1997 ford contour 4 cylinder transmission shift real hard transmission oil level is to much overdrive light flashes sometimes ,aLso when its not shifting right it sounds like the motOr is racing

I just fixed the same problem by changing the TPS. Also fixed a problem of stalling,sluggishness at times, having to occasionally use starter fluid to start by changing maf sensor. Hope this helps someone.the maf wasn't throwing a code but figured it out by cleaning it which ran better for awhile. (99 2.5 motor

The racing you hear is most likely a slipping in the transmission. in terms you may understand is this,you're giving the car gas,but the gas does'nt work,you hear the engine roaring,but slow motion?if this is the case,you may need a transmission fluid filter and fluid change,this may help.depending on how long the problems been going on. 3.0 engines are really good motors.but the transmissions behind the engine demand clean fluid,filter. is your check engine light on? the hard shift tells me somethings wrong already.you may only have a bad speed sensor. suggest you move towards the speed sensor. if the chck engn lghts on. do what i described above. if not,no light on,suggest you reset your computer by disconnecting the positive cable from your battery for 10minutes.this will reset the whole system and keep in mind that any existing problems will keep arising. good luck and thank you for choosing fixya.com