Agreed; or a FORD dealership! The OP's first post mentions that the dealership he has been talking about is a FORD DEALERSHIP. WHAT?? All the advice from the others is good, and you should find someone else to do the work that knows the car. Perhaps you're obligated to let this dealer fix it though. I know it's easy for me to say, but with the age(going on 9yrs. now) and mileage, you should do all the advised fixes that the Forum members have suggested here. One of these must surely be the problem, but no guarantees. Perhaps try and contact a SoCal member and find out a good reputable shop in your area. FWIW, I'll add my vote to IC pump replacement.
PS- The tranny apparently has a leak; has anyone actually checked the level of the transmission fluid? A Ford dealer may not even know how to do this properly(no dip stick).