[charliekoopa]

I recently purchased a 1995 Escort for a little of nothing. I had to replace the serp belt, left outer tie rod end, plugs and wires, air filter, pcv, breather, and fuel filter....
So, now I'm starting to notice that the trans feels like it is slipping in 3rd gear a little. 1 and 2 go in with no trouble, and so do 4th and 5th, but every now and then when I'm in 3rd gear and lightly accelerating I feel what seems to me to be a slip, but I'm not positive. The clutch engages and disengages well, and the hydraulic fluid is full. I'm just wondering why it only does it in 3rd gear, and what could be causing it...

 

[denisond3]

If the transmission seems to slip in 3rd, it would do it under the -same circumstances- in all gears.
But usually folks dont accelerate hard in 1st and 2nd gear the way you do in 3rd; (with large both throttle openings and high rpm). 3rd is the gear where you might be spinning the engine closer to its torque peak (like 4000 rpm or at least above 3500 rpm), with fairly large throttle openings. Thats when a worn clutch would be more likely to slip.
In 4th gear or 5th gear, you are more likely to be at lower rpms when accelerating hard, like below 3500 rpm - and where the engine isnt producing enough torque to cause clutch slippage, even with the throttle open wide.

I would test the tranny, by seeing if it seems to slip in 4th gear, going about 70 mph, and with the throttle pedal-to-the-metal. Do it in a safe area of course.

 

[charliekoopa]

It doesn't seem to slip then. It feels like more of a buck then a slip. Also it feels kind of gutless when I try to accelerate in 5th gear. The fuel pressure regulator is leaking by a little, could that be the problem? Or at least contributing to the problem?

 

[denisond3]

I think a fuel pressure reg. that is leaking is a good thing to replace - to at least get rid of the leak. Whether a leaking regulator would change the fuel pressure enough to result in mis-firing and bucking I dont know.
If it still bucks (which i think indicates misfiring) I would likely replace the O2 sensor. The 'fine' adjustment of the amount of fuel going into the engine is done by the PCM, based on the feedback from the O2 sensor as to the exhaust stream being rich or lean.

 

[Smitty10]

you can check to make sure the clutch isn't slipping by holding it at about 35MPH in 5th gear and just floor it, if the RPMs increase but the car doesn't accelerate its the clutch but if the RPMs don't increase then its more than likely the tranny.