Transmission gone bye-bye???

[12beemer34]

'95 Eddie Bauer. 220,000 kilometers. Other than a single occurrence of the OD light flashing 2 1/2 years ago it has been running fine.

Today I was pulling up to a traffic light and as I was about to come to a complete stop the light turned green and traffic started moving, so I got off the brake and pressed on the gas. The truck started to accelerate and after about 1/4 second I heard (and felt) a bang under the truck, followed by the engine racing.

I immediately put it in neutral and coasted to a stop. I went from park to 'D' with no luck. 1st, 2nd...nothing. I put it in 'R' and the engine stalled immediately. I started up again, tried 'D' with no luck. I even (very cautiously) turned on 4WD...no luck. At one point when I shifted from 'P' to 'D' the idle dropped like it normally would, and when I pressed the gas the truck seemed to want to move but was reluctant (if that makes sense) so I immediately abandoned that idea. After that I wasn't able to get it to respond at all.

I know the trans fluid is fairly clean because I've had a leaking trans line that loses about a quart a month (or so). So the fluid has slowly been changed over the many months

Fluid is still full so I haven't dumped any (thinking split housing).

I've searched the forums but can't find an exact duplicate of my problem. Does this sound like a broken clutch band?

In basic terms, what's required to do a repair if it is a broken band(s)? Or am I looking at a complete new unit?

Thanks,
Sasha

 

[ragajungle]

A bang and loss of drive is usually going to mean either a broken ujoint, differential or a transmission that just let go (yes band or other hard parts broken)

Can you shift to manual 1 or 2 and move it?

 

[12beemer34]

ragajungle,

The trans holds the car in park just fine so I think the shafts/joints are ok. I'm thinking trans issue because it stalled immediately when I put it in reverse. And when I say "stall" I mean the engine stalled so fast the first thing I thought was "ok...well I don't think I want to try that a second time".

Not sure if it matters, but the 4wd was used yesterday. We had slippery conditions so I drove with the 4 auto turned on, and it was put to use a few times, however it was not used during the 2 hour drive leading up to the failure.

To answer your question: No, I cannot manually drive the car in any gear. It just won't respond. Other than the stalling in 'R', it's as if it's stuck in 'N'.

Sasha

 

[my98nnj]

If it's stalling immediately when it's put in gear the torque converter is locked up / done. What's strange is it should do the same in D, unless when it blew it also took out 1st gear.

 

[ragajungle]

^^ x2 ^^

If you get no manual gears the intermediate band is gone. The BANG is why they call these truck exploders. Sorry this happened to you. Fortunately there are enough of these produced that you can get a trans relatively cheap from a JY. I just picked up one for $500 (yes a bit steep) but they are in demand..

 

[12beemer34]

^^ x2 ^^

If you get no manual gears the intermediate band is gone. The BANG is why they call these truck exploders. Sorry this happened to you. Fortunately there are enough of these produced that you can get a trans relatively cheap from a JY. I just picked up one for $500 (yes a bit steep) but they are in demand..

Thanks for your help. I'm surprised I got as many miles out of it as I did. Even Ford was impressed when i had it in for a recall earlier this year.

Would a broken intermediate band cause any damage beyond just the band itself? And if the intermediate band broke, I'd assume the other bands would be close to breaking as well. Is this something that can be repaired, or is a replacement trans the best way to go?

 

[ragajungle]

When mine let go it actually punched a hole in the casing... but you would know because it would be puking atf everywhere. It still wouldn't hurt to inspect it. Also have read that the main / center support shaft can be damaged.

The center support bore can also be out of round causing the break.

 

[12beemer34]

Ouch. Well mine isn't puking it's guts everywhere, but that doesn't mean it isn't all chewed up inside.

I'm searching right now for a used one. I may just swap in another trans and then sell it.

 

[ragajungle]

Well if you do decide to sell and swap just know that Honda, Toyota, GM, Kia and the like are not immune to transmission deficiencies. As a matter of fact they all go through tranny's I would suggest that you peruse some other MAKE forums to verify this. The biggest difference between manufacturers and planned obsolescences is cost. You can buy a Honda and expect that at some point you will need a tranny, the only difference between a Honda Ridgeline/Pilot and a Explorer is that I can buy a used Explorer Tranny for under $500 (Even an OEM Brand New Trans is $2000) you can expect to pay 5x that amount in a Pilot. Im just sayin....
Good Luck

FYI Just score a used 5r55e trans for my Ex (43K miles) for $500

Also we love you! We dont want you to go. Tee (Then a) Hee. What ever you decide to do know that many of us have no life and are here to help you if you decide to stick wit the sploder