3 Button Gear Changing Ford Transit

[fordmarko]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone can help me. I have a 2003 Ford Transit with 3 button gear change, R N D.

Does anyone know how the 3 button gears, the mode button function works?

Sometimes to activate the reverse gear, I have to press the reverse button 3 to 4 times quickly to activate the switch.

I have attached a few pictures, fyi.

Thank you Marko.

[eldertaco]

Hitting D puts it in "drive" and activates the automatic shift manual function. To put it in reverse you're meant to press the R button twice quickly, but I usually hit it 3-4 times like you just to make sure

The mode button is meant to switch between Economy mode, slippery mode and full power mode, at least that's what I call them.

In economy mode the ASM will change up gears earlier and down later, in slippery mode I think it will let you use the manual gear change buttons on the steering wheel if you want to start moving in second gear to avoid spinning the wheels, full power mode should be pretty self explanatory.

Obviously N puts it in neutral.

[fordmarko]

Thank you Eldertaco,

Thanks for your comments.

I'm glad I wasn't going crazy.

Kind of weird that we need to press the R button twice quickly.

I assume that's why on the reverse button it says X2 below the letter R.
Therefore, X2 meaning press twice.

[fordmarko]

Hi Eldertaco,

Sorry me again.


Just a couple more questions I had for you, because you seem to own a similar Van to me:

1) On the odd occasion, the van stalls when going into D or R. After a few goes, seems to be fine. Is that normal?

2) When turning the Van on and driving the Auto gear icon seems to flash orange on the dash board. Does that mean its telling me the Van is in gear?

I hope you don't mind me asking you questions from time to time.
I'm trying to find a service log book and user manual online. Once I do, I think a lot of my queries I will be able to find in the manual.

Thank you
Marko

[eldertaco]

I wouldn't say it's normal but unfortunately it's a fairly common problem on these old ASM systems.

I'm by no means an expert but one of the problems they get is that the motor which drives the pump for the hydraulics for the auto shift wears out, and when this happens it will struggle to maintain enough pressure to reliably change gears.

Eventually the motor dies completely and the van will refuse to start.

You should be able to hear the motor whirring when you first open the driver's door, it should make noise for a bit but not too long.

Another issue they can apparently have is they can require the fluid to be topped up.

[fordmarko]

Thank you for the comment.
Ill get that checked out with a mechanic.

Have a great week!

Marko

[knobby1]

Thank you for the comment.
Ill get that checked out with a mechanic.

Have a great week!

Marko

Good luck finding someone willing to work on it let alone knowing how to fix it.....and finding parts for these old ASM machines is near impossible these days.

Lord Knobrot

[fordmarko]

Cheers

I could always convert the transmission to a manual

Love the van too much to part way.

[knobby1]

Cheers

I could always convert the transmission to a manual

Love the van too much to part way.

That may be a good decision. I think there may have been one or two who have done it.

Lord Knobrot

[fordmarko]

Hi All

Does anyone know a reasonable priced mechanic in Sydney Australia that can look at my Ford Transit 2003?

Thank you Marko

[knobby1]

Hi All

Does anyone know a reasonable priced mechanic in Sydney Australia that can look at my Ford Transit 2003?

Thank you Marko

Most mechanics don't want to look at near 20 year old vehicles anymore. It's really hard to find someone who is willing to work on them and who knows anything about them. I learnt this years ago when I first bought my 2008 Transit in 2015 when I was living in Sydney. Moved up to Brisbane nearly 3 years ago and now do "all" my own mechanical and servicing work.

Luckily she's been problem free for several years now...Just normal service items and consumables these days. New rotors & pads etc. Nothing major.

Lord Knobrot

[ossie cossie]

i have an ASM transit and all the issues you have mentioned i have had happen on my transit on a regular timeframe the last one i had was when it was stuck in 3rd gear and would not come out at all so when i stopped it stalled in gear. that was an issue i had to crankit in gear to try and pressure off the gearbox gears.

[fordmarko]

Hi All,

I have fixed the problem.
It was the clutch after all.

I ended up purchasing the entire clutch and flywheel kit and seals.
All up it costed $3,400.00.
Drives now like a limo.

It was worth the the fix.

[ossie cossie]

do you have a link or contact to the parts you bought to fix it on yours ?