well i finished all my repair to the maxima. seeing how it was all suspension. seems kind of stupid in hindsight.
buttoned it all up, started up the motor, ran smooth, put it into drive.... nothing. put it into '2', nothing, put it into '1'. nothing. reverse. nothing. park CRACKAKCKCKAKCKACKCAK... thats the best way to put it i guess. never got any wheel movement. the AT must be ****ed.
and thats it
peace

 

look under the car before you condem it.
maybe the shift linkage cracked

I do have a red VE5 for sale

 

i lived under the car for the last few weeks. everything i can see looks good. linkage is okay, checked that twice. the one thing i thought was low transmission fluid... but i dont know if it would totally disable the drivetrain, ha, whatever it was its bad. the clunking and clattering in park is what really freaks me out. every other gear was just empty, no reaction. like neutral.

 

sounds like the tranny is moving...but not applying tq to the wheels. when you put it back to P then tranny grinds to a stop...hence the noise.

check the tranny fluid...make sure all the electrical connections are good. it might be time for a rebuild.

 

also make sure the axles are seated properly and not jacked up.. from the impact you gave the car, it might have damaged an axle or the diff.

at this point, you don't have much more to lose by replacing the axles or the tranny... axles are $60 each or so and a junkyard tranny is a couple hundred bucks.

 

i guess the last thing i'll try is the tranny fluid. then if i have to, axles. then a bigger decision... but not yet.
however, i can never get an accurate reading on the fluid.
how does tranfluid move through the system? can i leave the trans. in park and run the engine to get it through the pressure plates and all that amazing stuff in there?
do i even need to run it as i refill? my assumption there is yes, since i've had a high reading turn into a low reading the last time the engine ran.
thanks for being so responsive,
tom

 

it needs to be warm and running when you check the fluid level. also needs to be on level ground. it's a PITA to check and fill the fluid in these things.

 

I remember when I did my bbk install, the d side axle pulled itself out of the outer cv joint (closest to the wheel). It made a "wwwrrrwrrrrr" noise in reverse and barely moved. You might have actually broken something like the axle or pulled it out from the cv. But the axle might still be inside the cv boot so you can't tell easy. Here's a pic.

 

jeff, thanks for the picture. i am definitely a visual learner
i got so many wacked up reading on the ATF that I decided to let the car idle until for 20 min, then check... can't even get a reading at that point.
it leaked less than a quart in my garage, none at the accident... so the two days it sat at the towing place... towing guys - i knew they pulled the axle out, should have realized they lost most of the fluid. ****! those *******s just leave the car in the dirt or gravel on the ground, they could at least put it on some jacks, or blocks.
too late to buy any atf now... actually i'll go to the gas-station
i didn't cause too much damage by grinding the gears at low rpm (idle) did i?
t

 

I can't say really. Try to jack it up and wobble the damaged side axle. If it's super loose, it probably worked itself out of the outer cv. Or at least I hope it did. Cheaper than a tranny!

 

wooo that new fluid came right out the left axle!
guess i'll have to pull it and see whats up
damn
t

 

One last thing. Is that a good sign (is it ever?) that the fluid is literally pouring out where the L-halfshaft comes out of the tranny? I take it to mean that the axle is definitely pulled out.
i dont know as much as you guys, but from what i've learned myself and what you've said, i'd say-

1: The cause of the transmission running 'dead' and not engaging is as danny first pointed out, that the fluid is simply low.

2: The cause of the low fluid is the pulled out halfshaft, or its seal being dislodged or severely damaged.

and now i wonder:

1: if the trans, or axle, was damaged internally, why would it leak (pour) out the L-halfshaft? Could it be a combination of trans. damage and pulled out axle?

2: I haven't really conceptualized what damage to this area is like. do i expect the teeth on the shafts to be broken? look into the trans to see if it has been deformed? i'm not even sure what i'm looking for. all i know is that right where the halfshaft enters the trans, the fluid leaks (pours) out.

Tom

 

If the axle is in all the way, your tranny might be damaged.

 

hard to say, but it does wiggle up to 3/4 inch around when i pull on it.
so if its in there, it REALLY ****ed it up.
tomorrow i get an axle lug. thats whats holding me up now
t

 

I have that problem too. My tranny died on me so I bought another one at the junkyard and installed. That one leaks a little bit within the turbine housing, the seal on the axle that goes into the tranny. It's not much but it's still a leak. I get all kinds of strange readings on tha atf. At first I filled / checked / filled / checked until the level was just under 'max' (when it was hot). Then I drove for a couple of days and checked the level again, then it was just over min. So I filled some again and checked, still with the tranny hot. After a couple of days I checked again, suddenly it was over max... ??? Went through the gears again just to make sure, and yes, still over max. Didn't care much, wasn't going to keep this tranny anyway so what if I blew the seals... a couple of days later the level was back at just over min again... *duh*

Think it's due to the tranny being damaged, it needs to be rebuilt. I've got the first tranny at the shop right now so I'll just wait for that.

 

well if you're holding it by the end the axle should have some good deal of movement due to the CVs. pull the axle out...look inside if you see metal shavings...if there's a lot them you know something grinded. if nothing then make sure the axle is in correctly and top off the ATF and give it a shot.
if you really want to test it out then jack up both wheels and spin the pass side wheel and see if the driver side moves (vice versa)...that's usually a decent indication that the splines are in the differential.

 

It sounds like the same problem i had when i replaced my tranny you have to pop the half shaft in kinda hard till it locks in. what wrecking yard has 100$ trannys? i looked for like 5 months everywhere and when i did finaly locate one they wanted 1800$ and it had 190,000 miles on it

 

i pulled the axle and... it doesnt look that bad. the end has some wear near the tip, i guess thats what was still in the trans when i collided the gears last time. the o-ring is a lil' bent. the inside of the tranny looks okay, no shavings or broken/worn teeth. it was hard to get a picture inside there...
i'm considering just stuffing it back it more firmly this time and seeing if it holds fluid. here are some pictures though, i am not trained to recognize a problem yet as i've never seen this part of the car before.
t

 

looks normal to me from what I can see there
I dont think you added any wear to the end. I think it normally just tapers off like that. The clip is supposed to be a little bit bigger than the axle so it's fine. When you push it in, it'll take a little force, but you'll feel it clip in. Be sure to replace the axle seal though.

 

That axle looks okay. But are both ends of the axle still inserted into the both cv assemblies? They should pivot of course but not be all loose.

Next is to stick your finger just inside the seal and feel the bearing that you see in the picture. It's just beyond the seal. Move it and see that it moves smooth. Then try to see if there is any up down play. You might have to reinsert the axle and then grab the metal part of the cv. Then try to move the cv up/down. If it moves more than about 1/4" (from up to down), then that bearing might have been damaged.

 

might want to clean up that rust you have there....rubber oil seals are not too friendly w/ rust.

 

thanks danny, craig, jeff. i wiped off the rust, seemed to be almost superficial (car is from GA/TX) then i cleaned the axle end by swirling it in a little tub of ATF, squirted some in the tranny and let it flow out to make sure there were no little filings, then put the axle back in/woodblock + hammer/tap tap tap, till it seemed to be seated, refilled the trans and the car is idling up to temp now.
no ****ing leak! i hope it stays that way, will update
tom

 

drove around the block a few times, it was nice to be moving again.
still cant get a reading on the fluid. totally drained it, then put 4 quarts in and i'm getting a reading of... like... 3 inches above max on the stick. thats impossible!? the shifting feels a little rough... so i am certainly not going to dump any until its run for a while and seen if the level changes at all.
thanks for all your help guys, i cant believe how despondant i was yesterday, my dad was trying to contact salvage yards :yearight: since its my car, bought with money i earned while living in Atlanta, i had to ignore him, but he really got me down feel much better now
t

 

run up to temp...(not HOT HOT) just up to regular temp.
park the car on a level surface. leave the car running and pull the stick to do your regular check. if it's a hair over the full it's ok...if it's low just top off. if it's wayyy over then drain a little of it.

glad the car is running again.

 

no odd noises then? Sweet!

 

no odd noises! ran totally straight, totally smooth - cant thank you guys enough for the help, couldnt have done it without you.
the problem with where i live is the total lack of people that actually find it interesting and worthwhile to open the hood. i dont know ANYONE else in my town that works on their own car, yet i find it completely addictive and worth every minute of my time.
right now the car is at STS, their going to check the alignment, bleed the brakes and do a general inspection of all the work i did
thanks again
T