Tranny shifts into "neutral." Need help!

[Alphabravo]

Hi everyone.

2001 T&C with 3.3, 4speed tranny and 128K miles.

Here's an interesting one:

This morning I went went to get gas and no problems getting to the gas station. I pull out of the gas station and get to the first light, again no problem. Light turns green, I go and the tranny shifts from 1st to..... nothing! Just like I slipped it into neutral. I coasted into a parking lot, moved the gear selector from Park to R to D to L, and nothing.
I put it in Park and shut off the engine, then restart and shift into drive and it goes into gear! I start to drive away and when it's time to shift, it goes from 1st to.... nothing again! Once again none of the gears work, until I shut the engine off and restart.

After I restarted the engine I shifted to L and drove home in 1st gear keeping an eye on the tach so I wouldn't exceed 3500 RPM. Got home with no problem.

So, to recap, when it goes to shift up from 1st it goes into nothing. Just like neutral. No check engine light, not "limp mode". If I shut off the engine and restart, it'll go into 1st, and if I keep it in L so it won't try to shift up, it'll drive all the way home in 1st. Reverse doesn't work no matter what I try.

Some background: I changed the tranny fluid and filter 2 years ago at around 90K. fluid level is good. It did rain hard last night, conicidence? The engine compartment is dry.

I think it is safe to rule out a mechanical problem, this seems to be electrical and we can probably rule out the tranny range sensor since it keeps it in 1st when I have it in L and the backup lights come on when I put it in R.

So, electrical problem... does anyone know where is a good place to begin?

Thanks in advance!

[RIP]

Hate to see 0 responses this late in the game so I'll make a feeble attempt.

If you're working this yourself I would check all the wiring and connections at the solenoid pack and TCM. If all looks good try a new solenoid pack. It controls gear engagement.

If you want a shop to check it make sure they have the know how to test it using pressure inputs at the test ports and can check CVI values and check for error codes with the appropriate scanner.

[Alphabravo]

Thanks, RIP. I ended up taking it to a shop after doing a little testing on my own. Wiring seems OK. The solenoid pack was getting input from the TCM. I tested the solenoid pack with an ohm meter and it tested OK. The thing that i found odd was that while I could select reverse, it never went into reverse, even if I removed the EATX relay (Which I tested as well), it did not go into reverse. Removing the EATX relay should cause it to go into Limp Mode and it should go into reverse. Also, I never got a check engine light until I removed the EATX relay. This leads me to believe that the TCM is functioning properly and it may be a mechanical problem. Also, when I drove it home in low gear, the speedo was working, so I believe the I/O sensors are OK as well.

I will post what the shop finds.

[Alphabravo]

I stopped by the tranny shop today. I was a mechanical breakdown after all. A weld broke int the planetary gear assembly. Funny, I never heard anything when it happened.

[Alphabravo]

In case anyone is interested, here's what the broken planetary looks like:

This is what is should look like:


Here it is showing where the weld broke: