Breambasher

Hello, ive recently bought a 2nd hand Mondeo 2.0l Ghia Auto with a Zetec engine. The car seems fine to me but when the car is cold (IE first started) the gear change from 1st to 2nd is quite noticable, its like a jerk forward, theres no additional sound but it feels like a bus changing gear, not smooth at all. All other gears are silky smooth and after that initial start up changing from 1st to 2nd seems fine, its just when the engine is coldest. Is this normal or should i worry? Thankyou so much in advance.

tabetha

There is a little bit of a hump when cold due to raised idle speed, but if more than hardly noticeable, the cause will no doubt be the turbine speed sensor, this is located on the end of the gearbox visible facing the nearside wheel, got a 2 pin plug onto it, these always pack up.
My advice it is NOT diy!!, easy enough to do just take out and swap over for new one, fine in theory, reality says it is stuck solid, and the outer will break off leaving the guts, needing drilling, but drill too much and major expense follows, so if not used to these, just stump up 1 hour labour cost at auto box repairers, they will also be only too happy to test drive the car, in case it is something else.
If using for towing or thrashing get a air/trans oil cooler, seriously needed on these, will help box live a lot longer, as will regular fluid changes.
The other fault that early ones could suffer from was the clutches, specifically the clutch basket could snap in places, upgrades should all have been done under warranty but a lot missed this, and the gear selector switch(inside box) goes potty, but you would be having sudden downchanges to 2nd gear at 50 mph etc, totally undriveable like this.
tabetha

Breambasher

Thanks for the reply, yes it is a 'hump' forward, other than that i dont hear a thing, the gear box has not shifted down and cruises quite happily on the motorway in top gear (which leads me to another question in a sec). I would say the 'hump' forward was noticable, it only happens when the engine is first started and when 2nd gear is engaged. If i can ask another question please regarding overdrive, on the side on my gear stick theres a button for over drive, if i press it a symbol comes on the dash and it says 'OD off' and if i press it again the symbol goes away, now if im cruising on the motorway do i want to be able to see the 'OD off' lit up on the dash or not? Any further info on the slgiht judder into 2nd from cold would be appreciated too.

tabetha

Even when the box/sensors are perfect, there still is a slight hump when cold.
When up to speed the od will engage when it see's fit, leave the od ON, ie NOT illuminated.
The only time really it's useful is in slower moving traffic, hills, as they are a bit reluctant to change down to 3rd lock or slip, the 4th is a direct lock, as you become more used to it you will soon see when you benefit from turning the od off so that the light illuminates, always before overtaking a car etc is a good time, saves the pause from the box to change down, although it will be instant in kickdown(full throttle).
You can't do any harm by leaving on all the time, you just won't get the most from the box, most don't even realise it has a od off button!!
Don't be afraid to use the revs, I would hit the limiter in every gear in mine, had 137mph indicated once, private road of course.
There are far worse auto boxes to have, and most of the early problems have been sorted years ago, you can even get shift kits for these too, or even make PADDLE SHIFT, easily enough.
tabetha