Help! Transmission Dead?!?!?

[bstrope]

Hi all....

I have a 1993 LS400 with traction control....

My wife was driving home today when the car (going only about 35mph...) just coasted to a stop!!!

No harsh noises...no grinding....just...nothing. It was as if the tranny just disappeared! The engine purrs like a kitten, but no matter what gear we put the auto into...the car won't move. Reverse, Drive, 1, 2...nothing. When we shut the key off and restart...it will try to go...might be able to get it to move about 3 feet or so...then nothing.

I checked the fluid...fine. Correct color, no burnt smell.

Drive line is fine.

Had it towed to a local tranny shop that I've used for other vehicles before. They looked at it and called me....$2000-$2500 to rebuild. They claim that the tranny is just "worn out". I feel that they've treated me fair in the past....but here's my problem

If a light bulb goes out on your kitchen...what do you do?....You change the bulb.

If all of the lights go out in the house...do you start changing bulbs?!? No....obviously you go check the breaker!

That said...

There was no warning...just no movement. It seems to me that when a tranny goes bad (...which I've experienced before...) there's usually issues that preceed this....grinding, rough shifting, strange noises....something. Also...the chances of all gears going bad at once seems statistically impossible.

The tranny shop says "rebuild"...but all they did was pull the pan to make this determination. Does anybody else feel like we should be looking at something that would be common to all gears not moving the car....like a rear end, or the shift computer, or a torque convertor....ect, ect....

Regards,

Bryan Strope

Post Falls, Idaho

[lenore]

does seem too strange, i wonder if a vucuum modulator, or something simple has caused the failure.

[ko90ls]

not sure about the cause but a fix should be cheaper! i found a tranny for $600+$400 labor! (check online junkyards, have item shipped to shop) but when my tranny went out it was due to a power flush and the car did make numerous strange noises. when i put her in gear, no movement. step on the gas and the engine would rev high for a sec, then MAYBE the tranny would catch. after a lil bit the whole thing was dead <_< . Good luck

P.S. rebuild=online junkyard. the shop i dealt with even had the "rebuild" kit on the wall. guy kept talking about how things had melted and such, we gotta throw this in and that in, blah, blah. when i mentioned the junkyard price, suddenly his whole attitude changed from "show me the money" to "how may we assist you"

[monarch]

i've never experienced or heard of all gears of an automatic transmission going totally dead like that unless there was a catastrophic loss of fluid.

[SRK]

I can assure you that the trans is not just "worn out". What has happened is that something broke, fell off, or went out of adjustment. It is a component failure, probably quite simple. It is similar to finding your engine doesn't start one morning, and the best the "mechanic" can come up with is that the engine is "worn out". Bunch of crap. Find another shop. Don't even speak to those guys again.

The Toyota trans we have does have some history of solenoid failures in the valve body. That may be all it is, and they are relatively inexpensive to diagnose and repair.

[Leadfoot]

I can assure you that the trans is not just "worn out". What has happened is that something broke, fell off, or went out of adjustment. It is a component failure, probably quite simple. It is similar to finding your engine doesn't start one morning, and the best the "mechanic" can come up with is that the engine is "worn out". Bunch of crap. Find another shop. Don't even speak to those guys again.

The Toyota trans we have does have some history of solenoid failures in the valve body. That may be all it is, and they are relatively inexpensive to diagnose and repair.

I have to agree with SRK that is is probably something simple, but the trouble is finding some mechanic who has the brains to diagnose a complicated problem like that. So many I have dealt with just take the easy step and just replace the entire unit rather than read the instructions. I call them "plug and pay" mechanics!

(The trans ECU will put out an error code if it detects a malfunctioning solenoid, so if you have a blinking engine check light then they are the reason, the code will tell you which one)

My 92 manual says the most likely cause of no drive in forward or reverse is

1) Throttle cable - you say it purrs (idles??), but does it respond to the throttle? I assume yes.

2) Transmission control rod - unlikey as it would have been in drive at the time it may have come apart, but maybe it springs to a neutral position (doubtful). Still an easy check to see if the selector rod is connected between the gear selector stick and the transmission.

Unfortunately I don't have the A340, A341E transmission repair manual to tell you about these others.

3) Manual Valve

4) Parking lock pawl

If these check out OK then the next likely culprits are

5) OD one way clutch

6) OD brake

7) OD direct clutch

8) OD planetarygear unit

9) Torque converter

Good luck.

[jotheco]

Hi all....

I have a 1993 LS400 with traction control....

My wife was driving home today when the car (going only about 35mph...) just coasted to a stop!!!

No harsh noises...no grinding....just...nothing. It was as if the tranny just disappeared! The engine purrs like a kitten, but no matter what gear we put the auto into...the car won't move. Reverse, Drive, 1, 2...nothing. When we shut the key off and restart...it will try to go...might be able to get it to move about 3 feet or so...then nothing.

I checked the fluid...fine. Correct color, no burnt smell.

Drive line is fine.

Had it towed to a local tranny shop that I've used for other vehicles before. They looked at it and called me....$2000-$2500 to rebuild. They claim that the tranny is just "worn out". I feel that they've treated me fair in the past....but here's my problem

If a light bulb goes out on your kitchen...what do you do?....You change the bulb.

If all of the lights go out in the house...do you start changing bulbs?!? No....obviously you go check the breaker!

That said...

There was no warning...just no movement. It seems to me that when a tranny goes bad (...which I've experienced before...) there's usually issues that preceed this....grinding, rough shifting, strange noises....something. Also...the chances of all gears going bad at once seems statistically impossible.

The tranny shop says "rebuild"...but all they did was pull the pan to make this determination. Does anybody else feel like we should be looking at something that would be common to all gears not moving the car....like a rear end, or the shift computer, or a torque convertor....ect, ect....

Regards,

Bryan Strope

Post Falls, Idaho

Bryan,

This thread ends with some suggestions, but I see no posting of a resolution. I have an LS 400 '93 model and last weekend it exhibited the very behavior that you describe. Have you been able to resolve your problem?

Joe Strickhouser

[bstrope]

Hi all....

I have a 1993 LS400 with traction control....

My wife was driving home today when the car (going only about 35mph...) just coasted to a stop!!!

No harsh noises...no grinding....just...nothing. It was as if the tranny just disappeared! The engine purrs like a kitten, but no matter what gear we put the auto into...the car won't move. Reverse, Drive, 1, 2...nothing. When we shut the key off and restart...it will try to go...might be able to get it to move about 3 feet or so...then nothing.

I checked the fluid...fine. Correct color, no burnt smell.

Drive line is fine.

Had it towed to a local tranny shop that I've used for other vehicles before. They looked at it and called me....$2000-$2500 to rebuild. They claim that the tranny is just "worn out". I feel that they've treated me fair in the past....but here's my problem

If a light bulb goes out on your kitchen...what do you do?....You change the bulb.

If all of the lights go out in the house...do you start changing bulbs?!? No....obviously you go check the breaker!

That said...

There was no warning...just no movement. It seems to me that when a tranny goes bad (...which I've experienced before...) there's usually issues that preceed this....grinding, rough shifting, strange noises....something. Also...the chances of all gears going bad at once seems statistically impossible.

The tranny shop says "rebuild"...but all they did was pull the pan to make this determination. Does anybody else feel like we should be looking at something that would be common to all gears not moving the car....like a rear end, or the shift computer, or a torque convertor....ect, ect....

Regards,

Bryan Strope

Post Falls, Idaho

Bryan,

This thread ends with some suggestions, but I see no posting of a resolution. I have an LS 400 '93 model and last weekend it exhibited the very behavior that you describe. Have you been able to resolve your problem?

Joe Strickhouser

Actually...my resolution was to rebuild it. I had my own personal mechanic (30 years experience....my good friend for 25 of those...) take a look at it as the shop pulled it out. It was a catastrophic failure...appeared to start with torque convertor and got worse from there. Cost $2100...with a 2 year warranty.

Oh well...

[rich13]

I can assure you that the trans is not just "worn out". What has happened is that something broke, fell off, or went out of adjustment. It is a component failure, probably quite simple. It is similar to finding your engine doesn't start one morning, and the best the "mechanic" can come up with is that the engine is "worn out". Bunch of crap. Find another shop. Don't even speak to those guys again.

The Toyota trans we have does have some history of solenoid failures in the valve body. That may be all it is, and they are relatively inexpensive to diagnose and repair.

I have to agree with SRK that is is probably something simple, but the trouble is finding some mechanic who has the brains to diagnose a complicated problem like that. So many I have dealt with just take the easy step and just replace the entire unit rather than read the instructions. I call them "plug and pay" mechanics!

(The trans ECU will put out an error code if it detects a malfunctioning solenoid, so if you have a blinking engine check light then they are the reason, the code will tell you which one)

My 92 manual says the most likely cause of no drive in forward or reverse is

1) Throttle cable - you say it purrs (idles??), but does it respond to the throttle? I assume yes.

2) Transmission control rod - unlikey as it would have been in drive at the time it may have come apart, but maybe it springs to a neutral position (doubtful). Still an easy check to see if the selector rod is connected between the gear selector stick and the transmission.

Unfortunately I don't have the A340, A341E transmission repair manual to tell you about these others.

3) Manual Valve

4) Parking lock pawl

If these check out OK then the next likely culprits are

5) OD one way clutch

6) OD brake

7) OD direct clutch

8) OD planetarygear unit

9) Torque converter

Good luck.

[lexus400]

Wow, that's the first time I have heard an LS transmission fail like that. Actually haven't heard of too many failing in any way actually. Compared to the Audi A8 (my other car), $2k is a pretty reasonable number.

Bob

Actually...my resolution was to rebuild it. I had my own personal mechanic (30 years experience....my good friend for 25 of those...) take a look at it as the shop pulled it out. It was a catastrophic failure...appeared to start with torque convertor and got worse from there. Cost $2100...with a 2 year warranty.

Oh well...