I was driving my car yesterday, and, as I was going forward, the car suddenly took itself out of gear(similar if I would have been on a manual and engaged the clutched). Since the gas pedal was down, the RPM's would soar up like if I was in neutral, and then after I slowed down some (20mph->10), it would get back into gear and continue driving. It did this 2-3 times within 2 minutes, and I got to my place of destination.

When I got back in the car(about 5 hours later), it turns on fine, but it won't shift into reverse,drive, S, or L. The only time this problem occurred previously was about a year ago on the highway, and the car would go from 70-40 mph. That happened twice, and I just assumed it was because I was extremely low on gas. When I fueled back up, it stopped. My car is fine on fuel right now. Transmission and oil fluids are fine(although the transmission fluid is way above what it should be).

Any ideas? Has my transmission just gone to hell? It's been shifting rather violently for the past year if you just floor it. I kind of have to baby it into shifting from 1-2 and 2-3 so I wouldn't get a giant kick from it.

Out of curiosity, how many miles on the transmission? Sounds like it's slipping, so I'll say a rebuild is in your future. Even with the best of care, it seems these transmissions like to go anywhere between the 200-300K range for most of us.

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Never be ashamed to ask for help.

1985 300D
1987 300SDL
1970 Jaguar E-Type OTS
2002 Dodge Intrepid (Traded In)
2011 Ford Crown Victoria

It broke at 182k, and that was well before I got it. I'd say it has at least 300k on it now. And crap. That may mean there goes my car =(

Is the trans fluid level correct? An autotragic that has exsanguinated itself through say a burst cooler line would exhibit that type of symptom. But hey, if the trans is dead, that's just an opportunity to convert to a manual

Check the shifter linkage just in case that has come loose before you ship the car off to the breakers yard.

As said above - How are you checking the fluid level?

It could be front pump failure - to check this you could remove the oil cooler line with the engine running (for the transmission) and see if there is a dribble or a squirt.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Somethig else to do while you are checking the Shifter.
I would be curious and drain the Fluid and inspect for anyting in the bottom of the Pan. If you find stuff in the Pan that could be a clue as to what is going on.

If I did not find anything in the Pan I would try changing the Transmission Filter. You could reuse the ATF if you wanted to to avoid further expense in case the Filter Change did not help.
I fact if you decided to get another good used Transmission you could remove the newish Filter and put it in a Zip-lock bag and reuse it later.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

what concerns me, is you say the fluid in the trans is way above what it should be. how high is it? Try bringing it back down to the right level, I'd hazard a guess and say a rebuild/replace is in your future...

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

I guess the level was checked when the engine was not running. (Only a guess mind you!)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I would be thinking front pump or torque converter tang failure. Pull a hose going to the radiator and see if it develops any pressure.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Tangs are known to fail on the 116SD's. I concur with Army--pull a cooling hose and see if you have flow. The reason it kept going after it happened is that you were moving and the rear pump was operational.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I've had this happen to me before. I stopped hard and put it into Park and couldn't shift after that. The problem was the Neutral Safety Switch and the cable attachment. I rocked the car back and forth while rocking the cable attachment. This worked for me as something "released" and I was able to move the shifter again. I posted about it here a couple of years ago if you want to search. I think it was titled "Help! At work car won't shift" or something like that.

Good luck!

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2009 R350, now the daily driver
1980 300SD, was the daily driver