Hello all

I have a '97 model (South Africa) falcon with an auto transmission.

The problem I'm having is extremely rough shifting (some
flaring) but only when the car warms up fully (+- 15 mins
of driving from cold-start). After a little while of this, it drops
into limp-mode - jams into 3rd gear. Disconnecting and
reconnecting the battery resets the limp mode; merely
switching the car off then on again does nothing.

I've checked the oil level. I suspect that it may be the
solenoid(s) so I would like change them one at a time
using a new one (apparently all but one of them are the
same).

What I'd like to know from the regulars here is how
hard is it to change the solenoids. The transmission
workshop says that it could easily cost me +- 8500ZAR
to change a single solenoid if they did the work so I'd
like to attempt it myself if it isn't too difficult.

The transmission workshop also says that it isn't a
DIY job, but I find it hard to trust mechanics :-). They
reckon that the sump has to come out, then the valve
body itself has to be removed from the car to replace
the solenoids. Can anyone here who has done this
confirm that this is what has to be done? I was also
told that taking out the valve body without having the
workshop manual handy is begging for catastrophe.

Another helpful item would be a wiring diagram, so
that I can confirm that the correct open/close signals
get sent to the box (and solenoids) from the ecu.

In fact, anything you can remember about the auto
transmission on the EL falcon would be helpful (e.g.
the location of the actual ecu, the colours of the cables,
etc).

Thanks

Lelanthran