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My car has been out of commission for a few weeks now and I’ve been frustrated trying to figure out the problem. It has an automatic transmission. Initially I was hearing a low humming noise that increased in volume as I would speed up. The noise would go away while making right turns. Eventually my car began to lose the ability to go into certain gears. I noticed one day when I had started my car while parked on an uphill driveway, it was very difficult to put the car into reverse and when I finally did there was a loud clunk and jerk. After this I had lost some functionality with my reverse gear. It would only go into reverse on certain occasions. It gradually got worse until one day I could only get the car to move forward by switching it into 1st gear and then back to drive. Well now the car will not move at all. I can start the car and switch between gears, but when in reverse and drive the RPMs will go down when switching from park or neutral. The car acts as if it is in park no matter what gear it is in except for neutral, meaning the car will rock back and forth but the wheels will not turn. I originally started troubleshooting by checking my fluid levels, color and smell. The fluid was not low and the fluid was red and sweet smelling. Clean. I’ve eventually arrived at a possibility of a CV Axle being broken, mostly because the idea of having the transmission repaired is more costly than what I paid for the car. I was wondering if there was any way to be sure that it is a CV axle before I actually go to the parts store and buy a new one, or if anyone can tell that the transmission is bad from my description. Any help would be great. I’ve watched Eric’s video for front drive axle replacement and I’m pretty confident I can do it. I’m thinking maybe the splines on the inboard end of the axle are worn out.
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Man that sucks,I’m interested myself in knowing what you got going on so please keep us informed!
I have a question though,have you physically tried to move or rotate the cv axels while still attached ?
No I haven’t been able to physically turn them I gotta get the car up on jack stands I guess. I can’t really reach them. I was thinking maybe I could put the car in drive and see if their was one spinning independently from the outboard end but then I read somewhere that the axle would only engage if both axles had resistance against them. I dunno I’m kind of a novice at all of this. The most difficult thing I’ve ever done was replace a water pump and aside from that just fluid changes, spark plugs and wires and such so I’m pretty clueless in regards to the transmission, axles and stuff like that.
Well honestly you’ve ruled out fluid and fluid levels “as for being clean” and topped off. But what I’m curious about is why it isn’t doing anything….I mean parking any automatic uphill and it being a lil difficult to shift “in my experience” is normal. How many miles is on it ?
if the axles are broken you should be able to see it if you look under it. You could grab it and move it around cause the joint will be broken. Look for that before you buy one.
[quote=”shaun” post=73359]you would also hear it. the problems he described does not point to any axel problem[/quote]
I had a 1990 Cavalier,while making a left turn one day the bearings and most of the shaft pulled out from the hub on the passenger side,car coasted to a stop and did NOT make any noise other than the engine running. Now I see where your coming from,and I’m very anxious to see where this leads. But you gotta ask yourself,why does the engine die down when he shifts it through the gears ? I’m no transmission expert I’m just basing this off what I’ve seen/experienced.
always start with eliminating the obvious. Since I can’t see it its hard to condemn the tranny dispite all signs pointing to it. Since he’s stating he thinks it may be an axle I was stating an easy way to check them.
losing some functionality in reverse, and having to shift from 1st to drive to move forward has nothing to do with an axle. that is transmission issues. sounds like line pressure
I’ve actually broken an axle on a FWD vehicle in the past and what you describe is VERY different from that experience. If the axle was bad you would hear, and feel, some very loud noises when you engaged any gear. They would also continue even after you applied the brakes. This is due to the broken axle turning and coming into contact with other broken parts. With most vehicles, power is sent to the wheel with the LEAST traction and in the case of a broken axle, it would be the side with the broken axle.
To me, it sounds very much like you have a transmission issue. You can check the fluid level and condition but in the end you may need to have it rebuilt or replaced to address the problem.
Keep us posted.
You sound like the guy that went looking for his lost car keys under the streetlamp, because it was so much easier to see things there.
Problems are where they are, not where we wish they were.
Your problem sounds like a slowly getting worse internal transmission problem and nothing like a CV joint or axle problem. It could be an easy fix, fixable by changing the filter and fluid, or it might require a whole new transmission. Good luck.
I hadn’t even thought of this previously, but I’m going to check the transmission fluid levels before starting and then while running to see if the levels even change. Also I was messing with the car earlier today and there was a grinding type noise that happened under the car intermittently but continues even after I shut off the engine and then cuts off abruptly.
if your flexplate is still turning your torque converter, then its either the converter or the pump. my guess anyway
Also thanks Eric for all of the videos. I happened to find one on Youtube and I subscribed right after. Very informative and even entertaining. I’ve been taking an interest in fixing random things lately. I went from fixing the washing machine to fixing the refrigerator and now my car. Scary stuff for a beginner. Also thanks to everyone for the ideas and suggestions. Here’s to hoping I can squeeze another 50,000 miles out of my 500 dollar car lol.
[quote=”NinjaScooter” post=73602]I hadn’t even thought of this previously, but I’m going to check the transmission fluid levels before starting and then while running to see if the levels even change. Also I was messing with the car earlier today and there was a grinding type noise that happened under the car intermittently but continues even after I shut off the engine and then cuts off abruptly.[/quote]
That would be a waste of time. The level will change with the engine running. I don’t think you have an easy fix here. By the sound of it you probably need a transmission. You should resign yourself to that possibility now. If it turns out to be something easy you can be pleasantly surprised. The truth is you’ll likely need a transmission specialist to check it out. They can tell you for sure what you’re dealing with and you can take it from there. Without the proper testing equipment and knowledge, you’re just poking around in the dark hoping for a miracle.
Keep us posted.
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