No gears 88 automatic

[kage]

Took off this morning started hearing some boinging vibrating noises (at first I thought it was outside or the radio). Pulled over, couldn't see anything. It was intermittent, more when I accelerated. I could feel a little vibration in the shifter.
Pulled up to a stop sign and all the gears were gone, revving but no motion, no reverse, 1st, 2nd. I am new to the water cooled automatic world. How bad is this? Suggestions for what it might be?

[kage]

Also transmission fluid ( I think ) on the ground. Not a lot. Could this be a leak, or broken line? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

[MarkWard]

Broken CV joint or the bolts backed out?
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[kage]

Bolts backed out? Could you explain please?

[MarkWard]

If one of the CV joints became detached the van would not move. You'd need to have a look.
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[IdahoDoug]

Agree with Mark. Get under there with a flashlight (no jack needed - just slide your head under for a look see) and see if the fluid came from one of the axles - specifically the rubber boots on each end.

If no, see where the fluid came from but that's likely suspect.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[kourt]

Check your ATF level, properly (see below) and report back.

Engine running.
Engine hot from 10 miles of driving.
Parked level.

kourt

[dabaron]

a few things come to mind...

torque converter bolts or the torque converter. when the engine is idling, is the TC spinning in the bellhousing?
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo

BiWerks Design, LLC

[IdahoDoug]

All good stuff. It's worth noting the TC bolts or flexplate failure wouldn't cause a fluid leak. And low tranny fluid won't cause a mechanical interference sound when it manifests a symptom - just loss of drive. Those are worthy checks, but if I were a betting man it sounds precisely like CV bolts coming out. Fluid is going to be the oil separated out of the grease pouring out from the loose CV boot onto the ground.

Kage?
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[kage]

Ok, Didn't see any fluid at the cv joints, parked pretty level and there was a lot of fluid on the flat plate at the bottom of the transmission. I was hoping to get it running enough to avoid towing so I added trans fluid - a couple of quarts (very slowly) with the engine running. Fluid was definitely coming out and gears would still not engage. It's hard to read the level on the stick, but I think it's reading full. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between completely full and totally empty. If it keeps leaking out, maybe I will be able to see the difference.
So I'm towed back home. And maybe hosed. At least for a while.

[kage]

Here is a pic, dark but you can see a drip coming from the rear center bolt.

[Wildthings]

If a seal between the automatic section of the transaxle and the final drive section fails, you may get ATF being pumped into the final drive and then puking out the vent once the box overfills, while the automatic section runs too low on fluid to function. This doesn't explain your noise though.

[IdahoDoug]

Hmm. You need someone to take a quick look at the van. Just being direct here, but if you are unable to discern on an automatic trans dipstick whether it is full or empty then you may not have the skills to narrow this down. Probably a dozen Samba folks in Santa Cruz who could check it in 10 minutes or less. Perhaps you should change the title of your thread to include the Help in Santa Cruz or similar and see if someone can stop by on their way home from work or similar.

Now, I/we have no idea if you've overfilled the tranny such that it's pouring out the vent. The mechanical noise is still unaccounted for, and you did not say how you determined that the CVs were OK. They can still be the problem with the bolts sheared but the boot remains in place, for example.

On the tow, I hope they either flat bedded it, or the front wheels were on the ground. If they towed you with the rear wheels on the ground, you should mention that now.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[kage]

Maybe I should revise it to needs better glasses . Direct is OK. When after wiping the stick as carefully as I could, it came back out seeming slightly wet but I couldn't see a point, past the round spot marks, where it changed. That seemed to indicate empty. I added fluid (about a qt) running the engine and after about 5 minutes checked it again. No change. Did the same, ran it for longer and still observed no change. I was concerned about overfilling. Either it was so empty that it would not register, or so full adding more wouldn't register either. Busy street and liable for a ticket so I decided to tow home - flat bedded.
My skills at checking cv bolts are probably not much better, I just looked at them as closely as I could and didn't see any fluid at all.
I'm still interested in seeing comments or ideas but I will try and change the title.

[wesitarz]

[Wildthings]

[Merian]

I think you should flatbed it to a competent shop. Do NOT let a guy hook the front end and tow it on the rear wheels.

Being direct - if unflattering - but it sounds like you don't have the mechanical skills to DIY fix, or to test w/out possible further damage.

I'd never try to fix an A/T myself either, FWIW.

The A/T is usually very reliable on these vans, but it is not cheap to repair (usually) and cleanliness is a virtue.
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[kage]

I made a joke about Idaho Dougs comment. He said he was being direct, not a problem for me as I am certainly no mechanic. Thanks for your suggestion about the cv, that I can do.

[IdahoDoug]

Got it. Listen, you will benefit here if you can follow directions and report what you see/find so you are on the right track.

Do as Wildthings suggests. I don't know what kind of jacks you have available, but just get one rear tire in the air and use a lot of power to try and spin a rear tire. Old clothes/gloves may help as depending upon your strength you may need to nearly hug the tire to put force on it. Don't worry, you cannot hurt anything, so perform a maximal force effort. Vehicle in park, something blocking the tires on the side you are not lifting and you only need to have the tire an inch in the air - lower is of course safer.Try both directions.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[dabaron]