NHTSA — Power Train: Automatic Transmission Problems

6.5

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
10,650 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1998 Mercury Sable transmission problems

transmission problem

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1998 Mercury Sable Owner Comments

problem #20

May 052007

Sable 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 124,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I drove the car to do errands and it was not having any problems. I parked the car at the mall and came back to drive home and the transmission failed. The gears would not engage. I was forced to have it towed home. It showed no signs of having a problem, and the transmission fluid was intact with no signs of a problem. This appeared to be a costly repair, so I chose not to fix it at this time.

- Pelzer, SC, USA

problem #19

Sep 092004

Sable 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Consumer pressed down on accelerator pedal and vehicle did not move. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. Internal failure. Had to replace transmission.

- Rumford, RI, USA

problem #18

Jul 252004

Sable 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 89,000 miles
While driving at any speed overdrive light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. This caused the speedometer to drop to zero, and the SRS light illuminated on the dashboard. Also, horn became inoperative. Vehicle was taken tot he dealer for inspection.

- Flint, MI, USA

problem #17

Nov 212003

Sable

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The driver pressed down on the accelerated pedal and the vehicle did not move. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for analysis. The dealer found internal failure of the transmission. The transmission had to be replaced.

- Rumford, RI, USA

problem #16

Oct 232003

Sable

  • miles
While waiting at a stop vehicle shook/vibrated. Consumer was able to pull over to the shoulder, and vehicle shut down.

- Aliso Viejo, CA, USA

problem #15

May 022003

Sable

  • miles
While driving there was a loud noise coming from underneath the vehicle.

- Sedarhurst, NY, USA

problem #14

Sep 072002

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

No summary listed for above.

- Brandon, MS, USA

problem #13

Aug 242002

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
I've noticed since purchasing the vehicle, that it sometimes hesitates when you step on the gas from a dead start and you must maintain your foot on the pedal until it shifts or it would jerk. I've never driven a vehicle that performed this way and not knowing much about cars, didn't know there was a problem. Now it's stuck in gear at 60mph. It has also droped into neutral for no apparent reason but once I shifted it into reverse and then drive, the gear kicked in.

- Norcross, GA, USA

problem #12

Jun 272002

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Coral Springs, FL, USA

problem #11

Apr 222002

(reported on)

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
After turning a corner transmission hesitates if I try to accelerate quickly. I think it is "hunting" because it will drop down to 1st gear and accelerate rapidly. It does hesitate long enough to be dangerous.

- Macomb Township, MI, USA

problem #10

Apr 222002

(reported on)

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After turning a corner transmission hesitates if I try to accelerate quickly. I think it is "hunting" because it will drop down to 1st gear and accelerate rapidly. It does hesitate long enough to be dangerous.

- Macomb Township, MI, USA

problem #9

Feb 152000

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Vehicle experiencing a problem with not shifting into gear intermittently / momentarily while traveling. This problem had occurred on four occasions within 2 1/2 years. Vehicle been into dealer's shop on two occasions, and unable to locate the problem..

- Leominster, MA, USA

problem #8

Nov 182000

(reported on)

Sable

  • miles
Makes a pronounced continual "winding up/down" noise while accelerating/trans shifts. Transmission shop can't pinpoint noise; only that it's coming from transmission.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #7

Aug 112000

Sable

  • miles
The car lost drive power, and appeared to go into neutral. The transmission shop later found that a shaft, from the torque converter to the pump, had snapped. The shaft is a fairly substantial piece of metal. The shop repaired the transmission but could not make a guess as to the reason for the metal failure. I have the shaft that snapped and can provide digital images. There is no obvious reason to me why it would have snapped wether it is design or metallurgy. I can provide digital images of the component breakage. If you so desire, I can provide you with the part if you wish to perform failure analysis for metal defects / manufacturing problems, or design issues. In my case, the failure happened on a lightly travelled road, with no traffic around. If this a failure that had occurred on a busy highway, while turning in traffic, or during many scenarios - this could have caused a real problem for me, passengers, or other motorists. I hope that anyone else with the same failure is as fortunate.

- West Newbury, MA, USA

problem #6

Sep 092000

Sable

  • miles
A $2 retaining clip affecting the 4th gear in the automatic tran is broken or has come off, according to the dealers computer code reading and service bulletin, and it is going to cost up to $900 to fix if it damaged the housing inside.

- Forest City, IA, USA

problem #5

May 012000

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
When traveling and stopping transmission will go into neutral, and car will not go forward or backward. Consumer has to put transmission into park, and then bring it back into drive.

- Sagrado Corazon, PR, USA

problem #4

Oct 011998

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Transmission malfunctiones on shifting.

- Cathedral, CA, USA

problem #3

Feb 011999

(reported on)

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Transmission failed.

- Santa Barb, CA, USA

problem #2

Sep 051998

Sable

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Servo valve body piston failed to operate. Nlm

- Rowland He, CA, USA

problem #1

May 211998

(reported on)

Sable

  • miles
Vehicle does not work effectively in slowing vehicle when engaging speed 2 or speed 1.

- Flourtown, PA, USA

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