Thread: Hi. Drive does not work. I think I need a new trans. Help please.

Was driving this morning and after about a mile of driving i gave the car a little gas (50% throttle) for a few seconds. The RPM's revved red lined. I thought it was being stupid and doing some sort of a down shift. I continued to drive normally and at a stop light i noticed the car was idling very rough in drive which it has never done before.

The light turns green and the car will not move in drive. Just keeps revving up as if it was in Neutral. I put the car in first and it bumped a little but got in gear. I then drove it into a gas station. I checked it out. Tranny fluid is a little low but its definitively not causing the problem. Exterior belt looks fine.

I was able to drive it home with 1st 2nd and 3rd. Drive works after about 20 mph or so.

Any ideas?

If you can only get the car to move forward from a stop by pulling the shifter into manual 2nd or 1st then you likely have a broken forward apply band, but because of your other symptoms there is likely more going on. A broken forward apply band will give you no movement from a stop in D or 3 range, but in manual 2 and 1 there is another band that applies for engine braking purposes but is just enough holding power to get the car moving and then you can manually upshift and if it never falls below 2nd gear it will hold just fine. When you got on the gas a bit and it felt like it was in neutral this may have been the start of your problems. I would see if you have any apply at all after the car cools down and see if it will pull at all from a stop in D or 3 and if not it requires internal repair as the forward apply band is literally the second to last part that comes out of the case on a teardown so you are looking at a complete rebuild to fix the problem. IF you do have some movement from a stop after the trans has cooled off then you likely have a badly worn input clutch apply piston which can also cause this and by pulling the shifter into manual 1st the line pressure is much higher and can overcome the wear and get the car moving. Either way these are both internal problems and since you mention your fluid level being ok then that isnt causing your problems. The rough idle at a stop is odd also and I would check for maf codes to make sure it isnt going bad which will cause it to run rough and also cause low line pressure if the signal drops out or is very low.

Thanks Trannyman!

I just checked right now and the car does not move in drive nor third. First, Second and reverse work fine...

Looks like ill be heading to a dealership to take a look at a few cars...

Theres no way I can afford a $2000 repair. Ill take a look at my options. Im not going to jump to a conclusion any time soon but just to see my options.

Hey Dave, how much would you estimate this repair to cost? Parts and labor etc. Final price.

You are pretty close on your estimated cost to repair it and it is going to need rebuilt for repair as almost no shop will tear that far into a transmission to replace only a band and then put it back together with everything else being original. My base High Perf 4T65E transmission price is $1499.95 and I charge $450 for installation which is a pretty average price though I do hear of installs being in the $600-$800 range now and then depending where you are at and what your local shops want to charge. I am currently running a special through the 4th of July on my High Performance rebuilds starting at $1299.95

^^ you cant beat that price! if you were closer i would help ya pull the tranny out