The Mrs. drove across town to church the other day without significant issues. She came out about an hour later, started the vehicle, put it into gear and just sat there. I was out of town at the time but later that day I went over and did a quick scan of obvious issues. With nothing jumping out as wrong, I sighed and came to the realization that my transmission likely finally bit the bullet.
It's been a good transmission. It lasted under close to 100k miles under my ownership with another 70k under someone else's. Lately however I had evidence that it may have needed some hospice care. Shifting from 1-2 was becoming harder and harder. It wouldn't shift under any type of load. You'd have to let up on the gas in order for it to shift, let it shift, then press the gas again. It wasn't a huge deal, just a hassle. It seemed like 2-3 was also starting to get infected with what ever 1-2 had caught, but that could have just been our imagination.
If it was summer, I might be tempted to save a few bucks (hey, I'm cheap/poor) and do it swap myself. But it's not summer. It's winter. We just got a few inches of snow and the HIGH was -5. Factor in 20MPH winds and it felt even colder. I shopped around a little and found a reputable transmission shop to take it to. Free towing (while it's covered under insurance, free is always good) plus there was a $50 coupon off a rebuilt transmission. Dropped off the keys, told them where the van was, and said fix it and do the rear main seal while they were in there. $1350 and a few days and I should get back my van tomorrow.
I called today to see how things were going since I hadn't heard from them. They reported that the planetary gear was broken. I wonder which actual gear it was since the planetary is a series of gears. But how common is that for transmissions to fail that way? According to my wife there was no signs of impending doom for the ill-fated gear nor was there any griding or other tell-tale noises after the fact.
Anyways. Hopefully along with a completely rebuilt transmission the 1-2 shift problems go away. If they don't, at least we have the good news that it isn't the transmission... I really wished I could spend the $1350 on something a little more fun then a transmission though...