cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

So on my way home today from work I came to a stop sign and noticed my car (2001 Hyundai Accent, 1.6L Automatic) didn't downshift while coming to the stop. So I stopped and hit the gas, and the car didn't move,it only reved.So I put it in park and it banged into park, then I put it in drive and it banged into drive. Then while driving, it will only shiftwhen you let off the gas andlike 5 seconds later after you letoff the gas it shifts really reallyhard. And in addition, there is no reverse now! I put it in reverse and nothing, even when I hit the gas it goes nowhere. Can you guys help me please!!

The Hedgehog

Time to start shopping for a used transmission.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

LOL That's not what I want to hear now Hedge [] I am in no shape to be buying and installing a used transmission. I keep thinking the torque converter cause when usually when you put a car in gear, it rolls, and when in reverse, it does not roll. I could rev it all day and it will go nowhere in reverse. F the Hyundai. I just replaced the fluid and filter less than a year ago and there is only 121k miles on her.

Lunchboxer

They must have designed the machine to meet exactly the 100k miles warranty..

Sorry, no help here.. I think the tranny is probably done.. [&o]

iexion

Buy a mAZda and screw the tranny... wow what the hell did i just say [&:]
anyways i would start looking at hyundai for/ums and get some clues. But really those are some hard to ignore signs that it went or is going out.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

So I called a few places around town to get some pricing on how much it would cost to diagnose the issue, whether it be bad sensors of the whole transmission. Of course they all said "Well bring it in and we will take a look at it" Yea cause no reverse and banging into gear makes me want to drive it 15 miles around town. I drove the wifes car today. Not chancing breaking down completely on the highway. One of the shops was ready to have a tow truck there in 15 minutes! I was like whoah slow down buddy, I'm just pricing lol. Sharks!!

jkdv8

My Feedback: (1)

Does it have a check engine light on or a tranny light, flashing neutral or park light, or any light out of the ordinary? Something with the engine can throw automatic trannys for a loop. Could unplug the battery let it sit for awhile and see if it resets the shift points and whatnot. If it is or does throw a cel light you will need one of those expensive code readers for tranny codes though.

Foxy

Had this exact problem with my wife's Renault, at 5 years old with 20k miles on it (yep, only 20k). After being quoted $10,000 to replace the entire auto transmission by Renault (for a car that was only worth $15,000 with 20k on it? No thanks! Plus Renault ensured that I will never buy another one and will recommend anyone against buying one. Idiots), we took it to a reputable gearbox guy, who looked at it once, looked at it twice, and was unable to isolate the problem, until....one day we were driving to the Mother in law's, I was a bit pissed off (naturally, lol), so I gunned it anyway while going up a hill, it banged hard through the gears and then suddenly the check engine light came on and the car went into limp mode. BINGO! As soon as that happened, we had a diagnostic error in the engine computer that the engineer could read. Took it in for a third time, he read the error, and replaced the 120 buck valve. Perfect ever since. Don't know how much that helps you, but the moral is...don't believe mechanics who want to sell you a new gearbox until you are completely out of options.

Foxy

This was the first thing we were told to do, reset the ECU, it tells the gearbox to learn its behavior again from scratch. The engineer said that it may start to get better with use. It didn't, in our case, but worth a try for you, cumminspower.

jkdv8

My Feedback: (1)

I would also check the fluid level, also to see if its still in good condition I.e. burnt smell and/or color. If you haven't done so already. As with foxy's comment the unfortunate possibility is a valve on the valve body.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Well the ATF was replaced less than a year ago along witht he filter. And not a sigle dash light came on. I also unhooked the battery and let it sit for about 3 hours. My car has gone into limp mode twice before and threw a speed sensor code. All I did was unhook the battery and it was fine. But this seems like something mechanical, something a sensor can't pickup.

jkdv8

My Feedback: (1)

Does that tranny require a flush and fill? As the miles rack up crap can get lodged in place s it shouldn't be. Also was the right transmission fluid used. Not sure if that model requires SP III or II or if it even matters but, if does require one of those and the mechanic used an "equivalent" you can more than likely experience problems cause there is no equivalent. Some do some don't. Have you tried the Hyundai forums?

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Tried the forums. They all say it's shot lol

The Hedgehog

At that mileage and given the symptoms, they are probably right.

Eman77

Right, but have you actually checked it now that it has issues? A year ago is a year ago. What if it's leaking?

Not saying that's the issue, but it sounds like you have not looked once this problem hit. It's easy, just check the tranny fluid to rule it out as any sort of contributing factor.

Lunchboxer

Make me want to check my ATF fluid level now, yo!!

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Ha the fluid is ok. I checked. Trust me, it was one of the first. Here's the funny thing. I changed it at 100k miles and it was the original fluid and filter! The original owners never did it.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

All sorts of different prices though from shops. $75/hr., $250 to pull the tranny, and between 1800-2400$ to repair including labor. That's almost as much as I paid for the car! Another place says 65$/hr and $1400 for the rebuild. This sucks

Max_Power

That model you have likely has the A4BF1 or -2 type trans, if you changed a filter in the bottom pan that would confirm this, as the other trans has the pan on the side of the unit and the filter isn't acessable without splitting the trans (with the exception of a few v-6 models that have a 2nd "spin on" fliter additionally). The A4BF1 has a pretty common problem of the direct clutch drum laying down and galling up on the pump stator, destroying the teflon sealing rings between them that transmit the oil pressure to the direct clutch which is used in reverse, 3rd, and 4th. It is a common enough problem that the parts are very difficult to find and expensive. Later revisions have changed the bushing layout in the drum and are more reliable.

As far as solenoids,sensors, etc I don't think it is likely as reverse has no solenoids in the circuit and runs straight off the manual valve(shift lever), in most modern transmissions except for some VW and Ford CD4E reverse will work fine even with the connectors unplugged. Forward will engage but usually be in 2nd or 3rd "limp mode" The computer actually puts the trans in limp by just turning off all the solenoids and 3rd is usually where the shift valves "rest" when solenoids are off. It probably isn't the torque converter...think about it...the engine doesn't spin backwards in reverse so the convertor just inputs power in clockwise the same as it does in every other gear so the issue would affect all ranges if it were the convertor. The convertor has no idea what range the trans hooked to it is in.

You are probably best off looking for a used unit if you are on a budget, as the pump stator and drum are usually difficult to find and expensive as these are the most common failing parts(the trainsmission industry usually uses inspected used or rebuilt parts as many auto manufacturers refuse to sell individual parts and want you to fork out 3-5k for thier reman unit(don't get me started on how i feel on manufacturers not making parts available!![:@]lol)) The used parts deal is not a quality issue usually on hard parts like drums as its like a crankshaft or something that doesn't really "wear" it just either blows up or is just fine with new bearings.

How do I know this? I've been one of these trans shop "Sharks" for 24 years. Don't be too hard on them, as long as they aren't selling you something you don't need or gouging you, offering to tow your car and get it there to check out isn't any different than anyone else trying to get customers to service, please and make a living. Of course there are bad apples in every batch I won't argue that.

Not much testing you could do at home for this unfortunately, but I will say the fact that there arent any solenoids required for reverse operation strongly suggest a internal mechanical failure in either the low/reverse or direct clutch which would require unit disassembly. The delay into gear and lack of movement otherwise is probably from the debris blocking the filter after a few minutes and not allowing the pump to get fluid to even the forward clutch. I'm betting after you shut it off it would move forward for a little while until the filter gets clogged with debris rising up from the pan? The not upshifting is because when the unit tries to shift to high it needs to use the same clutch that is used in reverse and that clutch cannot "grab" until you let off the gas and let it slowly couple the drums together with what little force it has left. in reverse the trans is actually bound in 1st and 3rd at the same time and requires a lot more "grab" than does it in 3rd, which is why you get 3rd "sometimes" , but reverse never

Sorry I don't have better news, but best of luck...Todd

stoneenforcer

My Feedback: (23)

i "new" tranny will prob cost nearly the fair market value of a "2001 Hyundai Accent, 1.6L Automatic"

warbird addict

not the same vehicle but my f-250 had some freaky tranny stuff going on and it turned out to be the wiring harness that goes to the tranny which was all electronic with 7 solenoids in it , the plastic clip broke holding the harness against the firewall allowing the harness to fall down on the exhaust maniflod melting the wires, also have someone do a codes read with a scanner on your ECU to see if maybe you have a solenoid in the tranny that decided to take a dump , in my case the codes scan revealed codes that read "B" solenoid low voltage , open circuit and performance which effectively were all the same code , my truck actually went into limp mode not allowing it to shift past third to protect the tranny, B solenoid is actually a fairly common problem that also affects reverse operation as well my truck wouldn't shift into reverse from drive unless i put it into park , shut the truck off then restarted it and then went into reverse , So I completely understand your frustration, I took my truck to 3 different garages that all told me I had to replace my cats and have the tranny rebuilt, as the .02 sensors wires were also in that same wiring harness that got burnt which gave a cat efficiency code as well as a whole host of tranmy codes
the codes that would be a red flag pointing toward burnt wiring would be open circuit , low voltage , or performance all relating to a particular tranny solenoid, my truck sat for 6 months before I found a wrench that knew his ***** and fixed me up, total cost was $375 as opposed to over $5K had I listened to the first 3 parts changers, additionally my truck was also slamming into gear whenever I shifted from park to drive or reverse really BAD! to the point where it would CLUNK and LURCH with the brakes applied

DieHarder

though it's been disgusted, it sounds like low tranny fluid. Or the hydrolic shifting electronics aren't working right and need replacing, or, you've wrecked the reverse gear line and some of the metal shavings have lodged in the other gear lines.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Ah I see. I was hoping I could find a tranny mechaninc on here. Thanks for the very long and informative post. I have been talking to a mechanic who says he has been in the business for over 40 years and he sounds like he knows what he is talking about and doing. He was explaining to me differences between the old days and today, and why parts today fail and how to improve them. Granted I was lost because I am no tranny mechanic, but that's what caught my attention as a guy who knows whathe is doing. My car has enteredlimp mode twice before and locked itself in 3rd gear, but unhooking the battery for about half an hour resets it and it is fine. I took it to AutoZoneand the scanned it and gota code saying faulty speed sensor. I never replacedit and haven't had that problem till now. And I'm pretty sure this isn't caused by the speed sensor.He sounds like the real deal. If I get the car fixed there (Affordable Transmissions) He will cover the cost of towing and diagnosing, and he estimated me about $1400 for a full rebuild at $65/hr. Not bad I guess.

The Hedgehog

You are planning on rebuilding a 120k mile old transmission?

I can get a brand new one for my Infiniti for about 1.6k just to put it in perspective maybe you ar ebette roff buying a used one.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Well I am nowhere in the market for a used car at the moment. I just called a dealer in my area (Simmons Rockwell) and they told me they don't rebuild transmissions cause Hyundai won't sell them the parts. Hyundai sends them a used transmission from a salvage yard, and the dealer will install at $85/hr. at 6 hours plus the cost of the tranny. sounds a little too good to be true. or maybe I'm over looking the savings lol. How much would a used tranny go for for this car? I have tried finding information on it but can't find any. A salvage yard near me has transmissions for $125, you pull.