Can't Shift Into 3rd

[ledzilla]

I was on my way home from my nephew's first birthday party when I noticed that I couldn't get into third gear. I can go from first into second, but that's it. Also, I had to turn off overdrive because with it turned on the transmission wouldn't engage, it would act like it was in neutral.

[IwantmyMMnow!]

I'm not an expert, but have read about similar situations from other owners...sounds like the OD band is caput. I'm sure someone else can step in to confirm or correct me on this.

[justbob]

Any codes yet?


Self proclaimed Builder Of Badassery.

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"Since 2004"

[ledzilla]

I had something similar happen to my Lincoln, but dropping it into first, accelerating beyond 40mph, then putting it back into drive got me into gear. Not happening here. Guess it's the difference in technologies after 15 years.

But I have no codes to work with with. This happened late last night so no shops were open and I don't have my own code reader. I'm not sure where there are any shops nearby to check codes, though. I'm still new in my neighborhood.

[99SVT]

I've had that happen twice.

First time was the stub shaft shearing on the 2-3 shift at WOT.

Second time was the direct drum snap ring popping off on a 4-2 downshift. (happened on the dyno, tuner was testing trans shift patterns)

[ledzilla]

How much did repairs run you?

[LANDY]

Sounds like the stub shaft.

[RoyLPita]

My vote for the stub shaft plus other consequential damage.

[ledzilla]

Yeah, I'm jumping for joy. =P I just wish I could swing the money for a second car for when the Marauder is feeling ill.

[Tnbigbody]

Yeah stub shaft same thing happened to mine but not any more :)

[ledzilla]

So, I have a borrowed Buick ('01 Century Custom, was hoping for the '69 Special :D) while I wait for parts. My brother-in-law is convinced he knows what's wrong, and he's pretty damned good at this stuff (much better then me, that's for sure). We have parts on order and hopefully they all arrive before Sunday so we can get my beastie back into proper running condition as soon as possible.

[ledzilla]

Well, we swapped out some parts, and replaced the shifter cable since the transmission-side connector snapped while we were working. Things got a bit worse (blaming it on partial replacement of trans fluid, old fluid, which wasn't that old, holding things together). We found A LOT of filings on the pan magnet, and we had to get the RPMs up before it would engage (it was like having a high stall torque converter). So now we're looking to find a rebuilt trans for a good price or, if we can reach him, have a transmission expert do a rebuild.

[justbob]

That cable was a ball of joy wasn't it?


Self proclaimed Builder Of Badassery.

Buy it, Break it, Build it BETTER.
"Since 2004"

[ledzilla]

Well, the cable sucked ass to remove, but it was easier to install for some reason. Didn't even try to route it back the way it came, though. Maybe that's why. :P It was kind of jammed up in the dash, so we cut it up to pull it out.

[justbob]

Well, the cable sucked ass to remove, but it was easier to install for some reason. Didn't even try to route it back the way it came, though. Maybe that's why. :P It was kind of jammed up in the dash, so we cut it up to pull it out.

Same here. Of course, my install was even easier than yours. NONE! :D


Self proclaimed Builder Of Badassery.

Buy it, Break it, Build it BETTER.
"Since 2004"

[ledzilla]

Ok... So my transmission finally got rebuilt, and it was indeed the stub shaft. In fact, it had sheared so badly that a piece of it got jammed up in a valve (I think that's what the guy said). Either way, there was a piece of it in a very unexpected place. So it's been rebuilt and has had the J-mod applied. But now for some reason it shifts strangely (it shifts through the gears too quickly and will bounce between third and fourth at certain speeds) and the speedometer will start bouncing up and down after getting past 25mph. The two might be related, not sure. The speedo smooths back out once I get up over 55mph. I also have the check engine light one, but that happened while the trans was blown before we put in the new solenoids and well enough before the rebuild, so I'll keep an eye on it for now. I did stop at AZ and get the codes read. I forgot the printout in the car so I can't type out the codes right now, so I'll add them later.