85 300SD trans problem
 

I posted last Aug IIRC about suddenly having no forward or reverse. Before that the trans worked great. I have just now had time to remove the trans. Before I took it out I removed a cooler line and started the car for about 2 seconds and trans fluid was squirting out. That should mean the pump is working. When I pulled the pan there were no particles of any kind and the fluid was bright pink. edit(** I meant to say red ****) I was told to look for the 2 tabs missing that the torque converter engages in the trans but they are both OK. So my delimma is what could be wrong with the trans at 115K miles that causes no movement of any kind? Thanks for any help.

pink
 

is fluid pink like pepto bismol?if it is your tranny cooler is leaking coolant into your tranny.i should be red as it looks new .

The fluid is bright red, just like it comes out of a new can.

If it was sudden, then there is a hydraulic circuit issue, such as a forward clutch piston seal leaking, due to a cut/rolled o-ring. In many trans, forward clutches are responsible for reverse, as well - the reverse planetary and clutch/band assemblies are added to reverse forward motion. Therefore, since forward and rearward motion is affected, - suddenly at that, start looking for pressure issues, despite what you saw by disconnecting the cooler lines. The valve body can be a source for fluid leaks, but improbable. Unfortunately, you cannot do a line pressure test, now that the trans is out. Did the trans manually engage/shift at all? You may have to do a total tear-down, and even then, may not see any obvious issues. I wish it were easier than that for you.:(

There was no movement at all forward or reverse. Trans worked perfectly last time I drove about 2 hours prior. I did rev the engine to about 2K to see if there was any thing happening. Is 2K above the stall speed? Meaning torq converter may be bad. How can a converter go bad? I thought it was just 2 vanes contained in a housing with seals? Has anyone ever had a converter only go bad?

Stupid question, but did you check the linkage to make sure it was effectively shifting the trans shift valve in the valve body? If so, did you feel like the trans engaged into gear (the slight bump when shifted from P to D or P to R)? The shift lever on the side of the trans may or may not have a roll pin where it meets the shift shaft in the trans. If so, it may have sheared off and is free spinning w/o moving the shaft. Just a thought. Do you remember if the car would actually roll in neutral when this happened? if so, that means that the linkage was probably ok, as the park lock/pawl was disengaged to allow movement. Not having the trans in the car is going to limit any other tests, short of replacement if you are trying to eliminate the in/out process of multiple trans installation.

Yes I checked that the trans would shift into and out of park by pushing the car by hand in N and that it wouldn't move in P. Good question that I forgot to include in my test.

I decided that rather than break something I can't fix in the trans I took the trans and TC to a local rebuilder. They're going to look at it one day next week. Will post results. Thanks

update
 

torq converter is bad