jerky performance
 

Hello
We inherited a 2002 tribute with V6. 2 wheel drive. About 180000 miles. Here's the problem. When you are slowly accelerating and/or cruising at a low rpm (1200 or so) it tends to jerk or miss. When you accelerate fairly hard, it pulls strong. Also, it seems that if you shut off the overdrive on the tranny, it seems to run good. So...tranny problem or low rpm engine problem? I have done nothing but change the oil. The problem seems to be getting progressively worse. Any ideas???
Thank you,
Neb

You are extremely lucky
Way too many things overdue, especially tranny fluid, brake fluid, ps fluid, coolant, spark plugs, new ignition coils, catalytics?, egr, clean intake manifold, suspension, fuel pump, O2 sensors, throttle body.

My advice would be to sell it, because it will cost too much to get caught up, and your tranny is suspect.

Thanks for response. We just got it a couple of months ago. It was free and we only drive it short distances so were gonna keep it for now. Any suggestion on what to check first to help my problem.
Thanks

I agree, looks like many problems. Why not sell it and look for something better?

I could not decide without driving it myself if this is an engine issue or a tranny issue.

There are a few things that you can do without killing your wallet. Try cleaning the throttle body, idle air control valve, EGR valve and ports. Look for vacuum leaks.

How does the tranny fluid look and smell? I think this one does have the infamous CD4E transmission. It has no filter but only a wire mesh. You could change the fluid but then we are looking at an expense.

For every month it runs put $250 into your savings account......

The tranny fluid looks and smells pretty crappy. I'm guessing this tranny ain'timpressing anybody? Infamous don't sound good. I did replace the vacuum lines. I forgot to mention that. Thank you. I'll try the suggestions.
Regards,
Ben

With that i think the issue is a tranny issue.
We have this tranny in our 2000 Contour. It is a low mileage car at 110K and adding about 5K per year. At first i found it shifted a bit clunky but that is no longer the case. It got fresh fluid and I learned to accelerate evenly. I depress the pedal about 1/4" and don't change the throttle position until after it shifted into 2nd , often i wait until it shifted into 3rd.

I think I would change the fluid in your case. After that you can add Lucas Oil tranny fix. No it doesn't fix a broken tranny but it can cover up some symptoms. Do it the old way: drop the pan, clean the pan, put it back with a new gasket, add fresh fluid (the one specified for your transmission). This really is a partial replacement because you won't be able to drain everything that is in the torque converter.
Do not get a "flush" where they use a pump to replace all the fluid. This can dislodge stuff and cause trouble only a few weeks later.