Tranmission Problems

First off, specs:

• 2004
• 2WD
• Automatic
• 2 door
• Whatever the smallest engine is, 2.4L I think
• 144k miles

As long as I have had the truck (2012, it had ~90k miles) it has kind of jumped to shift gears if I roll through a stop. Yesterday I did the same thing, rolled through a stop and then was going up a small hill when it seemed to not be able to decide between first and second gears (jumped between the two once or twice). When I get home, I checked the trans fluid and it was BLACK.

Today I go to my mechanic and he tells me I need a new tranny, that the black means some pieces of the trans are wearing out or something. He said he will call around and let me know tomorrow or Monday what my options and pricing would be as far as rebuilt, new, etc.

My questions:

1. Does this sound right? Should I get a second opinion?
2. What could have caused this? Under 150k seems soon to need a new tranny, did my driving cause it?
3. How much could this cost me?

Thanks

 

Transmissions go bad some day. If it was me I would change all fluid for new one and see what happens. It's not expensive from the dealership. Do 3 or 4 drain and fill (drive around 200 miles between changes) and see what happens. Let's see if someone else have a better idea. By the way...dark fluid doesn't mean the transmission is bad. It could also be low on fluid and slipping.

1 - check around the transmission for any leak
2 - get a second and third opinion
3 - change fluid before spending $1500 on a new trany

 

Thanks for the reply.

I checked it again and it doesn't seem to be as dark as it was before. Slightly more brown than the black I remembered. When I smelled it, it didn't really smelled "burned" to me but more waxy, like crayons or something. Thoughts on that?

My current plan is to get the fluid changed and drive around for a while with that and see what happens.

 

Keep us updated

 

The red color of new ATF is just a dye. It can turn dark and still be good.

If it's been happening for many miles and not getting worse then it's probably not something too bad (hopefully).

Are you checking the fluid level with the engine running after the transmission is warm after putting it through all gears and back to park?

Sometimes an electrical issue with the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) can throw off the computer. It could also be an issue with one of the solenoids in the transmission--a lot less expensive to replace than the whole trans.

 

Get a second opinion. you could have a bad shift solenoid. Those are not to bad to replace.

 

Sorry for the delay. I took it into my local Transmission shop and after looking at it for half a day they said it was a bad torque converter. They repaired or replaced that along with some gaskets, etc. Total was just under $2k, which I wasn't too excited about but it shifts great now. Now time to start saving for a 2017...

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Ouch, if it makes you feel any better I got billed about that much by Toyota just to put in a new clutch lol. One downside to autos is that they are usually more expensive to work on if something goes wrong. Glad you got it worked out though.