98 Avalon intermittent problem

[scalelar]

Sorry (don't you hate posts that start out with sorry?) but my details are second handed. My daughter drives a 98 Avalon and is away in school. The problem is the car will sometimes not go forward or reverse but the engine is running. Turning the engine off and restarting has gotten her going but being she is away it is a cause for concern. It sounds like a sensor or computer problem to me but I know litte about transmissions and little about the Avalons. Any ideas?

Scalelar

[toyomoho]

Not an auto trans expert but a few ideas.

Is the O/D light blinking on the dash and or malfunction light steady (trouble light) on after engine start. This would indicate the possibility of a trouble code being stored.

The computer controls up and down shift points plus the O/D via electric solenoids.

Does the car move forward in any gear? When she gives the car gas does the car feel like it wants to move but can’t (tries to move) or is it acting just the same as when in neutral. Has she tried running the shifter through the gears (more then once) to see if the car will move? Does selecting Neutral make the car feel any different then selecting a drive gear?

The initial shifting into F or R gears is done with hydralic valves based on the manual gearshift selector valve (the one operated via cable by the gear selector in the car). It might be possible one of these hydraulic valves is sticking. Some other possibilities are faulty shift cable (runs from gear selector to trans), shift pawl not disengaging (the thing the locks into place when in Park so the car does not roll with engine off) and faulty torque converter.

How is the trans fluid, clean, red and no burned odor? If the fluid is black might try changing it

[scalelar]

Thanks for the reply Toyomoho. She didn't try shifting multiple times but will next time it happens. I'll check the tranny fluid but it does not attempt to move at all. If I resove this I'll post it for future reference.

Thanks
Scalelar