Lost all gears (Suddenly) engine running

[Ray De Man]

Yesterday when leaving work, I drove out of the space in "D" then 4 seconds later I had no gears! It was like I put it into neutral while driving. I pushed it to the corner and stopped, shifted up and down through gears and nothing. If i revved it in (D) there was nothing, even reverse didnt work. I turned engine off and called a friend. 30 mins later I tried the same thing, slot into (D) and nothing so I checked under car and couldn't see anything loose or broken.

So friend arrives and trys same thing and nothing to be seen wrong, so i get back in, put it back into (D) and revved it to about 5 rpm and car started moving as normal.... FTW!!! Nursed it back home, upto 60, changed gear fine and seemed normal....

What's going on with my car, it has never done this before. Is it something major or is it a simple fix? Nothing too expensive i hope!

BTW its a 5 speed auto, SV6.

Cheers

 

[impulsive]

checked your transmission fluid level lately?

 

[Ray De Man]

How do you do that mate? Thought you couldn't check the fluid level as there is no dip stick?

 

[walesy]

give it a service, but thats not a good sign

 

[impulsive]

Surely there is somewhere to check the Fluid, Surely!!

 

[walesy]

yes most gearbox dipsticks are close to the firewall on the drivers side, check your trans fluid while the car is running at operating tempreture

 

[RiCeY]

If theres no dipstick you have to get the transmission fluid temp between 30 and 50 degrees then remove the fill plug off the side of the tranny, engine still running, and top up till its flows back out.

Dont turn the engine off at any time with the fill plug removed.

 

[Ray De Man]

So its something simple like an oil change? Is it something I can do or better to get an trans machanic to do it? How do you top up the fluid at the same time as draining?

 

[RiCeY]

Youre not removing the drain plug, just the fill plug.

 

[RiCeY]

And youll be lucky if thats all it is, best bet is get an auto trans specialist to have a look.