Got a call this afternoon, my dad was stuck and I had to go and tow him home. Got to use my tow straps and everything :P But anywho, he said he stopped at a stop sign and when he went to step on the gas pedal, he heard a loud bang and now it won't shift normally and makes some pretty horrifying noises when shifting. Right now it's sitting in my driveway and the instrument cluster says it's in park, but it rolls freely back and forth. I checked the transmission fluid and it's fine, and the color is pinkish red. I checked the shift cable linkage at the transmission and it seemed fine. Hopefully it's not an internal issue, that would hit the wallet hard, hoping maybe either a bad speed sensor (my dad has said that occassionlly the speedometer will drop to zero while driving), solenoid pack, needs cable adjustment, a bad relay, but how he described that loud noise, I can't help but think the cable snapped. But then again it makes weird noises when shifting. It revs when you press the gas so throttle cable is fine. Any more ideas? Trying to get some things together to maybe save them some diagnostic charges.

 

Eh sounds like something grenaded in the trans. "loud bang,wont shift normally,horrifying noises"

Sucks man. transmissions are horrible.

 

I have a feeling it's gunna be a big fix, but hoping it isnt for my parents sake.

 

what type of minivan?

 

My best friends niece has a 97 tahoe and its lost 2nd gear. Shes got no money for it and its her work truck for her painting service. I worked all day long last week trying things. I know how it is.

 

had an issue with a dodge caravan once on vacation. Your problems sound the same and was a simple fix. i believe it was called the transmission control solenoid.

 

that would help, wouldn't it lol. It's a 96 Dodge Caravan.

 

I know what the problem is and Id lay $200 down on it. Check the CV axles. My exwives Dodge Neon did that exact same thing and it was the CV axle. If one of those goes bad on a front wheel drive, you wont move. One or the other is bad or both. But check those first

 

But it makes some nasty noises when trying to shift, would that still be caused by the CV axles. I mean my dad tried to shift it when I got to where he was stuck and it hissed and popped and ginded and made this awful clunking noise.

 

Yea. Where is the sound coming from? If its coming from the front on the inside of the tires, its the CV axle. If it is snapped apart, the part thats still attached to the transmission will spin around while in gear and will be hitting other parts around it. The cv axles arent hard to change at all. Or they werent on the Neon. The hardest part was getting the ball joints to separate.