I had slippage in 2nd gear recently and took my car in to my mechanic and I had him check the transmission fluid. Originally when I had called him a few weeks before he said it could be the clutch going bad as apparently there were a bunch of issues with the Ford transmission. Anyway, when I brought it to the shop they checked the fluid and found it was about 3 quarts low. Wow! We filled it up and everything seemed to be better than before. After a few days, I was parking on a very steep hill and then after 15 minutes backed down and started to go forward when I got the slippage again. It was very noticeable for the first few accelerations. Then it seemed to work fine again. Does this seem that the fluid may still be low?
I don't have any fault codes appear as I have to disconnect my battery often as I have a battery drain which I am trying to locate as well.

 

Maybe losing fluid, so low again.

 

There's no leakage under the car, so I'm wondering if it wasn't totally filled. They were originally surprised on how many quarts it was low. They thought it was just a small bit low, so I'm wondering if it wasn't filled all of the way. I'm going to have them check it again in a couple of weeks.

 

Found out that it is losing fluid, as the seal between the engine and the Transmission is leaking. The bigger problem is that it still slips going into second gear, even with the fluid full. Looks like I need a new transmission or this one rebuilt. $$$! Suggestions?

 

If you have a 2002MY car, it has the Ford 5R55N gearbox, so finding a competent workshop for an overhaul may cost you about 2500$US, or possibly less.

There are several threads concerning the solenoid bores and other wear items on the 5R55N.

A used gearbox may or may not work properly and given the amount of labour to remove and reinstall, it may be best to have the current one overhauled.