Hey there here’s the scoop, was driving down the freeway the other day, car is a 2001 PT Cruiser going about 65-70 MPH when all the sudden it felt as if I had hit something, a loud bump sound which came from underneath the engine, then an immediate reduction in speed and acceleration. After that, I was trying to accelerate the car, the RPMs were revving like crazy but the car would not go more than 15 MPH, while the RPMs were revving and revving, almost as if I was in park.
Got the car to the side of the road, opened the hood and found that the top of the dipstick (transmission) had blown off and shot transmission fluid all over the engine. Unsure of why this happened but sure that was what the loud sound was before the drastic drop in acceleration.
After that I had the car towed to my house, now it will start, but not drive in reverse at all, i’m afraid to try driving it to inspect it further but that’s pretty much where I am at right now. There’s 117k miles on this car, any other info that could help please let me know and I can provide it, just hoping maybe someone on here may have an idea of what’s going on here? Thanks guys-
make/model/year? Is it possible the xmission fluid was overfilled? Had you checked the level recently? Have you had any service or fluid changes on the auto xmission in the past few months? Have you had an oil change at one of those quick oil change places recently?
I expect this story doesn’t end well … a rebuild is probably in order for your transmission …
Some Chrysler automatic transaxles have an issue with the pin coming out of the center of the differential. When this happens, the pin strikes the case of the transmission, breaking the case and usually the spider gears in your differential. When that happens, you hear a loud noise, transmission fluid goes everywhere, especially on the road, and you can no longer drive your car anywhere. Since your symptoms match this scenario perfectly, this is probably what happened to your car. If there is any good news here, it’s that there is a revision to the pin that is done with any decent rebuild that will eliminate the possibility of this happening again.
Edit: since Chrysler PT Cruiser was tagged, I assumed that is the vehicle we are talking about. Model year would also be helpful, though.
Sorry guys, it’s a 2001 PT Cruiser, just had some engine work done a few months ago in which they did replace the oil, I believe it was at Firestone.
I’m looking underneath the hood of the car, in the engine, the top of the dipstick blew off and there is residue of trans fluid on several parts of the engine.
I’m pretty much looking at a rebuild-trans scenario, either way you roll the dice, huh? Thanks for the input guys-
Whatever you do don’t take it back to Firestone, find an independent transmission shop. If you can’t find a good recommendation for one, call your local police dept or school bus garage and ask who they use.
+1 with old timer. The Firestones near us are all run, owned and operated by greedy morons.
Does the transmission fluid look like transmission fluid and the oil like oil? I wouldn’t put it past those clowns to fill with the wrong fluid.
Not a big fan of the police, so probably wanna leave them out of it. Haha, with that said thanks for all this input, it’s matching my situation perfectly, would you guys recommend I just cut my losses and try posting it on craigslist or something? Thanks-
Did you check the trans fluid level? It just may need more fluid, probably due for a new filter also.
Yeah, trans fluid was fine, just under the MAX part of it…I’m thinkin of just cutting my losses and selling it I’m sick of looking at it in the driveway 
I’m wondering if this happened b/c the transmission fluid overheated. Was it a particularly hot day? Were you pulling a boat or something? Going uphill? Had you been experiences any engine overheating symptoms? It’s also possible the transmission fluid cooling equipment, however that function is done on your car, is impaired or has stopped working for some reason.