn't fix it it's probably r**ted, but take it to an auto place to make sure it's not just a solenoid.

How many kms have you done? If you've done more than 140,000 you are on borrowed time. Work on around $1,500 for an exchange unit.

[rustyboy]

thanks for that,fluid level is fine,its done 160000ks so not looking good.Ford should be held accountable for putting s..t in their cars.I for one will be buying holden in future

[StealthAu]

Yeah mate, only fords have problems :

[rustyboy]

Put it this way stocko,I have spent more money keeping this thing on the road than I paid for it.

[StealthAu]

Yeah and I have spent less then 1k on keeping my car going in 20 months. I've owned holdens that have required 10k in the same period, dosn't matter the make of the car, all I can suggest is taking someone who knows what they are looking at next time you go to buy a car

[rustyboy]

Maybe I got a real lemon,real sour one too,my previous car was a holden,never missed a beat in 7 years.I like the look of the au,thats why i got one,it was new when I got it.Just leaves a sour taste in your mouth.When the warranty expires so does the car

[StealthAu]

I have to ask, you say you have bought this car new and also have spent more then the cost of purchase keeping it on the road. What has gone wrong with it? 30k+ worth in repairs sound pretty extreme

[rustyboy]

The only original thing left is the motor and box,motor has a bigend knock,ford says,acceptable level,I live where there is limited resources,pay what they want or park it in a paddock to rust away.They charge what they like

[amiers]

interesting that the general thought is that the box is stuffed. mine started doing it 2 years ago. its only when cold and the guy at the auto shop said it is common with them. so i just go neutral/drive and its fine been doing that for 2 years and 180,000 k's with no other drama's.

[StealthAu]

Prior to you Amiers, only one person has actually given advice on the problem so the general thought is only one person's. I'm not saying this is a sure fix, but I was having the same issue about a year ago which I also just decided to live with. 6 months down the track I required a new rear seal, so at the same time had the auto flushed and havn't had an issue since.

[amiers]

stockoau. i wasnt reffering to the thoughts on here. have heard it many times that the auto is stuffed if its doing this. however i do have a leak in my rear seal too, so as you said i might get that done with a flush and see what happens.

[atec77]

Originally Posted by rustyboy

Maybe you guys can give me a clue,i have a 2002 au 111 ute,sometimes when i select drive it dosent go into gear,if i go back to neutral and select drive again its fine,all gears change fine when driving,its just the initial selecting,is this common or do I have a "special"one? Its starting to p..s me off

I suggest you do a full service with filters and new fluid along with some decent treatment , while the pan is off have then check s5 is ok , it might need replacement , I do this every 60,000 k and have just replaced the auto last year at 480 thousand , it's worth the money , if you don't already have an additional cooler install it bypassing the radiator as it really helps the box live .Good luck

[V8falcons]

Theres plenty of AUs out there with over 500ks on them with original box,My wagon has 228k with original auto,so give it a service and check the solenoids as atec77 says first.
Im picking up our brand new(second hand) AUII ghia tommorrow it shifts/slurs slowly from 1st to 2nd,it has 60k only,Im going to do the same thing,give it a service,check the solenoids(some how??????),replace the oil and Hope she's ok.
Second hand box's are cheap enough(ebay has them $395 exchange with 3 months warrenty.,or go for a reco job for about $1200...... and through a external cooler on for longer life.

[rustyboy]

Thanks guys,that sounds a lot more promising.I like the au ,I,m 6 foot 2 and my ute has plenty of legroom thats why i chose it,dont know why stockoau didnt say that before instead of going off half cocked.

[StealthAu]

Sorry Rustyboy, I guess I don't know the meaning of "going off half cocked" I was just responding to some immature and uneducated posts. You mentioned the fluids being fine and seeing as you have already spent over $30k keeping it on the road, I figured that would have covered at least a couple auto fluid flushes.