Car will not move!

[DroopYeyeS]

Ok everyone, I'm trying to get other opinions before I break down and simply pull my freinds A/T out of his car. As the title states, his car will not move. This happened very suddenly, and rather random.
Back ground: Car is a '91 TSI AWD that he purchased almost a year ago. Car was bone stock when purchased, but needed a little work to be road worthy. It needed a new radiator, ECU, TCU, exhaust, & end clutch. I replaced all with new or remaned pieces. Rad is new from local parts store, ECU is reman from same store, TCU is out of my car (same model & year), end clutch is from IPT, and the exhaust wasn't put on until this issue started (figure work on it all at once ).
After the end clutch install and new TCU all was well with this car for about 3months. The owner had actually just returned from a short trip to a local store before we were all going to take a spin. He shut the car off for all of maybe 20 min. We headed out got in our cars to leave, and his would not move. When put in gear it makes a whining noise, but doesn't even try to budge. If allowed to sit and cool down, when started back up, it will move about 3 feet, then it is done.
Fluid looks as if it could use a change (slightly dark), but is full.
Any thoughts on this one? I've already consider the PCSV, and clutch plates, but as I said have not pulled the tranny apart yet. Anyone in favor of possible band adjustments fixing it? .

 

[Anubis_4_99]

last time something like that happened to me, i had to replace the transmission.

you might get luckier then i did though, hopefully someone else can chime in with a possible solution.

 

[transdude]

Nothing easy. Sounds like something went very bad and the filter is getting clogged with the amount of debris that is being generated.

When you shut the car off for a while, the garbage falls out of the filter and it will move for a bit before it gets clogged up again.

The whining sound is the pump trying to pull fluid through the blocked filter.

-John
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[rbwtrans]

Just to add to what John has already said; you will destroy your pump if you keep running the car with the filter stopped up. Did you change the filter and fluid after changing the end clutches? If not, then it could very well be the carnage from the first end clutches failing that is plugging the filter. Either way, you'll never get anywhere without dropping the pan and taking a look at the debris. Change the filter and pan gasket and see what's left of it.

 

[DroopYeyeS]

Yeah I figured this was going to be the response, . Thanks for the input guys. No rbwtrans, I did not change filter & fluid, bad move I know. The clutches hadn't fully melted down or anything, just they were slipping. The car is not being driven at this point, I advised him to park it until I could inspect the issue. I plan on pulling the pan this weekend.

 

[transdude]

Changing the filter isn't a fix for the problem. Something is coming apart in the trans or converter.

Changing the filter may help for a few hours, that's about it.


-John
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[DroopYeyeS]

I already figured that. I just want to get the pan off and see how bad the failure was. I'm already advising him to pick up the rebuild kit from you guys at IPT. You are were he got the end clutch kit as well. Once the parts are in, I have a rebuild on my hands. Only question after that is the TC.

 

[transdude]

I already figured that. I just want to get the pan off and see how bad the failure was. I'm already advising him to pick up the rebuild kit from you guys at IPT. You are were he got the end clutch kit as well. Once the parts are in, I have a rebuild on my hands. Only question after that is the TC.

We can get you a kit w/o the end clutches if the ones you just put in are still good and discount it- ie subtract whatever the ec kit is.

We can also get your converter needs taken care of, no matter what they are.


-John
IPT Performance Transmissions
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[the_mork]

While I will agree with John that the car has a bigger problem than just the filter needing to be replaced I can tell you that replacing the filter will get you by in a pinch for a while. If you need it for transportation then changing the filter is a cheap way to handle the issue for now. When I had a very similar problem I managed 6 months out of my transmission before it finally went just from a filter change and flush. Your mileage may vary (literally).