No forward or reverse, and a whining/scraping noise. Car stranded.

[dodgeboy]

A friend of mine's Magnum RT just stranded him on the road. He was not driving aggressively at the time, but rather just turning onto a main road from the driveway at my office. I went to get him and the car will not engage D or R--the engine just revs. I also noticed that when in D, I could not use the auto stick to change gears (the [1] [2] never showed up on the cluster). I let it sit with the ignition off for about 10 minutes, and it decided to give me reverse for long enough to back it into the parking lot and into the spot. During this maneuver, I heard a whining noise from underneath that sounded very much like a torque converter. By the time I got in the spot, it was effectively in neutral again. I let it sit for another 5 minutes or so and it briefly gave me R and D, and let me change gears with the auto stick. But after another cycle from R to D, it no longer let me change gears, and just revs again.

There is no check engine light, and my Diablo reports no codes.

Any ideas? It strikes me as very odd that if I let it sit for a few minutes, I briefly get gears again. I also think it's odd that it will not let me change gears in auto stick, as if the computer is aware there is a problem, but there is no check engine light. I can't check the fluid level, of course, because it doesn't have a dip stick...

Thanks in advance,
Dave

[BAMF]

Has anything been modded on the car recently? Anything that would involve removal of the tq converter?

[Redfox0099]

Trans fluid leaked out too much or got some water in from the leaky O-ring?

Posted via LXFMobile

[RobAGD]

use a really long skinny zip tie and drop it down the trans fill tube when it stops it touching the bottom of the pan. When you pull it up see how much red fluid is on it.

My guess is he is low/out of fluid from a trans seal leak.

-R

[Hemi31]

You can use just about any long peice of metal that bottoms in the pan to see where it is.......cold should be around 30mm......sounds like there's no fluid

Posted via LXFMobile

[dodgeboy]

Thanks for the replies!

No recent mods. He does have a superchips installed, but it doesn't really do anything to the trans (not nearly as capable as the diablo). The superchips has been installed for years without an issue.

I thought about fluid leaking out, but he drove about 120 miles to my office and only experienced a slight shudder upon acceleration one time. Then he tried to leave my office and basically can't go anywhere. There is no fluid under the vehicle, so it seems unlikely that a significant change in fluid level occurred int he hour he was in my office. I'm definitely not ruling it out though, because it does behave like a trans with very low fluid.

I will look around the office for a long zip tie. I really appreciate the quick responses! You guys are great!

[Hemi31]

if he has the shudder he may also have water in the trans......there was a TSBon that way back for the 05's

Posted via LXFMobile

[dodgeboy]

I used a long piece of CAT5 cable as a dip stick, and he has almost no fluid in the trans. Just the tip of the cable was wet when I pulled it back up. Fluid doesn't smell so swell, either...

What do you think the chances are that no long-term damage was done to the tranny?

Thanks again!

Dave

[dodgeboy]

if he has the shudder he may also have water in the trans......there was a TSBon that way back for the 05's

Posted via LXFMobile

Agreed. Thanks...

[Redfox0099]

Depends, what are the chances you want to buy some beach front property in Arizona?

Posted via LXFMobile

[dodgeboy]

Depends, what are the chances you want to buy some beach front property in Arizona?

Posted via LXFMobile

That's kinda what I figured...

[RobAGD]

Well. short term, have a dealer do a BG flush and replace the filter and of course fill the trans.

I would suggest long term getting a rebuild done.

-Robert

[07MagRT]

You plugged in your Diablo into his car (equipped with Superchips)? I don't think that is right..

[MadCharger]

You plugged in your Diablo into his car (equipped with Superchips)? I don't think that is right..

As long as you don't try to load or change a tune, you're fine. It acts like any other OBDII scanner when just checking codes.

[dodgeboy]

As long as you don't try to load or change a tune, you're fine. It acts like any other OBDII scanner when just checking codes.

Yup... And that's all I was using it for--scanning codes and I was thinking I might be able to monitor something in the trans with the data logging, but no joy.