Expert: Roland Finston - 12/21/2011

Question
Roland,

Its a 2000 convertable JXI 2.5L with 90,000 miles, While driving, I lost the transmission (acted like it was in Neutral). With the engine running I coasted to a stop. Had it towed home where I changed the speed sensors, the solenoid pack, the filter and the fluid (fluid looked normal).

Now, its acting like its stuck in park or stuck in two gears at the same time. THE SELECTOR DOES MOVE and the gear indicator light works The only time I can roll the car is with the engine off and the car in Neutral. If I start the engine, (even in Neutral) the drive wheels lock as if its in park.

With the engine idling (650 rpm's) , I can feel the transmission change gears (a small bump and slight drop in rpm's) as I move the shift selector from gear to gear. If I place the car in Drive or Reverse and increase the rpm's to 2,000 the car will bump a foot or so before it stops with the drive wheels locked.

Oh, I can not get any codes to come up and the “check engine” light is off.

Also, the brake lights do light when I step on the brake pedal.

This happened a year ago but I still start it up every week or so.

Thanks..

Answer
Hi Bruce,
On the brake lamp problem check fuse 4 in the box under the hood (20 amp) and fuse 5 in the box behind the end cap of the dash (10 amp).
On the transmission I would try to borrow a code reader from a friend or buy one, but be sure it can access the transmission control module memory, not just the powertrain control module memory. That is the only way to focus in on the cause so as to determine if you can make any repairs without removing and rebuilding the transmission (which is costly as you know, maybe around $2000).  If it has been this way since the initial problem a year ago then presumably things have not gotten worse. I can imagine something related to the valve body which you can service via dropping that same pan you did to change the filter. Otherwise if no such code appears is may simply be a clutch failure or similar internal part that can only be serviced by removal and rebuild. So see what you can get from a code readout. It plugs in to a 16-pin socket under the dash next to the steering column.
What was the situation in the oil pan when you dropped it to change the filter and oil? If there was a good deal of debris, that would be a bad sign of internal damage. Otherwide, it well could be a valve body or oil pump problem.
Roland
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