Hello everyone! I'm new here...

Everything seems fine with my Avenger. It hasn't reached 120K miles yet. I change the oil and fluids regularly and aside from a few fixes as the car ages, its been great. The only thing I have not done is have the transmission fluid flushed. It may have been topped off at some point over the years but I don't think its been flushed while I have owned it (since 80K miles ~2006) It was performing well enough for a ~13 year old car.

I was driving home the other night and pulled into a driveway to make a three point turn. I put the car into reverse, no shift issues and it just would not move. I shifted through all the gears (L-D) and it seems to shift into each gear. I have been driving it since and still no reverse.

The car will shift into reverse with no issue and idle but will not move on its own or accelerate. It will roll backward in reverse, I tried pushing it with someone and have been parking on inclines. I recently hooked up a scanner and got the codes P0700 and P0736. Its not a professional scanner from a shop or the Internet but I figured it could be a start.

http://www.dtcsearch.com/P0700/
http://www.dtcsearch.com/P0736/

I am very concerned that the transmission is failing and the car will "die" soon. The interesting part is that it seems to drive and shift when moving forward like normal. It might be a little sluggish but I'm assuming that's normal for the age. I know from doing research that it could be failed input/output sensors, solenoid issues, bad or dirty transmission fluid or the whole transmission itself.

Any advice would be great. I like my car and don't really want to get rid of it at this stage. What do you guys recommend that I do?

Thanks in advance

 

Do you hear a ratcheting noise when shifting ?

Do the back up lights come on ?

I'm thinking bad relay/solenoid pack/or PRNDL switch

 

• Yes. I hear the ratcheting relay sound.
  
• Yes, the reverse lights do come on when in reverse.

I hear the sound of the shifter inside the car itself clicking in/out of gears when I move it between P-R-D-2-L etc. Its very clear what gear I'm in.

With the doors open and the engine running, I don't hear anything abnormal from the transmission or engine bay when shifting (that is while stationary with my foot on the brake) If I put it in and out Neutral the car will jolt slightly.

 

So you're thinking the car shifts into reverse fine but the internals don't "know" to deliver power or accelerate in reverse?

What do you mean by bad relay? Electrical system?

 

There is a relay on the fire wall for the tranny , I've never heard of this exact trouble I'm thinking this or the solenoid pac

 

Thanks again for the response and the help. It certainly is strange and its getting to be a pain to deal with because I can't park the car anywhere 90% of the time.

I'm taking it to a shop on Monday to get it looked at because beyond basic things, I have limited knowledge and resources to fix it myself. I'm hoping they won't just say "your transmission is shot..." and actually investigate things.

I will have them start by checking this relay and the solenoid pack. At this point, if its more than 5-600 bucks I'm debating what to do with the ride. What would you estimate the repair cost of this to be if its one or both?

 

Relays a $30 part ... Solenoid pac was $150 Add labor you should be under that

 

Update: I took my car to two shops. I told them what we thought the problem could be and to start there with the relays and solenoid.

I dropped it off in the morning for each because I have to work. One place said that the whole transmission would have to be rebuilt or replaced and the other said the torque converter was bad after test driving it.

I'm inclined to not believe them. What do you think? I doubt they even inspected the relays or the solenoid because when I asked them about it they quickly said they were fine and not to worry about them because the car shifts OK while driving.

Should I take the car to a dealer to get diagnosed at this point? I feel like they wouldn't be very helpful either. Dealerships always try to take my money or sell me something else so I try to stay away from them.

I have been driving the car since I started this post and everything is fine other than not having reverse. No engine shutdowns, bad shifting, gear slipping, start up problems. She shakes a little but that's just my alignment and aging tires

I highly doubt the transmission is failing (yet). Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

I'm NOT buying the torque convertor ... There is NO WAY that would cause the symptom of no reverse ...

I DOUBT the tranny would need a rebuild , especially shifting fine Most "tranny shops" buy rebuilt /reman trannies and install them ... In your case I bet it goes in and there still might be a trouble

 

I bought a transmission solenoid shift pack and a new filter kit. I had a reputable, local shop install them and it went fine. I still do not have any power or acceleration in reverse. However, the car drives and shifts even better than it did before in drive/moving forward.

I really don't want to get rid of this car because it seems to drive perfectly fine for a 2000 with just 119K miles on it. It needs to be inspected in July and there is no way it will pass without functioning reverse capability. This means I will have to junk an otherwise great car because I can't seem to solve this reverse issue.

I scanned the car for fault codes after I drove it home from the shop and now I'm only seeing P0736 (Def: Engine running in reverse gear with VSS signals received, then the PCM detected that the transmission Reverse Gear Ratio was incorrect). The P0700 originally reported seems to have gone away.

I checked the relays mentioned and replaced the solenoid and transmission filter. Most other shops I have been to say the transmission is shot and needs rebuilt and/or will soon be toast if I continue to drive it. At this point, my personal thought is reverse clutch failure or the input/output speed sensors are throwing some bad info. I wish it was as simple as the sensors...

Does anyone have any other thoughts on what could cause this and how I could fix the car??

Many thanks for all the continued help!