Lost ALL gears today, 2004 accent auto.
 

Hi,

Car is 2004 Accent 1.6L auto. Wife was driving it when it made some "metal" noise and lost all drive. Goes through the gears, but will not move a bit at all, idles fine. 107k miles.

So, I know my way around cars, mostly BMW's though, but they are ALL 5speed cars and I have no idea where to even start with Auto tranny?

After work I plan on jacking the car up to check the axles (were recently replaced, both sides because of clicking cv joints), to make sure they are okay etc.

Now, what specific things can I check / look for? Is there a tranny filter/pan that I can drop to check if there are metal shavings inside?

Are there any linkage things that I can check as well?

Could there be a sensor or switch or solenoid that I can verify?

I want to cover all the basics first before going any further, as in removing the tranny or taking it in for a rebuild.

Thanks!

Has the trans ever been serviced? The fluid needs changing every 30,000 miles. If it was never serviced, it probably needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

No, fluid has been checked during oil changes and is at the correct level...

That's probably your problem. The fluid should have been changed 3 times already (at 30k, 60k and 90k miles). Time to buy a new trans.

Problem solved today. Both axles were replaced 3 months ago due bad cv joints, found the passenger side was not 100% in. Pulled it out, measured the splined area and it seemed a bit short. Got another axle, popped in all the way and car is driving fine.

O'Reilly sold me a wrong axle, driver side was automatic axle but the passenger side somehow they messed up and got me one for a 5speed car. 5speed axle is about 1/4" shorter.

Next week I'll pull the tranny pan and replace the filter / fluid. What fluid do you recommend?

WOW! That's a bad mistake to make. SPIII fluid is what you want. I'd suggest going to a dealer to get it. It's not that expensive.

Yes! Lost few hours of my time and had to swap the axle twice...I am going to see if O'Reilly will do something about that, maybe a case or two of good Synth. oil hmmm..

Sounds good, I'll get the SPIII fluid from a local dealer.