Truck Won't Move Fwd Or Rev

[00_Green]

Truck Won't Move Fwd Or Rev - Finally Disassembled

94 4 cyl ranger purchased a year ago w/130k. The tranny at the time had sluggish shifting and harsh rev engagement when cold. There was no metal in the pan at that time, just the typical grey stuff one would expect to see. I installed a shift kit, changed the servos, modulator, filter, and fluid. The transmission had been perfect since.

Last night my daughter calls, the truck stalled as she was coasting to a stop. It restarted but the engine stalled everytime she tried to put it in Rev or OD. She kept messing with it and it stopped stalling but wouldn't move forward or reverse in any gear.

I brought it home this morning, it was almost 2 qts low on fluid. The fluid is red, clear & clean, and smells like new. The pan gasket may be leaking a little, nothing seems to be comming from the front seal.

I've topped the fluid, When I put the shifter in any gear you can feel what I can only call engagement but the truck wont move as it should. Stepping on the gas the vehicle trys to move and actually will if you really rev it up but the transmission seems to be not really engaged or it's slipping.

Not being a tranny person and for a lack of better ideas instinct tells me to pull the pan and look for metal. If the pan is clean drop the valve body and look for who knows what. If thats all seems good pull the trans and change the TC?

Comments or suggestions? Are there any codes I should try to look for?

 

[skyy_4life]

if the check engine light is on then find the codes. it sounds like it could be a sensor problem because i dont know of any mechanical problem that would cause it to not rev or anything with in gear, if the engine runs fine out of gear then your tranny could be locking up maybe? idk id drop the tranny pan and check shit out. i know cars with high milage its not good to change the tranny fluid. well if its an automatic its not good to change after high milage, it would cause it not to go into gear but not lock up or anything. but id drop the pan and check for metal or binding somewere or something.

 

[00_Green]

The engine revs fine and there's no Check Engine Light. The truck doesn't want to move like it should in forward or reverse. If I really lay into the gas pedal it starts to move but I can only describe it as not fully in gear or it's slipping real bad.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Bryan22]

you're gonna have to pull the transmission and have a look. sounds like the torque converter is shot to me.

 

[00_Green]

And a shot torque converter looks like what?

 

[Bryan22]

courtesy of autozone.

 

[00_Green]

I know what a torque converter is! All the bad ones I've dealt with over the years have burned or discolored the fluid.
Is there anyway to know if it's shot? I don't like wasteing time and money throwing parts at a problem unless I have reason to believe they're bad.

 

[Bryan22]

I didn't say replace it i said pull the tranny and inspect it. i doubt it's gonna be a quick fix, and you're probably going to have to pull the transmission to fix whatevers broken. a good reason to beleive somethings gone bad would be the fact that it wont move... if you really want a good fix put in a 5 sp
only other thing i can think that would cause it not to move is a broken input shaft. Maybe have someone get under the truck when you're in gear and make sure it's actually the transmission and not something further down the line. Does it make any terrible noises or anything? Also you said it wont move in rev or OD what about the other gears?
http://www.aa1car.com/library/torque_converters.htm

 

[00_Green]

Dude, I appreciate your help but for the third time I'm going to ask - what am I looking for to know the torque converter is actually bad?

I thought the post was descript enough that one would have figured if it were making loud unusual noises, I would have mentioned it.

If you re-read the post, I said "When I put the shifter in any gear ", I also said "Stepping on the gas the vehicle trys to move and actually will if you really rev it up". I doubt there's a broken shaft.

Again, I appreciate all the help but I'm looking for assistance diagnosing the symptoms. This being a Ranger site I expected someone with transmission knowledge could provide some technical advice. Pulling the transmission out and tearing it apart for practice is a waste of my time and I don't work that way.

One of guys on my motorcycle site suggested dropping the valve body and looking for a blown separator plate gasket or stuck TCCSV or TCCMV spool. He thinks I'm dumping pressure in that area.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

i have the exact same problem with my 95 s-10 blazer, the tranny was all rebuilt, drove beautiful, then one night i pulled out and it slipped in first, then i lost all my gears. it engages into gear but i have to lay into the gas also for it to move. after the truck warms up, and you put it inot reverse, do you hear a groaning noise? its either one of 2 things, bad torque converter, or a shift module has hit the crapper. mines at the tranny shop so when i hear from him, i will keep you updated.

 

[thegoat4]

When the engine stalled and died whenever she tried to shift into drive or reverse, that was caused by the TCC being stuck.

Torque converters can fail in three ways.
1.) internal mechanical failure. Something breaks loose and gets tossed around in there until it breaks every single fin off. Lots of metal will be found in the pan and in the cooler lines. It'll be noisy and the truck probably won't move under its own power at all. Fluid will be OK except full of glitter.
2.) stator seizes. The transmission will take off and drive fine, but top speed will be low and the tranny will run hot all the time. Fluid will probably be very burnt.
3.) broken stator clutch. The tranny will be very slow to take off and your "stall" RPM will be much lower than normal. But max road speed will be unaffected. Fluid will probably be burnt, but not as severe.

It's important to also know that automatic transmissions have a failsafe or "limp" mode when they experience a severe electrical failure. The transmission will shift into third gear and the TC will be unlocked. In drive, the vehicle will take off very slowly, never shift, and can reach moderate road speeds. Reverse should work pretty much normally. To many people this looks a lot like a TC or a transmission mechanical failure. It is often caused by the alternator overcharging and blowing fuses or damaging the PCM and solenoids. An early symptom can be sticking solenoids, like the TCC solenoid sticking and causing the engine to stall when coming to a stop.

Check your alternator output first. Then verify you have electrical power and ground to the transmission's electrical connector. If everything checks out, you probably need to take it to a transmission shop as you'll likely have a stuck shift solenoid, fretted clutch, or odd electrical failure, like bad road speed input. Those sorts of failures are hard enough to troubleshoot you'll want someone with experience to mess with it.

A blown separator gasket would not explain the sticking torque converter clutch, so I don't think it would be that.

 

[Tedybear]

The torque converter is the fluid coupling between the engine and transmission. If the transmission is making noise in gear, but the noise goes away when it is shifted into neutral, the problem may be worn needle bearings in the torque converter. Needle bearings are used inside the torque converter to separate the stator from the impeller, the stator from the turbine, and the turbine from the converter housing.</P>

Torque converters contain a one-way clutch. If the clutch jams and locks the stator (which normally keeps the stator tuning only one way), the converter cannot circulate the fluid properly between the impeller and turbine. The resulting turbulence inside the unit can cause a lack of power at highway speeds and may cause the engine to overheat during cruise conditions. A locked one-way clutch will also cause the fluid to run dangerously hot, which can damage the transmission and lead to transmission failure. If the one-way clutch fails to hold its position and freewheels in both directions, the torque converter cannot multiply torque normally and the vehicle will accelerate slowly (like starting out in 2nd gear). The only cure for either condition is to replace the torque converter.

A good transmission shop has the needed tools in order to inspect the torque converter. There really isn't much of a test a home mechanic can do, without having a 'test jig' to check the one way clutch.

Also a good shop will also have the tools and machine(s) needed to clean/flush out used torque converters. If yours tests 'good'? Always go for the flush and clean. No sense leaving cruddy fluid and crap to mix into new fluid.

S-

 

[00_Green]

Gents,
GREAT information - THANK YOU!

 

[Bigcraig05]

I just was at the tranny shop in my area and they said they cant flush the new torque converters because they have to drill a drain in it. With it have the clutch inside the TC they said u have to buy a new one.. I just rebuilt my entire tranny. its like 150 for the master rebuild kit online. Pretty easy to do. i did it all on jackstands and mine is also 4x4..

 

[00_Green]

Over the years I've "rebuilt" a few. Some have been better than others once taken apart and I've had some very high milage trannys that needed nothing once apart, one had VB issues and the other a burned up TC. Thats why I'm not wanting to just rip this one apart.

I'm still leaning towards a control/pressure problem and have no reason to suspect anything in the core is tore up.

I work out of town and fly home on the weekends. Spending time with the family and doing things around the house leaves little or no time for things like this. Thats why I need a good plan going into this one, I'll be burning the midnight oil try to fix it.