Transmission Problems

Hey fella's. Got a question for a friend of mine at work. I'm not too keen on transmissions, so I need a little help here. Not sure of the year of her car, but I know its between a 1997-2003 model and it has a 3100 V6 with an auto tranny.

The problem is that none of the gears work. The only one that works is it's parking gear. You can put it in D, R, 1, or 2 and it won't go anywhere. When you rev the car, there's this weird grinding/rubbing noise (even if it's in neutral). It's a weird noise that's hard to explain. I'm familiar with the 3100 engine, since it's closely related to the 3.4 I have in my Firebird. So I'm not too lost out in the woods. I'm kind of guessing that the problem might be with the torque converter or possibly the shifter linkange cable. I'm hoping that it's something simple like the shifter linkage cable (if in fact it has one, I'm so used to working on RWD cars), but the fact that you can still put it in park and the tranmission still locks up just has me second guessing that. If any of you have any ideas as to what the problem would be, then I would really appreciate it. I'm going to check it tomorrow morning to see if I can possibly figure out anything.

Well the easy thing is to check the fluid and do a filter change. Then see what happens. With that sound though, it may be that the tranny is gone. But it is not real expensive if you find the right shop.

Yeah I'm planning on changing out the filter and fluid. But I got to lookin today and I saw no dipstick for the tranny. All I saw was a yellow cap that read transmission on it. Is the dipstick attached to that cap? If it is, then how do you go by filling it up with transmission fluid, it looks as if that cap is located right under where the front manifold wraps around to the back of the engine.I used to work at a Dodge dealership here where I live, and all I ever did there all day long was change tranny fluid and filters, so I'm very familiar with how to do that stuff, but I've just never seen anything like this. Most the cars I work on nowadays are all RWD, I hardly ever handle FWD cars, so it's kind of all new to me.

Here's one - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=585395;
And another - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=584427;
And another - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=577625;

In other words - search the web site.

Here's one - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=585395;
And another - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=584427;
And another - http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=577625;

In other words - search the web site.

Mmk, well that answers my question on how to check the fluid level.. But even searching the forum did not help me with the original problem. And excuse me for not searching the forum. I had just gotten home from work last night, was dead tired, and didnt feel like sitting at my computer for a 1/2 hour reading through a dozen threads on transmission problems. Figured it wouldn't be that big a deal.

No that's cool. I thought that one of them would tell you. I am not sure, but I think Max or one of the web site regulars posted a detailed explanation of how to check the fluid. In a nutshell, there is no dipstick so you need the car raised and level and you loosen the nut on the passenger side of the transaxle and if fluid leaks then its full. If not fill until it starts leaking. In a nutshell. GO Stros.