HELP!!! I think I screwed the trannie!!!

[Skater3820]

I have a '95 Frod Explorer with an automatic transmission and the thing is literaly my baby! If I could take it to bed I would sleep with it. I've been upping the performance, the exterior, and a boatload of other cool stuff, but it is coming alond to slow for my taste.
Anyway, I know there was a small problem with the 1st-2nd gears slipping and there is a clunk when I put it into reverse sometimes. My dad said to get the bands tightened. I was going up a hill to work and was being slightly stupid. I was using the 1st to 2nd manual override going about 40mph and the lever was accidentally pushed into the REVERSE POSITION. Horified as the tires screached for a second, I slammed the thing into Park. It seemed as if there was a safety function for this sort of thing, because I didn't abruptly stop and my tires didn't fall off. There was a loud clicking sound and I slowed down to a complete stop at the side of the road. There didn't seem to be any damage done but I'm not really sure. Tell me what to look for and what to do about this situation. Thanx for the help!

 

[Alec]

This sort of thing happened once to me. I was driving on a flat road going about 40 when (I don't know how) I accidentally hit the shift lever in between R and N. It's my experience that when this happens the truck frieks out (as well it should) and basically shuts itself down. It was very bad for you to put it in P, I'm sorry to say. What I did was put it in N, pull off, and shut everything down. When I started back up, everything was fine, and the tranny was no worse for the wear. I would get the tranny checked out to make sure everything is ok, it probably is.

If this ever happens again, put in in N, not P!

 

[CHH777]

Skater,

The loud clicking you heard when you shifted into P was the parking pawl trying to engage. Most likely this didn't cause any damage. However, shifting into reverse may be a different story. Will the tranny engage into 1st and reverse? If not DO NOT drive the truck. Instead, pull the pan and inspect the fluid immediately. Look for metal shavings. If you find any have the truck towed to a respectable tranny shop and let them remove, tear down and inspect the tranny.

If the tranny will engage into gear and the fluid looks okay you got lucky.


BTW, adjusting the bands is an "old-school" fix for older transmissions. I wouldn’t advise it on your tranny.