1G No forward gears no reverse gears, help!

[evanspears1]

Hey guys,
Got another what appears to be oddball problem. So first off I know the trans isn’t shot, it worked perfect before I parked it to do my megasquirt install a month ago. I had a problem where the shifter was hard to move, and wouldn’t engage park. I followed the service manual directions to adjust the shifter cable and it was perfectly adjust without having to do anything. I removed the cable from the arm to verify it wasn’t something inside the car or the cable sticking, all that is smooth as glass.

I proceeded to disassemble the shifter arm and I’m assuming PRNDL switch on the trans. Once the got the arm and switch off there appeared to be a lot of corrosion there, I cleaned it best I could. Seemed to be a tiny bit smoother to turn by hand. Figured I’d try to remove the rod thing that goes into the trans, it would move but wouldn’t come out. Found a weird little 10mm bolt with a nipple thing on side of the trans that I’m assuming is like a guide to keep that rod where it goes. Still couldn’t get shaft out. Wiggled around a bunch and I could feel 6 distinct notches when turning it so I figured it was good.

Fast forward to today, finished my megasquirt install, think it’s time for a drive, go to put it in gear and it’s like neutral, reverse is the same. No matter what I do I never feel any type of engagement. Normally I have a big thud when I put it in drive bc I’ve deleted tcm and just using a homemade shift box to switch gears. It’s been like that for over a decade so I know this problem isn’t related to that.

Anyone have any ideas before I go outside and burn this cursed junk?

Thanks in advance,

Evan

So just to add to what I posted I went outside and pulled the cable off of the shift lever thing, moved it out of what should’ve been park, and into what feels like should be low gear, and still no movement.

Also forgot to mention car is a 1991 talon tsi awd.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Add fluid. The trans works its thing if there is no electric signals going to the solenoids that shift it so it would result in "limp mode" which gives you park, reverse, neutral and THIRD gear with no operating TCU to get you home. Check your fluid level in NEUTRAL at idle and warm.

 

[evanspears1]

Fluid level is perfect, I should have mentioned that, but forgot.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I hate this next "test", but crack a transmission cooler line and see if you have any pressure. AS SOON AS YOU VERIFY PRESSURE, shut it off. That will tell you if the front pump took a dump or not. If you have a second set of hands, have someone else start the car and be ready to shut it off to avoid a very big mess.

 

[evanspears1]

I hate this next "test", but crack a transmission cooler line and see if you have any pressure. AS SOON AS YOU VERIFY PRESSURE, shut it off. That will tell you if the front pump took a dump or not. If you have a second set of hands, have someone else start the car and be ready to shut it off to avoid a very big mess.

So I just checked that and the nipple closest to the radiator was barely dribbling anything out, the nipple closest to the firewall had nothing. If that means my pump went bad how does that even happen sitting for a month, I drove it to its current spot on Jan 19th and it worked fine, only thing changed is all the factory wiring is gone and megasquirt is on the car now, and I tried to fix the shifter thingy on the trans. Does that thing not being in the right spot or whatever have the ability to stop the pump from pumping?

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Boy....not what any of us wanted to hear. Let me see if any of the transmission guys can chime in. @twicks69 ? Got any words of wisdom for our member?
How about you other auto members @enriquez2000 any advice?
I don't think what you did had anything to do with it but I am not up to speed on the autos even though I worked on my own.
If you drove it there and now it won't move, that is a good question to be answered.

 

[evanspears1]

Yep, drive it exactly where it’s parked at on January 19th. Tore out all the wiring in the engine bay except for headlights, turn signal kinda stuff, installed ms3x, and fiddled with that rod thing and now nothing. It wasn’t slipping, making weird noises, getting hot or anything. I’m at a loss right now at what could’ve happened, I’m really hoping it’s something I’ve overlooked or easily solvable but it ain’t looking good. I’ve fiddled with the linkage and that bar thing that goes inside the transmission and nothing seems to have changed…

 

[enriquez2000]

Yep, drive it exactly where it’s parked at on January 19th. Tore out all the wiring in the engine bay except for headlights, turn signal kinda stuff, installed ms3x, and fiddled with that rod thing and now nothing. It wasn’t slipping, making weird noises, getting hot or anything. I’m at a loss right now at what could’ve happened, I’m really hoping it’s something I’ve overlooked or easily solvable but it ain’t looking good. I’ve fiddled with the linkage and that bar thing that goes inside the transmission and nothing seems to have changed…

So to be clear... with car running you popped the trans lines off and barely got a dribble?

If you have basically ZERO pressure while running you either have a bad pump or bad clogs in your valve body/filter.

The valve body "sucks" up all your fluid and sends it through the various ports to make things happen... park Neutral And Reverse all require zero electronics.. if you dont have reverse you have a mechanical issue in either pump or valve body.

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[motomattx]

The transmission should be in a gear to test the transmission line pressure.

 

[evanspears1]

So to be clear... with car running you popped the trans lines off and barely got a dribble?

If you have basically ZERO pressure while running you either have a bad pump or bad clogs in your valve body/filter.

The valve body "sucks" uo all your fluid and sends it through the various ports to make things happen... park Neutral And Reverse all require zero electronics.. if you dont have reverse you have a mechanical issue in either pump or valve body.

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If that trans is in park does it still pump fluid? Bc I believe my problem is even though the shift lever is moving I don’t thing it’s actually doing anything inside the trans, so if park doesn’t pump fluid then that makes me hopeful it’s not a major failure.

I cross posted onto an auto specific dsm group and got some internal pics of where that road goes do, and I’m hoping and pray I’ve I’ve knocked the shift lever that goes over to the detent comb off which would make sense that I could feel the Serena, but nothing actually happens. Also I’m saying a little prayer that the pump doesn’t pump in park which would add to my mid-night best case scenario diagnosis .

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Probably time to pull the pan for a first hand look at things.

 

[evanspears1]

Probably time to pull the pan for a first hand look at things.

It’s rained from daylight to dark in east KY today or it woulda been off already. Still wondering if it’s supposed to pump fluid in park though, hopefully someone will chime in with that info, and soon as it stops raining in the am I’ll pull the pan and hope I don’t mess something else up, haha.

 

[enriquez2000]

Is @transdude still on here?

 

[motomattx]

I have been rebuilding auto transmissions for years, find out whats going on in the manual valve in the transmission, or test the fluid output in a gear but do it quickly so as not to run the pump out of fluid, my guess is that you somehow pulled the selector rod out of the manual valve in the transmission, you could have broken the manual valve if you somehow forced it down into the valve when it wasn't lined up, the pan needs pulled to check it for sure though.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

AND the manual valve is delicate so handle it with care. I have bent one, they will bend easy but they are not easy to find other than Sonnex.

 

[evanspears1]

Thanks everyone for all the information! As soon as weather cooperates I’ll pull the pan. It rained for 24hr straight, today was supposed to be partly cloudy and 60*, it’s currently 31 and pouring snow but I’ll report back asap what I find once the pan is off!!!

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Crossing fingers it is as simple as it can be as @motomattx has explained.

 

[evanspears1]

Ok, so mothers nature finally quit being a prick and I was able to get outside and pull the pan so I have a small update, and I’m gonna ask y’all bear with me bc I don’t know the technical name for this stuff so I’m gonna do my best to describe it. In the video the thing I’m wiggling and sliding in and out goes into the valve body, the little stud on the comb wasn’t inside there like it should be, I’m guessing when I pulled up on the shift rod initially I popped it out of there. Should that little plunger have any resistance sliding in an out because it doesn’t. Is that what tells the valve body to transfer fluid and make fluid circulate through the lines and go into gear? If that wasn’t engaging previously would that explain why no fluid was pumping through the cooler lines when the selector appeared to be in gear? Long story short if I put it back together would that make this junk pile move again, or do I need to pull the valve body and go deeper?

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[enriquez2000]

Just reattach it... you should be fine.. i used my spare to shoe you the movement it has

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[evanspears1]

Just reattach it... you should be fine.. i used my spare to shoe you the movement it has

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Thank you for that, mine moves just like that it just wasn’t attached to the comb, and that’s the valve that makes fluid move through the trans right?

 

[enriquez2000]

Thank you for that, mine moves just like that it just wasn’t attached to the comb, and that’s the valve that makes fluid move through the trans right?

Yes.. it tells the valve body what gear it should be in.

 

[1fastcolt]

love the leaf extra 10 HP... great thread so far.. makes alot of sense. I think mine did the exact same thing.

 

[enriquez2000]

love the leaf extra 10 HP... great thread so far.. makes alot of sense. I think mine did the exact same thing.

Spare parts in the shed.. leaf happens

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

This is the point where you need to be extra careful not to bend the valve. This should fix your issue.

 

[enriquez2000]

This is the point where you need to be extra careful not to bend the valve. This should fix your issue.

Yes be careful... i dont think you can find these valve bodies anymore.. i saved this one to have as a spare.. just in case someday.