[jtugfestiva]

Is there a difference between the 2001 escape and the 2008 escape transmissions???
Are the 2008 CD4E more durable and reliable??
Will using synthetic oil such as royal purple do any good or damage to these transmissions??
What was the cause of failure on these transmission in the first place??

I worked on a mazda 626 automatic and i think it was based on the CD4E and the cause was the heat from the turbocharged engine and it was way to powerful for that transmission. It had so much metal shavings in the tranny and it was toast a few months after.

Please post whatevers on your mind!! Thanks!!!

[mod]Moved to Tailgate Chat.[/mod]

 

[Squishy]

Any differences should be minor, and I haven't heard of any between 2001 and 2008. The cause of failure seemed to be from using the wrong transmission fluid, especially the previous Mercon V formulation (they tweaked it shortly before they discontinued Mercon). Another contributing factor is that we are likely near the high end of power for the CD4E, which is reportedly a high-output version of the Escort transmission.

I wouldn't use any fancy oil, just regular Motorcraft Mercon V. The Mercon V specification calls for a semi-synthetic fluid anyways.

 

[Leviathan]

Are the 2008 CD4E more durable and reliable??

A friend bought an '08 Escape and the CD4E crapped out at 3500Kms. The second transmission didn't make it out of the dealership before it crapped out! He didn't wait for a third... The dealership stepped up and got him into an '09 for an exceptional price so it all worked out :thumb:

 

[Jeff M]

Yeah I'm getting ready to take my 08 in on the 25th to get looked at. The damn thing won't hold itself on a hill, and in the mornings when I go from Reverse to Drive it takes a couple seconds.

 

[jonas1022]

Sorry to hear you guys had problems. Ours is working as advertised. No problems, even in the mountains, or in the heat. Just fine after 16K miles, and less than one year old! :thumb:

 

[stone]

My transmission is reliable. It seems reasonably competent, but i do not regard it as the smoothest changing auto.

 

[kkreit01]

I had my 07 2 yrs w/o incident. The tranny did seem more suited to the 2.3 fwd drivetrain vs. my 08 V6 4wd. I notice slight hesitation while changing gears in the V6. It shifted smoother in the i4. Makes sense -- since this tranny was originally in the Escort. :cuss: After driving 5 & 6-spd autos, I often scream for an extra gear in the Mariner.

 

[Jeff M]

I had my 07 2 yrs w/o incident. The tranny did seem more suited to the 2.3 fwd drivetrain vs. my 08 V6 4wd. I notice slight hesitation while changing gears in the V6. It shifted smoother in the i4. Makes sense -- since this tranny was originally in the Escort. :cuss: After driving 5 & 6-spd autos, I often scream for an extra gear in the Mariner.

Ok good to know that I'm not the only one that experiences the hesitation in gear change. Will yours hold itself on a hill? If mine is on a grade of 15% or more uphill, it will start rolling backwards.

 

[jonas1022]

To be perfectly honest, you are supposed to place your foot on the brake for the car to stop and stay on a hill. Or any other place for that matter...so I do not consider it's inability to hold on a hill a deficiency.

 

[stone]

Mine will not hold itself on a very steep hill. In this scenario i use the brake and hand brake.

 

[VBCWIZARD]

I have a 2005 Escape with 55K Miles. The only one issue that I had with the CD4E was that it leaked from the bottom of the dipstick tube. Luckily it was under the 3years/36000 mile warranty so the dealer fixed it. Other than that, it is hauling my family around w\o any issues. I flush out 4 quarts of tranny' oil with every third motor oil change. I have the AAA+ just to be safe but I wouldn't hesitate taking a 500+mile road trip.

 

[kkreit01]

I had my 07 2 yrs w/o incident. The tranny did seem more suited to the 2.3 fwd drivetrain vs. my 08 V6 4wd. I notice slight hesitation while changing gears in the V6. It shifted smoother in the i4. Makes sense -- since this tranny was originally in the Escort. :cuss: After driving 5 & 6-spd autos, I often scream for an extra gear in the Mariner.

Ok good to know that I'm not the only one that experiences the hesitation in gear change. Will yours hold itself on a hill? If mine is on a grade of 15% or more uphill, it will start rolling backwards.

I have not experienced the "hill issue". There was one incident when it was new (< 1000 mi), where it was slipping real bad shifting from 2-3 on a level road. It was BAD. It was a Sunday, otherwise I would have taken it in. The only thing I did, was remove the neg battery cable for about 10 minutes (sounds stupid -- I know), and it has never done that since. At 8500 miles, the fluid level is great, and it still appears bright red.

 

[Jeff M]

To be perfectly honest, you are supposed to place your foot on the brake for the car to stop and stay on a hill. Or any other place for that matter...so I do not consider it's inability to hold on a hill a deficiency.

There is a moment where you remove your foot from the brake, and then push on the accelerator. I don't left foot brake, or smash the gas.

[mod]Play nice.[/mod]

 

[091106]

I do not have a problem with my transmission - change fluid every 50k - I currently have 87k on it.

2007 XLT 4x4 3.0

 

[drewzfoster]

I drive a 2008 AWD V6 Escape for work (major auto insurance company), I was having tranny issues with it and took it into the shop. Apparently the 08's have a well known super slow tranny leak in the trans cooler....mine had been shifting poorly for a while then started slipping....they replaced the cooler and now it runs great again! I am pretty hard on this thing...it is why I bought an 02 for myself.