Rev's Up But No Go !

[97 Talon Esi]

Ok so early tonight i was driving home an all of a sudden my speedometer jumped up to like 100 mph an i know i was not going that fast. So i ended up pulling into the nearest parking lot an the car was reving really high an the speedometer was telling me i was going fast but i was not picking up any speed what so ever. I got out an popped the hood an pulled the stick an the level was fine I smelled the fluid an it seems to smell burnt. I jump back into my car an went through all of my gears an nothing. I noticed that when i shift into park it will grind. I am thinking it could be the torque convertor but i wanted to get some opinions on it before i go throwing all my money at it. The car is an Automatic AWD.

I wanted to add that the transmission is engaging in gear, because i can move in reverse but not much. Someone i know said it is most like the clutch packs are worn out an the teeth are worn down to where there not catching. I am going to go fetch the car later today an will be looking at it in detail so i will post what i find as soon as i can. What sucks about the whole thing is that this is my dd.

 

[Below Ambient]

im in the same boat and was told its the solenoids, and i need to test them and replace which one is bad, but i know nothing about automatics..

 

[the_mork]

If you're free revving basically without the speedometer moving then I would suggest end clutches are the problem and they can be replaced fairly easily.

If the speedometer is moving then the transmission itself is likely fine and your issue is the power going to the wheels. I would suspect that you've broken a differential.

 

[Below Ambient]

well i pulled the codes and almost every code came out so its onto the flatbed and to the tranny shop... the good thing is the shop i wanted an estimate on asked whether or not is was a 604 trans, so thats a good thing..

 

[the_mork]

It really is a differential I'm almost sure. Usually when the center diff goes you will end up with nasty noises and hopping/skipping in the rear before it finally breaks all the way. If it is a front diff then I suspect it just stops moving.

In my fwd when I broke the front diff there was no noise and I even managed to drive it a nerve wracking 70 miles home but once it stopped moving it didn't ever want to move again.

When you get it fixed you'll want to fix the cause of the breakage which rarely is material defects in these cases. Most likely you had severe wheel hop during a launch which caused side load on the diff and pushed it into the side of the case while spinning buzz sawing some sensitive components into a metal wall that may or may not have given out along with the diff itself (mine did). To prevent this in the future you can upgrade to a LSD style diff such as a Kaaz, Wavetrack, or Quaife which will be much stronger and even out traction to reduce wheel hop. This is by far the best solution but is quite expensive at a cost of $800+, or you can work to simply stop the wheel hop itself by moving to stiffer suspension (especially struts!), poly/filled motor mounts, and poly suspension bushings all of which are relatively cheap and will significantly reduce wheel hop while increasing traction.

 

[Below Ambient]

It really is a differential I'm almost sure. Usually when the center diff goes you will end up with nasty noises and hopping/skipping in the rear before it finally breaks all the way. If it is a front diff then I suspect it just stops moving.

In my fwd when I broke the front diff there was no noise and I even managed to drive it a nerve wracking 70 miles home but once it stopped moving it didn't ever want to move again.

When you get it fixed you'll want to fix the cause of the breakage which rarely is material defects in these cases. Most likely you had severe wheel hop during a launch which caused side load on the diff and pushed it into the side of the case while spinning buzz sawing some sensitive components into a metal wall that may or may not have given out along with the diff itself (mine did). To prevent this in the future you can upgrade to a LSD style diff such as a Kaaz, Wavetrack, or Quaife which will be much stronger and even out traction to reduce wheel hop. This is by far the best solution but is quite expensive at a cost of $800+, or you can work to simply stop the wheel hop itself by moving to stiffer suspension (especially struts!), poly/filled motor mounts, and poly suspension bushings all of which are relatively cheap and will significantly reduce wheel hop while increasing traction.

this is an auto... no hop at all... its also a 105k car and other than the trans it was well taken care for... trust me ive gone through everything else on the car and its a true example of someone with no concept of maintenance or what a turbo AWD car is used for... plus i did buy it from a girl

 

[the_mork]

I may have mixed you up with the OP here, and in that case my diagnosis does not hold if your speedometer doesn't move when revving in gear. In that case then it would be end clutches, but the OP has issues with a diff.

That said, for the record wheel hop broke the diff in my automatic transmission with 97k on it. Just because the drive train sees less shock does not mean that wheel hop doesn't happen.

Also whoever told you it was solenoids (re-reading to make sure I'm talking to the right person) was incorrect. If there are solenoid issues the car will go into limp mode and drive in 3rd gear. The ONLY exception to this AFAIK is if the main "blue wire" solenoid that relieves line pressure is missing or not tightened down. If it malfunctions it should just close and the car will still be able to move, but if it physically comes off its seat then you wont go anywhere and unless you've pulled the transmission pan recently that is very unlikely.

 

[97 Talon Esi]

I wanted to post an update on my problem. So i ended up getting it towed back to my house on a wrecker, an noticed when the guy lifted my vehicle on the back of the truck it started pouring alot of tranny fluid onto the ground ! I jacked it up an got underneath an noticed where my transfer case is bolted up to the transmission there is a major leak. I managed to snap some pictures i will post as soon as i can, but there is a shaft that runs between the two an it is where i am losing alot of fluid on the tranny side. I think something came loose because this shaft is shinny an me living in ny that being exposed like that would be pretty rusty. Any ideas on what could of caused this to fail ? Any what is the technical name so i can grab parts, thanks for your time.

Opps i didn't fully read all the post. It must be the center diff. that came apart !

 

[97 Talon Esi]

here are the pictures

that shaft is where the fluid is coming from. Sorry for the shit pictures.

 

[97 Talon Esi]

Ok so i removed my T-Case which was really simple, but my problem is the cv shaft that runs into the tranny. I know the seal is bad, but why would this cause me not to move at all. The shaft has alot of movement an it looks like it has walked out a little bit. Any info would be much apprieciated. I am going to start pulling the cv shaft out now an will post more pictures.

 

[the_mork]

The CV shaft should not move around at all while it is in the transmission. If it does then this supports the idea of a broken differential. vfaq.com has some information for replacing a diff in a manual but I haven't seen a guide for replacing one on an automatic. That said, I don't expect that the process is all that different so long as you are very careful not to let parts get lost or out of place.

When I broke the diff in my fwd automatic I was quoted about $300 to replace it by a tranny shop with the tranny already out. This was more than a different transmission for me so that was the way I went but an awd transmission is generally more expensive and harder to find so your situation may vary, and if your case isn't cracked the cost may be less.

 

[97 Talon Esi]

Im not trying to bring back an old post at all i just wanted to put an update on here so if anyone else ever runs into this problem they can look for it. As you all know i recently had a problem where i couldn't move at all,an upon inspection i noticed that on the cv shaft on the driverside there is a carrier type bearing on the shaft about half way down an what happened is that both of the bolts that thread in the back of the block where sheared of an the axle was moving around like crazy an whiped out the seal that is in the side of the transmission. After extracting the broken bolts which where a PITA an replacement of the seal my car was fixed.