Transmission Dead

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FLeisure

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Would appreciate any advice in regard to a problem I'm experiencing with my 2001 Montana please.

My daughter has the vehicle at college and she called home to say the vehicle will start but nothing happens when she puts it into gear. Apparently there are no gears whatsoever and she managed to get someone to look at it from a local shop where they said it would cost $1800 to $2200 to fix. Not sure the vehicle needs a complete transmission overhaul as is being recommended as it seems odd she can't select even one gear.

Open to your thoughts please.
 
did she check the transmission fluid level? was this shop recommended by someone who trusts the shop? did you check with the locall BBB if the shop has any complaints against it? did the vehicle make any unusual noises prior to this that were just ignored? Other than that you can try getting a second opinion. It's either a shifter problem or the trani is burnt out.
 
Thanks for the response. Appreciate it.

Just spoke to her and she tells me she was actually driving at a slow speed as she was in a car parking lot and she felt the gas pedal do something odd. She then lost all transmission and couldn't get any gear.

The vehicle was taken by AAA to a recommended shop where they diagnosed that a major breakdown of the transmission had happened.
 
A while back a friend of mine owned a Montana and it was older model(in the 90's) and high mileage and properly maintained ,but he(his dw)blew a cooler line under the van and lost a great deal of fluid and could not drive anymore , perhaps that's what happened to you and just need the lines repaired and as mel said the fluid level then topped off . Good luck and keep us posted . I would like to say this that most tranny shops prefer to do a complete overhaul($$$) I think that gives them peace of mind and can offer a warranty.
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Managed to get to my daughters college over the weekend and took a look. The gear linkage moves when a gear is selected but there is no engagement of drive in any gear whatsoever. As you rev the vehicle up, the vehicle feels as if it's trying to make a motion but just can't do it. It's rather like a slipping clutch on a manual gearbox but obviously it's not.

I'm still not sure the tranny needs a full rebuild and frankly, on a 2001 vehicle it's not really worth spending $2K on a vehicle only worth $4-5K IMO. Now, if only I could get the thing moving long enough to trade it in! Anyone in Central Florida wanting a Montana with 109K miles on it? I'm open to negotiating!
 
Have you checked with any local Aamco transmission shops or a similar chain for a price?
 
I havent heard the words"yes it is full of fluid"
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Here's the update.

It appears the main drive in the gearbox had broken so it meant having to either rebuild the original box or finding a second hand unit. We were quoted from $2200 to $2900 to rebuild the original box and $1900 to install a second hand unit.

As the vehicle has done 110K miles and is only worth $4K to $5K I didn't see much sense in spending a lot of money to rebuild the gearbox so finally managed to get a second hand one installed for $1700. It's still a lot of money for what it actually is but the vehicle is up and running again now and I don't have to worry about my daughter getting around.

Thanks to everyone for their help. And yes, the transmission fluid was at the correct place. Even if it had been low, it wouldn't have caused this problem, rather like engine oil.... you can run an engine for weeks on low engine oil and not suffer any problems. Just don't run it without!
 
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