Lincoln/Mercury Repair: Transmission blues, mercury tracer, 1997 mercury tracer

Question
I have a 1997 Mercury tracer with 121K miles,just today after running around in city BS traffic for several hours my car now takes off from start very slow even with accelerator almost to floor.Also I do not have my high gear anymore but shifts fine in lower gears 1-2 and 2-3 after I get it moving.PLEASE HELP DINGER (YOU ARE GREAT)

Answer
Hi Phil,

Thanks so much. Ok, this might not be so bad, but you can't drive it long like this or it could turn into a heartache. Your car is currently in "fail safe" actually, Ford calls it "Home Safe". This means you have 2nd and reverse only and a check engine light probably on. This also means that it likely has a bad sensor or solenoid. Run it over to your favorite garage and ask him to scan it. Please get the numbers, not the definitions. These are called "P" codes and will read like P0745 or P1755. Resubmit to me those code numbers and I will tell you how to fix this. Easy stuff! Oh, and by the way, Cottman Transmission will do this for free. And yes, I am on their payroll! LOL (but not for this)