Toyota trans

hi ,my toyota solara v6 SE 2000 has as i think trans problem it won’t reverse yesterday as i took it last week to semeone to do engine oil change but instead he drop off the trans oil and add more oil to the engine , and as i don’t know i drove it like 1/2 mile with no trans fluid , we figured out that late !
i keept swfting between D & R ,2 & L IT ALWAYS GO FORWARD and no more reverse can anyone tell me what’s going on ? before i replace the trans !? please thank you
Moe ,

Can we assume you re-filled the transmission with the correct oil?

@sakmani21 it may be too late for this, but . . .

You should immediately have gone back to the guy and politely pointed out his mistake. You should also keep records of when this happened. It sounds like this guy might owe you a transmission rebuild/repair, but proving that might be difficult.

It might just be a coincidence.

You should still speak to the mechanic who made that mistake and let him know what’s going on, even though it’s been several days. You’ve got nothing to lose. Perhaps he’ll even offer to help out.

If not, don’t ever go back there again. It will have been an expensive life lesson.

Good idea @KiwiMe. Are you on the North Island or South? I took a golf holiday in KW land a while back, had a great time. NZ is a fine country. Well, except that you drive on the wrong side of the road … lol

Back to the OP … yes, KiwiMe is correct, the first thing to do is make sure the crankcase only has engine oil in it, and the xmission only has xmission fluid in it. I think you have to assume at this point either may have been contaminated with the other. It may take a few drains and re-fills to get the xmission oil free of any engine oil that may have been added to it.

BTW, it goes without saying Moe, best to not use that service provider in the future. I expect you have a good chance of returning things to normal without major bills once you’ve gotten the fluids straightened out. Best of luck.

A half mile of driving with very little transmission fluid (it will not move with zero fluid) will either damage or wipe out an automatic.

If you can document or it’s admitted that they did this you could probably hold them legally responsible for transmission replacement costs.

You’re referring to “someone”, “he”, and “we”, so this does make me wonder if a friend was involved instead of a shop. If so, the situation becomes a lot stickier.

If flushing out any noncompatible fluid and bring the level up to the correct level did not help, consider doing a pan drop with filter replacement and refill. At that time you could see what debris is in the bottom of the pan. A good independent transmission shop can look at the debris and ascertain if the transmission has to be rebuilt.

To get Reverse in your transmission 3 hydraulic clutches have to engage. The High/Reverse clutch, the 1st/Reverse clutch, and the overdrive direct clutch have to hold. There are ways a trained technician can determine which clutch is not holding. I am hoping (with you) that the filter is clogged with clutch debris not allowing the transmission pump to develop the required pressure to lock all the clutches.

Next time you get slipping of the transmission; get the car to the side of the road; park it; and get it towed. There is not much thickness of friction material on the clutch discs. The lack of line pressure to hold the clutch locked and the lack of lubrication to lube and cool the clutch will cause a lot of damage quickly.