lost all gears!! need some help

was cruising and doing some spirited driving on the way home on the highway at 1AM in the morning. was only applying like 35% throttle when i felt and saw the car free-rev. i let off and waited a couple seconds then i applied throttle and it appeared to be alright but suddenly it free revs again and the car just coasts. I eventually coasted off to the shoulder and to a complete stop. tried to apply throttle again in D and it didnt budge. i shifted the gear selector to 3 and still no good, then 2 the same and finally gear 1 and the same result. so i decided to shift it to park and turn the car off but when i tried to shift it to park it wouldnt budge from gear 1! what makes it worse is since its stuck there i cant take out my key? another problem is since i turned the car off, i cant seem to start it up again. the system primes but it wont crank. Later on I was told to manually shift the gearing via the lifter in the engine bay. So I shifted the lever to neutral and was able to set it to park. Still the car wont shift into any gears in drive or reverse.

I checked the fluid level and it was still red with no foaming or metal shavings. The TCC fuse was fine. Ther was no trans fluid or anything else leaking underneath the car. I do hear a slight whine when the car starts up around the tranny. Need some input as the car was towed and dropped off at a local mechanic. Thanks in advance.

ps-car was bought at 75K miles and had a trans fluid CHANGE at 115K. i also had installed a mild shift kit as well as having the car mildly modified such as VS Cam, headers, and a 3.3" pulley with supporting mods. the car has bene to the track a few times but on street tires and NEVER had slicks/drag radials, but did a few small and short burn-outs. i also have a Powrtuner that increased the tranny pressure lines to prevent slippages.

The first thing to do is to have the trans scanned with a trans capable scanner. The scanner will give you a good indication of what is going on. Since this is a computer controlled transmission it sounds like you have a communication problem between the PCM and the transmission however, the possibility does exist for a total trans failure. If you find you need a new trans check with Ed Morad at moranautoparts.com for a used one. It will cost a whole lot less than a new one or a remanufactured one.

thanks for the input. i did get the car scanned from the mechanic and the tests came back w/o failures which he believes is an internal problem with the tranny. i honestly dont know much on trannies lol. also i think u mean ed morad ;-)
i am planning on getting another used tranny from a 98 near where i live. just curious what went bad in the car though

found a used tranny. the trans has 102K miles but was rebuilt when the owner bought it around 55k-60k and since then had 10K tranny flush intervals. im gonna take the car for a test drive as its still on the car and unbolted yet. im gonna also check the fluid level and color. if everything checks out how much would i ask for the tranny? please let me know as soon as possible as i plan on getting it unbolted tomorrow. thanks in advance!!!!

$800 is a fair price for the transmission and you are correct I meant Ed Morad!
My speller wasn't working when I typed the post.

Well I test drove the car b4 we agreed to have him unbolt the trans form the car. However I was not able to fully drive the car at various speeds mainly because his rear struts were blown and it was really saggy as well as no rear window and no headlights. The car was recently considered totaled by his insurance because a tree fell onto the rear of the car when a storm came by. Theres no headlights because I originally bought them from him from a few weeks b4 lol.

I again asked him the low-down on the tranny. He said the car was bought when it had ~70K. before he bought the car up in NY, the original owner had an issue of the trans slipping and had it ‘fixed’, and the guy bought it there after. Since then he had 10K mile trans flush intervals done to the car and said he ‘babied’ it ever since to where it is now at 102K miles.

Anyways he wanted $400 but I tried to negotiate since the trans was ‘fixed’ a while back w/o knowing whether it was rebuilt or replaced for $350. he looked stern and we settled for $375 instead. So now hes gonna try to find time aside to take both motor and trans out-since he eventually plans to sell the motor as well take it out from the car-and wel let me know. I just hope he knows what he’s doing and not damage the tranny while uninstalling it. That’s one of the things I am paranoid about buying from a private seller, there’s no guarantee nor warranty >.<

Forgot to mention in the reply above but apparently the forum’s edit/save doesn’t respond to explorer or something >_>. The car shifted firmly w/o slippages from 1st to 2nd as well as 2nd to 3rd applying at most 20% throttle with performance shift on. Fluid was leveled and color was a fresh red pigment as well as no awkward noises.

why are the selling the tranny out of a car that drives?

a tree collapse on the seller's car's rear end, smashing the rear window, denting the trunk and part of the roof as well as blew the rear struts.

Since then he had 10K mile trans flush intervals done to the car and said he ‘babied’ it ever since to where it is now at 102K miles.

10K mile flush intervals? :screwy:

Just based on that I would pass on the deal. Plus the mileage is too high.

wthanks for the input, but at the moment i dont have alot of options and im planning to get it come sunday. i hope you're wrong, no offense BNaylor, but i want to have it working as soon as possible and functional. im really hoping it'll at least last 60k miles more out of it on the road....do wish me luck

Maybe luck will prove me wrong but Murphy's law normally comes into play in these situations. It is your car and money so you can do as you please. All I said was based on the data you have provided so far I would pass which is reasonable to me versus making a rash decision based on being desperate. There is too much work involved doing a tranny swap out to be installing one that looks questionable and with a dubious repair history. All I can say is good luck and let us know how it turns out.

thanks bnaylor for understanding. i just done want to hex anything on this tranny thats all ^_^;. i'll keep u and whomever reading this updated on how the car feels and acts once its installed and running. i may plan on keeping my old trans and see if its worthwhile to have that rebuilt from a reputable tranny shop i know as a spare in the future...?

idk about this one. i know that back when my SE had about 90K on it, my tranny started slipping into 3rd gear. so i figured what the he!!, i ordered a shift kit from ZZP for $40.00 shipped. i figured if it didnt work...then what is $40.00?

well, the car now has just about 125K on it, and the tranny is still shifting excellent. i havent done a flush on the tranny since i put the shift kit in, so i am going to do one soon and we'll see what it does.

i am very surprised that my tranny has held up though, since i did a tap swap on the car when it had 85K on it. i figure i've gotten another 35K outta the tranny just by putting a $40.00 shift kit in it :lol:

moral of the story here...i believe it is all luck, so in other words...good luck man :)

thanks for wishing me luck guys ;-)
grandprixgtx00, are u still running on the non-hd trans? if so, im somewhat surprised it lasted this long after u had the top-swapped done. i believe "dbk" on clubgp is still running on his non-hd trans and hes in the 12s lol. again, i'll keep u guys posted. i am thinking whether i hould install the shift kit or tune via the powrtuner since i have that on hand and increase the line pressure. i have the mild shiftkit in the tranny in my car at the moment. i didnt install it but a fellow member, because of that, im hesitate(worried i'd fucked something up) on doing it myself on the 'new' tranny.

grandprixgtx00, are u still running on the non-hd trans? if so, im somewhat surprised it lasted this long after u had the top-swapped done.

still just the regular old 4T65E non HD. (btw- anyone have any idea as to why my SE has the 65 and not 60???) to tell ya the truth, I'm just as surprised as you.

as for you F'ing the tranny up by putting the shift kit in yourself...its really easy to do. if you buy the one from ZZP it has step to step instuctions along w/ pictures, AND comes with the new filter.

Really the only difference between the 4t65e-hd and 4t65e is the final drive. The hd has a hardened final drive. Nothing else, so (to me) it isnt that suprizing that a regular 4t65e would have any problems holding up to an L67.

That is basically correct Tim with the addition of the heavy duty (aka GTP) passenger side axle shaft which is technically external to the tranny. No real mystery here. For conversion to HD (GM RPO Code MN7) this is all you need to do the job and do it right:

-HD Differential
-HD Diff Cover
-Diff Cover Seal
-HD Output Shaft
-Sun gear
-Torrington Bearing
-Diff Shim
-GTP axle

so (to me) it isnt that suprizing that a regular 4t65e would have any problems holding up to an L67.

its not surprising that it is lasting due to the fact its a non HD....its just with the problems i had earlier down the road w/ the tranny that surprises me.

excuse me...i have to go knock on wood now :p

excuse me...i have to go knock on wood now :p

:rofl:

I consult my superstitious wife and have her break out the Ouiga board. But sometimes still can't get over that old Murphy's law. What can go wrong will go wrong, what can break will break, etc. :eek:

:rofl:

I consult my superstitious wife and have her break out the Ouiga board. But sometimes still can't get over that old Murphy's law. What can go wrong will go wrong, what can break will break, etc. :eek:

haha...yeah, your right...truth may hurt sometimes

regardless, I've gotten 125K outta it, so if it goes...he!!, let it go

i have other issues to worry about though. It (the GT) is getting towed friday so my dad can look at it. :banghead: only have 1st and reverse once again...

only 1st and reverse? are your sure its first? Let me look up and see what the clutch and band application chart looks like for it....

Found it, its posted in your thread "afraid this was going to happen"

bump
th mechanic found these in the pan. it appears the chain snapped and broke. today the car 'should' be done with the tranny swap. im awaiting a chance to call and confirm everything went through alright, such as shifts, seals, as well as fluid level, etc. here are pics of the stuff he found in the pan:
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/fst100/pieces2.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l292/fst100/pieces1.jpg

Mine did bascialy the same thing at 126K and had to buy a rebuilt for I only spent 850 and it's been runnin great beside the AC compressor went out and shut down the entire car

will ever since i got the car back other things came out of nowhere. whenever i turn the steering wheel either left or right greater than say 90* i'll hear and feel a popping noise coming from somewhere in the front of the car. it doesnt happen every time i turn a tight angle left/right but random.

it sounds like it is in the middle of the car on the other side of the firewall but hearing it from inside the car is somewhat difficult to narrow down. i jacked the car up and looked everywhere for possible clues:
-no green grease from either side of the cv boot
-wheel bearings on both sides have very little play holding it 12 and 6 o'clock(jacked one side up to test it). also driver side was repalced not long ago
-little play on the tie-rod ends if i wiggle the wheels at 9 and 3 o'clock. the outer tie-rod end bushings has been smashed for a while and i plan on getting it swapped with a set of MOOGs this weekend. then afterwards get an alignment
-no cracks on the front sway bar
-LCA looks fine
-both lower motor mount and trans mount looks fine w/o cracks or missing chunks
-comp g strut/springs has ~80K miles from when they were installed(bought them used w/60K). and i bounced on the front of the car to see if the strut bearings made any abnormal sounds but heard nothing

what else could it be? again, im going to replace the outer tie-rods and get an alignment. should i wait and see how it feels after thats taken care of? the 'new' trans shifts and runs fine and the fluid level's acceptable point on the dipstick. the diff doesnt spin freely when one wheels off the ground and the others on the ground FWIW.

will ever since i got the car back other things came out of nowhere. whenever i turn the steering wheel either left or right greater than say 90* i'll hear and feel a popping noise coming from somewhere in the front of the car. it doesnt happen every time i turn a tight angle left/right but random.

it sounds like it is in the middle of the car on the other side of the firewall but hearing it from inside the car is somewhat difficult to narrow down. i jacked the car up and looked everywhere for possible clues:
-no green grease from either side of the cv boot
-wheel bearings on both sides have very little play holding it 12 and 6 o'clock(jacked one side up to test it). also driver side was repalced not long ago
-little play on the tie-rod ends if i wiggle the wheels at 9 and 3 o'clock. the outer tie-rod end bushings has been smashed for a while and i plan on getting it swapped with a set of MOOGs this weekend. then afterwards get an alignment
-no cracks on the front sway bar
-LCA looks fine
-both lower motor mount and trans mount looks fine w/o cracks or missing chunks
-comp g strut/springs has ~80K miles from when they were installed(bought them used w/60K). and i bounced on the front of the car to see if the strut bearings made any abnormal sounds but heard nothing

what else could it be? again, im going to replace the outer tie-rods and get an alignment. should i wait and see how it feels after thats taken care of? the 'new' trans shifts and runs fine and the fluid level's acceptable point on the dipstick. the diff doesnt spin freely when one wheels off the ground and the others on the ground FWIW.

This may sound crazy I had the same problem right after I got the new tranny put in...This is the wierod part when I replaced the AC well actully I couldn't afford a new AC but they sell a pulley to replace it, (if your starts whining it's the AC compressure, pulley whatever)
anyways back to the popping sound for some reason we took the front passanger tire off I guess to get to the AC, but when we put the tire back on the popping was gone and it was exactly what your describing. It freaked me out I was ready to trade it in I thought it was fixing to turn into a major money pit.
And I haven't had anymore problems...knock on wood

jrshardt, so what are you saying/getting at? i took off both front tires numerous times and the popping is still present. also my a/c doesnt work or rather the clutch doesnt engage but im not too worried about the ac at the moment ;-).

jrshardt, so what are you saying/getting at? i took off both front tires numerous times and the popping is still present. also my a/c doesnt work or rather the clutch doesnt engage but im not too worried about the ac at the moment ;-).


Sorry I got off track..I have no clue what taking the tire off did. My brothers a GM mechanic and he has no clue why it stopped he thought it was the tie rods. I'm also talking about a Grand Prix GTP, I thought that was what you had. But my brother has a Caviler I'll see if I can get him in the forum to may help you out

umm i do have a GTP ;-)

umm i do have a GTP ;-)

I'm sorry I thought your profile said Caviler. I probally clicked the wrong one:biggrin: . I wish I could help you, But no ones knows why mine stopped popping or what it even was and it sounded really bad