- Before getting started, you need to familiarize yourself with the components of an automatic transmission. Every transmission consists of many smaller parts, including gears, shafts, housing, linkage, converter and more. Certain key components will help you understand what is causing your transmission to slip or shift poorly.
The bell housing is the section of the transmission covering the flywheel and clutch or torque converter. On front-wheel-drive cars such as the Ford Taurus, the transmission is located on the side of the engine under your hood. Lift the hood of your Taurus to examine transmission location.
With a manual transmission, you shift gears but with an automatic transmission your gears shift on their own. Your Taurus comes with main gears and planetary gears, the latter which revolve around the main gears. You can't see them at work because they're inside the transmission housing. - Like the engine which must have oil, your transmission must have transmission fluid, which is a slippery agent that lubricates all of the moving parts for your transmission.
This is where you can do some troubleshooting: start your car and let it run for five minutes with the transmission kept in "Park." Pull out the transmission dipstick to check the fluid level. If you're low on transmission fluid, then you have a leak because unlike engine oil, you can't burn this lubricant. Repair the leak, and replenish the fluid. Have a mechanic do this task unless you're an expert mechanic yourself--you want to ensure that this job has been done correctly.
Another component of note is the transmission filter. Like any filter, its job is to collect sludge which will accumulate over time and miles driven. Check your owner's manual for changing intervals; don't put this job off because transmission problems often center on neglecting checking the lubricant and replacing the filter. - Most car owners prefer to have a mechanic examine their transmissions. This is good practice as an automatic transmission is one of the more complicated parts on any car. Replace both the fluid and the filter if your transmission begins to slip, is difficult to shift, or hard to shift when the engine is still cold.