bad mileage...code 1780?

[Mommystrucky]

ok i had the codes checked a few months ago and got 1780 which means trans control switch out of range. does anyone have any idea what that means?? anyone i have asked has had no clue and the ford dealership wont tell me anything. also i bought it in july 2002 with 96000 on it and i was getting like 320 to a tank which went down to 270 which went down to 250. the cel was coming on intermittently and was a bad o2 sensor so we put a new one in..didnt help but did stop the cil from coming on. noticed it was running cold so put in a new t-stat...old one was stuck open..didnt help. replaced plugs and wires which i already did when we got it. now has bosch plat 4s...hasnt helped. sometimes it seems sluggish. and now and then on the highway seems like its not going into od. also sometimes seems like its going into od soo soon around town. it does stumble a bit while idleing. now and then gets a weird howling noise but not recently.....seemed to go away when the weather got cold. any insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[Mommystrucky]

heres a little more info....1780 seems to mean transmission control switch out of self test range...any clue what that actually means?? it now has 108700 on it and the trans fluid and filter were changed shortly after purchase just as a precaution but that was before the problems. also i just remembered a problem that happened in oct 2002 the 4x4 light was flashing and the whole electrical system was going banannas, the windows were jerky the lights would blink and the trans was shifting like crazy all at the same time and that happened intermittently for like 3 weeks and someone disconnected the alternator while it was doing it and it stopped, plugged it back in and its never happened again.