Hello everyone! For the last day I've been trying to figure out how to change the transmission fluid in my car.. The other day I was getting ready to leave my house and but my car would only go in reverse. Even with the car in drive it still only went in reverse. I did a little research and I came across another blog that mentioned I might only need to change the fluid. There was no videos on youtube that went thru the steps of changing the fluid(which would've helped me a lot easier) although there's a video of a guy doing it on his 98 z but its dark and everything that needed to be removed was already off at the start of the video. In the video he just talks about what have to be removed but the only thing I remember him putting on in the video was the tranny filter and how easy the job is while I beg to differ.
So more on my car, well I decided to just change the fluid. When I changed it yesterday I broke the gasket on accident so I just put the pan back on and the fluid leaked but the car went forward while in drive so I figured I made some progress just had to get another gasket for the pan. Now today after I installed the gasket and added new fluid, the car now just wont go anywhere! Like wtf?!?!?!?!?!?!? Literally wont go any ****ing where! Only thing I remember touching that I didn't touch yesterday was the gear cable. While trying to get the screws thru the pan I remember pulling on the cable and hearing clicking noises. So did I maybe offset the gears or something because this is really weird! I'm really hoping I don't have to get it towed or anything like that! In the video the guy mentions that 2 of the 16 screws are longer but ALL of my screws were the same size literally so I'm guessing the guy who owned it before me might have changed the fluid before also and maybe replaced the screws which it also say the same thing on eHow but I don't understand why... I have a 95 z28 with A/T(Idk how toad a signature sorry guys)... All help or suggestions would greatly be appreciated I need it bad!

 

Changing the fluid won't give you back forward. You either have an issue with the forward clutches or the input sprag. If you pull the car down to manual 2nd gear, will it move forward then?

Frank

 

No its like the gears went out completely.. Idk for sure if the fluid brings the forward back but the first day I changed the fluid the car started moving forward again and the next day when I changed it again after adding a gasket to the pan it stopped.. Do you think maybe me pulling on the gear cable might have pulled it out of gear?

 

No. You have something burnt or broken inside the trans. You have 4 gear positions that will give you forward movement. It's hard to believe that any type of cable adjustment will cause no forward at all. What did the fluid look like when you changed it? Was there any metal or fine black material in the bottom of the pan? Are you absolutely sure you have enough fluid in it?

Frank

 

The fluid was brownish red.. Youre probably right about something burning because there have been this weird burning smell lately. I'm not too mechanically inclined so I really paid it no attention so I'm not sure where it was coming from.. I mean I put a whole 5 qts in the second time I changed it so I believe it was enough.. Am I going to have to get a diagnostic on the tranny??

 

What's the fluid level like? If it's low, it will not shift. 5 quarts is close, but usually they take a little more than that.

 

The system takes almost 12 quarts, but some of it stays in the converter and cooler, so when you drain the pan, all you are really doing is changing half the fluid and diluting half the the old fluid with new fluid. If the old fluid is burned and contaminated with clutch material, you are probably just wasting time and money and probably need a rebuild, anyway, and even a complete fluid flush done correctly won't fix burned clutches.

 

Yea when I checked it was around the mid/hot point.. Are you asking the fluid level when the car is in idle right?

 

Oh damn.. I mean there wasn't any debris from crutches it was just brownish red so I figured maybe it's just old? Is there anyway I can check to see if I have a burned clutch or are there any symptoms?

 

You have an internal transmission failure.

Frank

 

Well since I can't put the car in any gears is there a way I can move the car I need to get it off the street?

 

Only option is pushing it or pulling it. For pushing, you can get extra leverage by pushing and rolling one of the wheels...