Car stalled/transmission problems!

[RSXtacy]

HI, i have a 88 cord LX. I drove the car 100 mi yesterday (normal for my work commute)

I parked it and came back 2 hours later at home , Shifted the car into R and backed it out of my space fine, hit the brake and shifted to D, I touched the gass and it acted as if i had thrown it into neautral. So i played with the gears, no gear would work and even park would not engage(the car still rolled in park). So i pushed the car back to my space and tried it again, most gears even park made a grinding sound. HELP is my transmission shot!?!? How easy is it to swap out one for a used one from the salvage yard?

[smufguy]

when was the last time ur tranny fluid was changed and also how is the level. CHeck on the TV cable, the cable that goes from the throttle to the tranny, and see if it is not too loose.

[RSXtacy]

when was the last time ur tranny fluid was changed and also how is the level. CHeck on the TV cable, the cable that goes from the throttle to the tranny, and see if it is not too loose.

Well. since iv only had the car 12k mi and 6 months im not sure. I have a service record showing the tranny fluid was done not real recently , i think 1996. And i have not done it since i got it. I checked a few months ago and it was full and seemed pretty clean looking. I will recheck it today ( didnt last nigth cause it was dark out) The Tv cable..... would that cause this, not sure where the tv cable is.... (havent heard of that)

[smufguy]

all that cable does is that it changes the gear for an automatic tranny depending on throttle and rpm. I think if its too loose or too tight it might not work. Im not an expert on auto trannies so u might wanna ask Mike (A20A1) for futher assistance.

Even if the fluid is clear, it does not mean that the Filter is clean. A lot of people forget to do that. I would say that u get the filter changed and i bet it has not been chagned. U have to take the tranny out to do this and the instructions are found in the Shop Manual (available free). MY dad's 90 camry did this, did not grind, but just looked like a dead tranny, and it needed a filter replacement and a little more fluid and it runs fine now. So look into that.

[POS carb]

a problem with park is a strong indicator, it means either the connection from the selector to the transmission is broken/disconnected or the transmission shaft(s) is screwed

take out your center console and make sure the connection is still there, the tab may have fallen out

[RSXtacy]

Well.... I jacked up the car got the front wheels off the ground, let it sit for 2 days, started it up and it behaved like normal after lettting it sit jacked up 24 hours from when i started the previous day (where it behaved like it was in N). So I let it down took it for a driven and it drove normal! (I was amazed of corse) I only drove it 4 blocks and came back . I did a U turn in my dead end street. The passenger side wheel went up on to the driveway curb cut/raised curb and back down. When that happened BOOM right away no power to the transmission in any gear and a slight grinding sound.

The only thing that got jarred around hard was the suspension, half shalfts and transmission when i went over the small bump. The car barley even rocked. I will take apart the console and check tonight. At least i know the half shafts are working ok.

Could it still be the cable?
There is alot of leakage it looks like coming from the bottom of the tranny(very oily).... would low fluid do this? I did check the fluid and it appeard like there was enough but maybe there isnt or its just low.

a problem with park is a strong indicator, it means either the connection from the selector to the transmission is broken/disconnected or the transmission shaft(s) is screwed

take out your center console and make sure the connection is still there, the tab may have fallen out

[A20A1]

It's not the TV cable for sure since the trans will still work without the cable connected or with the lever maxed out...

So check your fluid... don't drive without fluid or you'll kill your trans...
If your fluid is fine... it is either an internal problem or the cable is bust.



other problem could be an axle...
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.
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[POS carb]

if it started weorking again then it's not the selector.
make sure you have fluid of course
make sure the axles are all the way in the transmission, if one is loose it will act like that and jacking it can actually push them in and outr of place

[RSXtacy]

ya well the car is just sitting now... waiting for this guy whos a honda tech to have time to look at it on his own time, for cheap of corse ( a friend of a guy i work with) , another friend of mine thinks its for sure a drive shaft and nothing to do with the tranny since the speedo reads when the car is idle ... which would make sense, i will keep u posted thanks for all your suggestions!

[POS carb]

if the speedo runs when you rev it in drive then it's the axles (or the diffriential worst-case scenario) for sure then, try moving the axles by the part that connects to the transmission, there should be no play. I think you have 1 loose and hopefully not broken

[BlueBead]

Halfshaft!
I'm betting its a bad axle... the speedo reading is a dead giveaway. its probably the passenger side axle and its come out from the tranny.
my 2cents

[RSXtacy]

ok so this problem got nailed... yes it was a half shaft , i replace both of them at a local shop, got a decent deal of $330. I almost was ready to junk the car because the shop told me it was the tranny and not the half shaft , I told (info from a friend that saw the problem)them where to look and they found it.... so now my 3G drives fine! 139k mi on the clock... another 150k to go LOL

but should i be doing anything special for the transmission? drain it and refill it? how long do these automatic transmissions typically go on these cars with out being rebuilt???

[smufguy]

i think 330 for two axles was not a bad price, Still a hefty price tho. Even tho the axles are like $60 each.

PS: wtf are u guys talking about halfshafts??? we do not have one, just two axles.................................

[POS carb]

half-shaft, driveshaft, axle, cv-joint is just a different way to say the same shizzle