Suggestions on a Transmission repair
 

Hello all,
So I have a few thoughts regarding my I30 that unfortunately hit a curb after I lost control. This happened back in October and the car has been off the road ever since. it had a damaged pan and solenoids. I replaced those parts but the car still will not shift into gear. I can't get the shifter to move at all and when I turn the key the car is stuck in reverse causing it not to start. This led me to believe that I put everything back together wrong. In the meantime, I picked up a 1998 Maxima to drive while I fix the I30.

Hear it my plan of action:
1. Buy a used transmission from a yard and swap it, I would fix the oil leaks as well
2. Or I could disassemble the current auto trans and try once again to fix it
What do you guys think? The car runs fine before the damage and I am determined to get it driving again. I am aware this is going to be a lot of work, but I am willing to do it.

If you disconnect the shifter cable at the transmission, does the shift lever in the car move?

As for the transmission itself, you probably did reassemble it incorrectly. Whether you can open it back up and figure it out is the question of the hour. Reading the posts of people replacing the solenoids, there is a tricky thing in there. When you remove the valve body, a spring will shoot out. If you didn't see it, then you don't put back in and the transmission does not shift correctly. But this spring would not make the shift lever bind.

Since you have a car to drive, I would suggest opening the transmission and see if you can figure out the shift lever not moving. Otherwise get another transmission.

I am going to replace the valve body and solenoids as one unit. I think the last time I took it apart I didn't put the solenoids in correctly. Doing the valve body with the solenoids already on it will make the job easier. The spring wasn't a problem for me because I saw it fall out luckily. I am going to crack it open in a few weeks and I will update the thread on what I find. I am going to follow the FSM closely on this one this time. Oh and I heard a way to manually shift the car (right now it is stuck in reverse) is this true, is it a lever or something I need to move into park, the auto gear shifter is in the park position.

Figured it out, I forgot to position the little rod that comes out of the valve body onto the manual shift plate. That is why it didn't shift, looking forward to fixing it up in a week when I am on break