Ford Territory Gearbox & Transmission Problems

Any time you have oil mixing with coolant, you have a pretty major problem on your hands. In the case of your Territory, it could be that the head gasket has failed, allowing the two fluids to mix, creating the milky murk known in the trade as a 'milkshake'. It’s a bit unlikely but it could be even more serious and your engine may be suffering from a cracked cylinder head or a split cylinder liner. A blown head gasket is a lot more likely, though.

But just as probable is a problem that occurs pretty frequently with this make and model. The Territory’s transmission is cooled via a heat-exchanger that is cooled by the engine’s coolant. If the plumbing on this cooler fails (usually because of friction due to junk inside the tubing) then the engine coolant and transmission fluid can mix and also form a milkshake which you’ll see in the radiator or coolant catch-tank.

Unfortunately, if this is the case, the transmission’s computer and its hardware may also be damaged beyond repair by the coolant diluting the transmission fluid and generally causing havoc inside the transmission.

The best advice is to not drive the vehicle any farther and have it diagnosed by a workshop to see exactly what has happened.

As with any automatic transmission problem, the first thing to do is check the level of transmission fluid in the gearbox itself. These shouldn’t need top-ups, but if a leak occurs, they can lose enough fluid to play havoc with the gear selection and drive-transmission processes. Low fluid can cause a loss of drive in any gear, but could also contribute to a valve-body problem where the lack of fluid prevents the correct gear selection process. Low fluid can also mean the clutch-packs and bands can not exert enough pressure to get the car moving.

It's worth noting, though, that this particular transmission has a finite lifespan and a loss of third and fourth gears could be the first sign that the unit is worn out and requires either replacement or reconditioning. A transmission specialist should be your first port of all.

The original slipping could have been caused by low transmission fluid, which would also explain why the unit would not select a gear. That would suggest that the transmission has a leak somewhere, because it’s a sealed system and doesn’t need periodic top-ups.

The danger, however, is that running the unit with a low fluid level has caused damage to the mechanical parts of the gearbox and possibly the torque converter as well. That’s because the fluid in an automatic transmission not only provides the drive, it also lubricates the various bits of the transmission. Not enough fluid means not enough lubrication.

If it was a as simple as low fluid, now that you’ve changed the fluid and taken it back to its correct level, you should have all the gears working again. But the fact that it will only select first and second gears suggests damage has already occurred. This is really a job for a transmission specialist who will be able to accurately diagnose what’s wrong.

Transmission fluid should generally be a pretty pink or red colour. If it’s black (and/or smells like burned toast) that suggests that it is way overdue for a change of fluid and a new filter, and also that there could be lots of wear inside the transmission.

Tiny bits of the clutches and bands that control an automatic like yours wear off over time and it’s these that are discolouring the fluid. That fact that they’re black, also suggest they’re burned having been overheated at some point in the past.

A transmission shop should be your first port of call, with instructions to diagnose what’s wrong and work out a strategy from there. If the transmission is badly worn, it may need replacing or rebuilding. But you might be lucky and discover that the fluid is simply old and depleted (from a leak somewhere) and the transmission may recover with a full service. Don’t count on it, however.

If you can't find the dipstick for the automatic transmission, there might be a very simple explanation: It doesn't have one. Many Fords from this era were not fitted with dipsticks, so checking the level is done from underneath the car via the a threaded plug. Not so easy to do at home. The transmission is a sealed system, and any drop in level indicates a problem that needs to be fixed. So the level is worth keeping an eye on, even if that's not so easy to do in cars like this one.

Theories for the dipstick deletion include preventing owners from over-filling the transmission (easier than you might think, since the transmission temperature when you check it is critical) as well as not giving owners the opportunity to top-up their transmission with the wrong type or grade of fluid.

At some point though you have to imagine that cost-cutting also came into the decision.

The transmission in this era of Ford Territories was notorious for suffering a failed transmission oil cooler. If that happened, the coolant would often mix with the transmission’s fluid, causing massive damage to both the electronics and the mechanical components of the transmission. In severe cases, the vehicle could lose drive altogether. A replacement transmission is the usual fix, so it’s an expensive failure.

But the first check to make is of another part of the Territory that is also known for giving trouble. In this case, though, the end result is nothing like as dramatic as it’s caused by damaged or poorly adjusted (loose) selector linkages. A quick tighten or adjustment will have the transmission operating properly again, but you need to ascertain what’s causing your problem in the first place. Don’t forget to check that there’s actually sufficient fluid inside the transmission, too, as low fluid can cause a loss of drive. Most workshops will be able to diagnose either problem pretty quickly.

Some Territories of around this vintage experienced a problem with a dud output-speed sensor within the automatic transmission. The sensor could cause an intermittent fault where the transmission wasn’t telling the rest of the car how fast it was going and, in some cases, could cause the transmission to suddenly shift back to first gear. That sounds a lot like your symptoms. Ford reckons it had this problem fixed by early 2013, well before your car was built, but I reckon it’d still be worth a check of the sensor’s operation via an electronic scan.

The other recurring problem with the Territory’s transmission was when the transmission cooler failed internally and the gearbox oil and the coolant became mixed. That destroyed the gearbox both mechanically and electronically in pretty quick time and if that’s your problem, a rebuilt or replacement transmission is the only fix.

The most common cause of this type of problem is a worn oil pump in the transmission. An automatic works on hydraulic pressure and if the pump is worn, it often can’t muster the necessary pressure to effect a gearshift when it’s cold. Once it’s warmed up, everything moves a bit more freely and the car will select Reverse. The fact that there’s still a gear-selection delay even when warmed up is the giveaway that this is the case.

If you continue to drive it like this, it will possibly go for some months. But you need to be aware that the faulty oil pump is not only making shifting difficult, it’s also potentially starving the bearings of the lubrication they need. The end is nigh, I’m afraid. You could take a punt and have the gearbox serviced with new fluid and a clean filter, but, on balance, the pump is likely to be the culprit and is also indicative of general transmission wear and tear

It’s hard to provide you with an answer, as you haven’t told us what model the Ghia is. The Ghia badge is used to denote the top-of-the-range variant of a model, and could be applied to any model in Ford’s range. With the little information you’d provided I doubt that there will be a badge, and I suspect the car would not be a 4WD.

It could be the lock-up convertor locking and unlocking if you are driving at the point of lock-up. Try changing your speed up or down and see if that affects it.