Transmission just quit

I was trying to check if one of my brakes is stuck

If you are looking for a dragging caliper, put it in Neutral with the engine off and try to turn each wheel by hand.

(edit to add) Keep in mind that if you haven't driven it in a few days the rotors will be surface rusty and drag a little anyway.

Thanks! If there was a stuck brake could that cause the transmission to heat up and overflow?

RidzRiv wrote:

Thanks! If there was a stuck brake could that cause the transmission to heat up and overflow?

If one side of your brakes was hanging up that badly to cause the trans to overheat, it wouldn't have even be drivable. You'd be holding the steering wheel with both hands to keep from ending up on either side of the road....

Well I wasn't able to get the car to even move without revving it up to 5000 rpms the other day just to jack it up. Then the other day BEFORE filling the transmission fluid it moved back in reverse enough for me to jack it up just fine. When it didn't work until 5000rpms it didn't feel like there was torque until then. Thats why i didn't suspect a stuck brake. The other weird thing is that I wasn't able to push it back the first day when i put it in neutral, but i could in reverse.

RidzRiv wrote:

Well I wasn't able to get the car to even move without revving it up to 5000 rpms the other day just to jack it up. Then the other day BEFORE filling the transmission fluid it moved back in reverse enough for me to jack it up just fine. When it didn't work until 5000rpms it didn't feel like there was torque until then. Thats why i didn't suspect a stuck brake. The other weird thing is that I wasn't able to push it back the first day when i put it in neutral, but i could in reverse.

Well that's some good info I suppose. Did you find a wheel that was stuck then?

The passenger side front wheel seems a little tough and does not spin in drive. Does it usually spin in drive? or does just the drivers side get power?

Both sides get approximately even power, if both wheels are off the ground they should approximately spin together. Don't forget they are rusty and hard to spin, one side of the car may have more sun or condensation than the other side, and thus a rustier rotor, so it may be a red herring about your transmission issues.

Fluid should be red, not pink. Pink indicates foaming to me. That anything comes out the vent port at all worries me. You've got a transmission problem to deal with before you bother looking at brakes.

You may also get foaming if the pump was sucking air, so having run out of trans fluid may have air bubbles throughout the system. I'm thinking you are still low on fluid, but I can't see what you are seeing...

No foaming, the fluid is red i guess. It looks exactly the same as the fluid i just bought to put in it.

also, should the drivers side wheel spin forward slowly in neutral?

http://tripleedgeperformance.com/Top-vent-fluid-leak.html?no_redirect=true

This was the only thing I could find that really sounds like an answer to this issue. Probably a last resort thing to check but Im not familiar enough with transmissions to know of something else that could cause fluid to flow out of that vent!

Link doesn't work Dave...

I got the car towed to the shop that rebuilt it yesterday. I'm still waiting to hear what they say.

Abaddon wrote:

Link doesn't work Dave...

Try it now! I think it was because it was a mobile link!

Abaddon wrote:

It sounds to me like the channel plate gasket is gone, or not torqued correctly. There are 2 bolts for the channel plate just below that vent. They're supposed to be torqued to 14nM as opposed to the rest of the plate (12nM). The reason for this is because the outlet channel for the trans pump is right there, and it needs the extra "hold". Fluid literally squirts out from between the plates if the gasket fails. That's the only thing I can think of....

OR, the trans is overheating for some reason, but I highly doubt this is the case.

Um...did i not say Channel Plate gasket?? I summed that entire thing up for ya in my first response! Let's see what the shop says. Hopefully they just fix it and get you on your way.

Didnt see that! You're experience is 3 steps ahead of my google skills! Hahaha

The band would not affect reverse. Reverse has completely separate clutches. Gotta be something near the input of the trans. Like input shaft, flywheel or even pump.

The shop finally got back to me and they confirmed the transmission is definitely not operating correctly. They said it started to smoke out of the dipstick tube.

RidzRiv wrote:

The shop finally got back to me and they confirmed the transmission is definitely not operating correctly. They said it started to smoke out of the dipstick tube.

Lol? That doesn't say much. It'll start smoking if it's out of fluid and overheats. They should've done a tear down and find out what's wrong with the damn thing in the first place. I certainly hope they didn't toast it more by being stupid.....

The only place it has been leaking from is that vent on the top of the tranny. So I'm guessing it only leaked do to overheating caused by something being broken.

It's frustrating because I kept calling them for updates and it took ten a week just to look at it. They finally said they drove it around and nothing acted up and no fluid was leaking from the transmission. I then called the next day and asked if it was safe to drive, and they said they thougt so. I told them I'd come pick it up that night. Then they called me a half our later saying they took it out again and "got on it" a bit and there was definitely something wrong. He said it was smoking from the tranny dipstick.

RidzRiv wrote:

It's frustrating because I kept calling them for updates and it took ten a week just to look at it. They finally said they drove it around and nothing acted up and no fluid was leaking from the transmission. I then called the next day and asked if it was safe to drive, and they said they thougt so. I told them I'd come pick it up that night. Then they called me a half our later saying they took it out again and "got on it" a bit and there was definitely something wrong. He said it was smoking from the tranny dipstick.

Are you on warranty still? I hope you are! I been there with my riv, a few years ago my trans went out. I bought a smashed riv for the engine and now I've got a spare trans for your car for sale if you want it. It was a 96 riv with 67000 miles grandma owned. I'm using the engine for my car but the trans is incompatible

Thanks Ruben, but it should still be on warranty. It head been less than 10,000 miles

I got my Riv back last night. They said there was a gasket that went bad and was leaking fluid within the transmission. They supposedly rebuilt it and put it back in. I also got a new subframe, as they said mine was too rusted. The car is working well, and the front end feels much more composed now with the new cradle installed. I believe it was the channel plate gasket by the way Abaddon.

RidzRiv wrote:

I got my Riv back last night. They said there was a gasket that went bad and was leaking fluid within the transmission. They supposedly rebuilt it and put it back in. I also got a new subframe, as they said mine was too rusted. The car is working well, and the front end feels much more composed now with the new cradle installed. I believe it was the channel plate gasket by the way Abaddon.

Ha!!!

Cool stuff man. Glad they took care of it and you got it back in working condition. When I was rebuilding my trans, I missed the car badly. I was driving a Lucerne while the Riv was down and I couldn't stand it. Nothing worse than not having your Riv....

Abaddon wrote:

Nothing worse than not having your Riv....

+1. I usually drive a Sierra or G6 or Compass when my Rivi is down. I hate all of them except the Sierra, which is only fun when the roads are wet or icy or something because RWD.