My daughters were shoved to the side of the road by a cop who didn't bother to check over his shoulder before moving into the right lane they were driving on. They slammed on the breaks and heard a loud thump. They tried to put the car into reverse and it will not move into reverse. It still drives forward. A mechanic said the entire tranny went out. Can this happen? What on earth???? I'm so frustrated. These girls have two jobs each and go to school full time. They have their own apartment and pay all their own bills. Now THIS!!! They share their vehicle, which is a 2001 Ford Focus. If anyone has any leads for a good, reliable mechanic in Chino Hills, California, and any knowledge about what is happening, please reply. Thank you so much.
Are there any mechanics on this board???
by bluesapphire 9 Replies latest jw friends
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Iamallcool
If it is the cop's fault, why should she pay for it?
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Iamallcool
maybe the insurance will pay for it?????
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JeffT
Blue
Check your owner's manual. We own a 2005 Focus. There is a lock on the transmission, one time it wouldn't let us put our car in park. The overide is simple but just now I can't think of how to do it and my wife as the car.
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bluesapphire
OMG! Thanks Jeff T. I will look into it. I don't think we have the manual but I will search on line. Don't you think the mechanic would have thought of this? Unless ... we can't trust the mechanic????
OK I will look.
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Witness My Fury
If you mean the stick cant physically get to the R position then it "could" be the solenoid thing that is there to prevent reverse being selctable UNLESS the foot brake is pressed.... Dunno how stamping on the brake pedal would adversely affect that as i doubt there is a physical connection. It's likely a switch of some kind.
But given a loud thump noise from the car then it could be a physical problem in the box itself of course. But being in the UK we mostly drive manuals (stick shift)....
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JeffT
Bluesapphire,
Mechanics you can trust are as rare as hen's teeth in my experience. You might call a dealer and see what they say.
Here, I found this.
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sooner7nc
Automatic transmissions usually have several sets of planetary gears that are the gear-sets for the different ranges in the transmission. On many older automatics reverse was controlled through a gear set called the "Low-Reverse" set. Many times when this went out the transmission wouldn't drive in reverse but would drive forward, although it should be noted that the tranny would immediately shift into 2nd gear when put into drive. The extra power needed when taking off could possibly be overlooked.
This is on older automatic transmissions so may not be applicable on a fairly new Focus.
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jamiebowers
Blue, I read this thread last night when my husband was already in bed, so this is the first chance I had to ask him about your transmission problem. He said there's a 50/50 chance that the linkage rod is bent. Being that the car will still go forward but not in reverse, this is a likely area to check. Another possibility is if the car was run up over a curb, something may be shoved against it. So you should also look to see if anything is bent toward and obstructing the transmission.
Please let us know what happens.
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bluesapphire
Thank you friends. (whenever I say "friends" I think of how I want to puke when my JW sister tells me she was with the "friends")
I did find a mechanic. Turns out one of the parents from my school where I work is a mechanic and it's a small community where a lot of people know and trust this man. I never knew he was the owner of this automobile repair place and I'm sooooo glad I found out! Whew! He's looking at it for the girls free of charge.
I am going to tell him all of the possibilities you have stated here. He said even if they need a rebuilt tranny he would be fair in the price.