Grinding when shifted into gear..and reverse!

[sheepish_fixer]

99 4cyl Auto, 99,000 miles - making a loud AWFUL grinding/rattle when I shift into gear...sounds like it might be coming from the passengers side, and car will not move when grinding, but does when grinding stops.

Thanks very much in advance for any help or info!

[Kep]

I am not clear on what you are describing. You might want to restate it. I think you are saying 1) you put it in gear and it grinds for a while (1 second, 10 seconds?) and then it quits grinding and you begin to move or 2) you put it in gear and it grinds, you take it out and try again until, after several attempts it doesn't grind and you can drive away. Once you get driving it drives normally? Does it come and go or do you have to be starting from "Park"?

It sure sounds like it is transmission related. Another guess would be a broken CVC joint but I can't imagine them not working and then working again.

Kep

[sheepish_fixer]

thanks kep,

you got it with #1...sometimes it'll stop grinding, and moving forward, sometimes you have to shift it into park, then back into gear before the noise will stop.

[Kep]

I tend to do free and cheap stuff first so I'd check the transmission fluid for level and quality. I might go ahead and see if changing the fluid and transmission filter helped. I don't know if the 99 has a separate differential fluid reservoir but if it does attend to that also. But honestly, I expect that you will need to take it in to be checked out by a transmission specialist. That is almost never cheap.

Kep

[sheepish_fixer]

fluids were done first - no improvement. Yes, the diff fluid is separate from the trannie fluid - there is no differential res, but I'm sure you knew that.

Lexus dealership in Tenn told my mom the car needed a new (used) transmission - $2500. They then told her she should not have the work done, and just sell the car to them for $1500. This, to me, seemed like a rather unethical thing to do to and elderly woman - it's really taking advantage of someone who 1) doesn''t know and 2) is already stressed because they don't have a car.

When I called the dealership to ask what needed to be replaced/why the transmission had failed, they told me "it's just broke, it's makin' a noise". This statement was the straw that broke my back, and I said, "you just replace anything that makes a noise without knowing what's wrong?" I had the car towed to my house.

Once the car was jacked, I noticed that the sound is coming from dead center of the diff - it sounds like two pieces of metal clacking together. When the car is in park, drive or reverse, and you spin the wheels, you can hear the clanking. My hope was the rear diff gear was bad, and that it would be easy to replace. I don't have the book yet, so I'm not even sure if there is a procedure to remove the gear, or if it would just be easier to replace the entire trannie.

I'm an average to good mechanic - I've replaced transmissions before, done several heads, and swapped a few engines. I'd like to avoid having to pull (or drop) the trannie, because I'm old, and my body hurts when I'm leaning over a car all day.

I'm really hoping that someone reading this, who's had this happen before, or who's replaced a diff gear, or knows if the diff gear can be replaced can post their experience.

Thanks in advance for the help.