All,

I know, I know, its not a Cummins, but I'm sure some of you guys work on these and I need help.
I drive a 1994 Taurus GL with the single overhead cam. It has 135,000 miles on it. It has been a great little car, and I bought it used. I have done the usual repairs, such as new CV joints, belts, plugs, transmission fluid/filter, etc.
I went to the gym this morning, came back out started it up and put it in neutral to back down a very shallow grade. Once I was ready to move forward, I put it in D and the car went into gear and then seemed to take itself back out of gear. I tried to select each option, (D,R,N,P) and the car seemed to stay in neutral.
I have mis-selected automatic trannys before, and you usually hear a little grinding when you are in-between selections. I heard no such sound. The engine runs fine.
My guess, (and only a guess) is that it is the transmission control solenoid on the top of the transmission. I have had no warnings up to this point and took the thing on a 1,000 mile trip with my family through the mountains without any problems.
What could this be? The tranny fluid is not low or burnt out, and I have not had any shifting problems AT ALL to warn me.
I did a little research and it seems these weren't the best transmissions in the Taurus franchise. Of, course, I have to own one. HELP!

 

Does the shifter feel the same when you cycle it? I've had vehicles with plastic hyme joints on the shift cable let go, etc.

 

no, the shifter is intact all the way to the module on top of the transmission. The strange thing, is that I had no warning. That is the reason I think it might be this module. I posted on a couple of FORD forums, but haven't gotten any good advice yet.

 

turns out that the front axles aren't engaging. I hope that I can get under this thing and figure out what to do next

 

Wow, probably a cable or selonoid, usually with a trans you have slipping or some type of warning prior to it just up and quitting

Could it be the linkage to your shift lever - and is it the colun hift or the floor shifter on this car?

 

passenger side CV joint imploded. I replaced it with a new one this morning, returned the old one, and it cost me a little over $15 total. Whew! That was a close one!...