Evening punters,

I have a 1998 EL Fairmont that very occasionally sits in neutral for around 30 seconds.
It's irregular enough to make it hard to pin down the cause but the basic process is

- reverse out of driveway
- shift into drive (fine)
- drive to end of street (20 - 30 metres) and brake
- go to accelerate but gearing doesn't engage
- sit for 20 seconds feeling like a numb nuts, shift gears to 1,2,3 and drive with no effect, then the gearing engages again after about 20 seconds

When it does happen (once a week or so) it always happens within a few minutes of starting up and always after slowing to a stop in drive and then going to accelerate again.
It will happen once and then not again, no matter how badly I treat it. The gearbox shifts absolutely fine otherwise with no noticeable sloppiness or other issues.

Any ideas? something blocking a sensor maybe?

Have you checked that the fluid level is correct ?

Good point - that's a forehead slapper! Will pop out tonight and check.

Well, I would check - if EL's had a bloody dipstick!

Changing trans fluid sounds like a nightmare (http://www.fordaustraliaforums.com/forum/showthread.php?31608-how-to-service-EL-auto-trasmission-(change-fluid-and-filter)) so I'll open my wallet and let a mechanic take care of this one. 220,000Ks and I bet the trans fluid hasn't been changed in years.

Cheers for the heads up

New filter, gasket and full trans flush. Mechanic said the fluid out of the trans was "like black sludge" and he had no idea how it was even pumping through the filter.

Shifts are now crisp and clean - no sign of the weird gearing loss that was plaguing the car.