ok so here is how it works, i turn the car on and it runs fine, and shifts good and at the right rpm, 5 minutes later it wont shift until 2000 rpms, 10 minutes it wont shift until 3000 and then it just keeps getting higher as more time goes by. but it shifts through all the gears but at a high RPM. my mechanic checked the vacuum lines but i think that there is a very small leak so that over time it takes more pressure to build up and shift. but if i turn the car off and drive it 6 hours from then the same thing happens? is it the modulator settings or what
Modulator is cheap, try to find one with the screw in the middle that can be adjusted, and swap out the lines from there up to the carb. Should be able to swap all for $10-15. May not fix it, but will let you know if that is the problem or not.
i looked at the modulators and they are cheap, is it hard to install them? im kinda mad at my parents because they dont want me to be under the car while working(they are a lawyer and a teacher so not a big suprise) and im 16 soo i guess they have a reason to say that
My wife is a teacher, Kindergarten...I understand where your folks are coming from. The modulator swaps with one screw. Unplug the old one, take out the screw, put in the new one, replace the screw, replace the hose, done. I would suggest that you test the hose to make sure it isn't leaking somewhere. As per your original suggestion of a leak... Just to make the folks comfortable, use jackstands, jack under solid parts of the car, frame or crossmembers, etc. Good safety practice anyway
Pull the vacuum line at the modulator. If it has ATF in it then you should replace the modulator. What will happen is that ATF will fill the vacuum side of the modulator and cause the late shifting. The longer you drive it the later the shifts become. The other thing that can cause the same symptoms is a collapsed exhaust pipe. You can check it out by driving the car with a vacuum gauge hooked to the manifold. If the vacuum continues to drop while you are driving it then you have a pipe that is pluged. The aluminized laminated pipes are infamous for this and all of the Fords come with that kind of tubing on the exhaust. Unfortunately most after market pipes are made of the same stuff.
I wear a welding cap whenever I work under the car...keeps the oil and grease out of my hair, and off the back of my neck. Only thing I ever smelled worse than gear oil was supercharger oil in our old bonneville. Smelled like Catfish Charley
Burnt ATF is the worst smell next to burning flesh that I ever want to smell. For me, it is worse than burnt gear oil or anything else other than burning flesh. It also usually means that you have an expensive overhaul ahead of you.
