96 T&C Transmission-no reverse-help!

I have a 96 T&C LXI 3.8L with I believe a 4 speed transmission.( The lever shift has P,R,N,D,3,L ) The car has 133K miles. Last night my wife got stuck on a snow bank trying to get out of the driveway. All of a sudden, reverse didn't work. Forward works in the driveway, but I don't know if it will shift correctly etc, as I don't want to drive it somewhere then need to get towed back. I'm hopeing I don't need a new transmission! Let me give some facts about the car
Recently, I thought the trans was whinning a little louder when shifting gears, so I checked the fluid. It was a liitle low(down by the first hole, in park,warm,running), so I added about 2/3 quart of ATF-4 to bring it up to the top line. I was careful not to overfill, though it was up by the top line. I 'm not sure if it has anything to do with that?
I don't think I ever changed the filter on the transmission. I drained it and refilled it about two years ago, when the seal between the transaxle and the transmission leaked and I replaced that. The color of the fluid looks normal(reddish). Can someone tell me what the problem might be? I read there's a clutch and solenoids involved? I hope it's something like that that I can fix. I do most work on my cars short of rebuilding a transmission. If I can open it up and replace or adjust something, I'll do it.
Thanks in advance!

I should add that after I put the fluid in, the whinning went away and it sounded normal.

I would change trans filter and fluid first and go from there.

I would change trans filter and fluid first and go from there.
Please explain- Would a dirty filter cause no reverse engagement??

Dirty fluid can cause alot of problems. Although I don't know about no reverse. Do that first and see if it fixes it. This transmission does not like dirty fluid and only likes ATF+4. Make sure you get a good name brand filter because I have heard of some that have an o-ring that is a little small. This would starve the pump for oil.

Thanks- I of course should change it, but if I have to beleive there is a bigger issue.

There is posibally something broken inside and the transmission has to come out for that.If you pull the pan and see lots of metal shavings,you have something broken inside and needs to come out to find out why.

Good idea. I'll open it up and see if I can see any metal shavings. Is it possible to buy a transmission and put it in myself? The car is probably only worth $2500, so i don't want to bring it to a trasmission shop and pay $2000 or more to replace the transmission. The car runs great otherwise, so I'm in a difficult situation.

You can do it yourself but I would suggest a trans jack. I have one that i bought from Harbor freight tools. (cranks up with a 1/2" ratchet) it was around $100. I don't think I could have done it without it.

I thought about buying a rebuilt before i did mine. Pheonix transmissins had one on e-bay for $695 +shipping with a 12 mo/12,000 mile warrentee. But I didn'r expect to find so many bad hard parts in mine so i rebuilt it myself.

[QUOTE=But I didn'r expect to find so many bad hard parts in mine so i rebuilt it myself.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the information. Are you saying you rebuilt it because it had many broken parts? Please clarify. How difficult are they to rebuild? What's the hardest part?
I really do appreciate information like this.
Jerry

If you want to find an used transmission,the interchange is 1996 to 2000.Looked it up in an interchange book called a hollander once

Don't just buy a used one from a 96. Early 96 is different from late 96 and the changed again in 1999. Early 96 and before had a separate range switch abd a separate backup light switch. mid 96 it was changed to a combined switch. In 99 they changed the type of plug for the solenoid pack. If you buy a used trans you need to get the s/n from your trans and find out which one you have.

I rebuilt mine because it started to have a metallic sound internally. It turned out to be a Torrington thrust washer. But, 3 yrs ago when I bought the van the trans went into limp mode and since I had a warrentee I brought it to a shop. They rebuilt it but it never shifted right afterwards. What I found inside was planitary gears that had chunks missing from the teeth but the sun and outer gears were perfect. The pieces were not in the transmission or filter. Also the side and spider gears in the differential were worn beyond the point where I would even consider using them. This is all in a trans that was rebuilt ar 68,000 miles and had clean fluid.

I think they swapped parts. At the time the trans didn't make noise and worked perfectly before it went into limp. If the gear teeth broke in use, the sun and outer gears would also be damaged. So I needed to buy a complete planitary set and a new differential (because the side and pinion gears are not serviced separatle. Total cost of parts and fluid was about $950 and most I got on e-bay for much less than I could have anywhere else.

No reverse, forward still works...

From my experience with these transmissions, it sounds as if the rear planet has broken. Usually this is a stress or strain type failure so you probably won't see much metal in the pan.

There is a ring gear welded to the rear planet, when the welds break, you lose reverse.

So - should I even take the time to change the filter and fluid as some suggested? Can these gears be replaced? Or should I just start shopping for a replacement transmission?
Thanks

If that is what happened, the trans needs to be torn down to fix it.

Please explain- Would a dirty filter cause no reverse engagement??
It could. On my 1995 Grand Caravan, it started to randomly not engage in the forward direction. I changed the tranny filer and the fluid in the pan and it runs like a champ. With a clogged filter the fluid rate is lowered to the torque converter.

Best Regards,
Stan