That is going to be my plan! Thank you all for your replies.
When motor and transmission mounts collapse it allows the transmission to move relative to where it is supposed to be in the engine compartment. This movement can make it impossible to shift the transmission with the lever the driver uses in the passenger compartment, as the routing of the mechanical linkage from the lever to the transmission has changed. As long as the transmission hasn’t displayed problems other than this, and has been given its routine servicing on schedule, I think it is worth a try to replace the mounts and then see what – if any-- symptoms remain. If the transmission has had other problems before, or the servicing has been deferred, I’d proably then drain the fluid out and sieve it for metal debris. If there was more than what is normally expected, no use spending any more money on it until you have a plan for either disposing of the vehicle, or for getting a working transmission installed. This all assumes of the course the vehicle is in good shape otherwise, no rust issues, etc. When both engine and transmission mounts need replacement in a 13 year old vehicle, it can indicate the vehicle has been driven fairly aggressively, and that sort of driving style can wear out other stuff to the degree it is no economical to repair it all.
I just had a friend plug in his obd2 reader, and no codes came up? If something was wrong with the tranny would it display codes? Don’t know how accurate they are.
Some obd ii readers aren’t able to display transmission codes, only engine codes. It’s also possible there are no transmission codes anyway, for example if there’s a problem with the linkage between the driver’s shift lever and the transmission, the computer wouldn’t be able to determine that. It would think nobody was even attempting to shift the transmission.
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I don’t know of a single OBDII code reader that isn’t capable of retrieving a transmission fault code.
Any generic code the begins with P07, P08, or P09 relates to the transmission.
And the P at the beginning of a code refers to powertrain. Or engine/transmission.
Tester
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at least the timing belt did not break and wreck the motor. i see many odyssey vans for sale with bad trans but almost none with broken timing belts. i wonder why that is when most folks are slow to service timing belts. as it did not used to be a common maintenance item on cars in the US.
I have to ask, have you had the ATF changed according to the maintenance schedule. If the ATF is old and you got it really hot on a road trip, you could have this problem. Once cooled down, it works again.
FYI, the transmission is electrically shifted. When you move the stick, you are selecting a switch located just under the stick. That sends the gear selection to the computer which in turn controls the transmission.
I would get a second opinion on the transmission mount and if it confirms a bad mount, I would recommend replacing it (them) ASAP. I’d also recommend an ATF change or maybe even a flush in your case.
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Here’s what Eric the Car Guy Posts about checking for transmission codes:
“Another step in your diagnosis is to check for codes. You do this in the same way you would check for engine codes. There are specific codes for automatic transmissions, but they are specific to manufacturer. This means that you might need a special scanner”
Eric The Car Guy.
Just like you and me, someone on the internet you don’t even know.
If it’s a generic transmission code, you don’t need a special scanner.
I have code readers and scanners. And each one is capable of pulling tranny codes.
And by the way George? You don’t even own an OBDII vehicle.
So what would you know on the subject?
Tester
Google “do all obd ii scanners read transmission codes”
What did you all do to get the van in gear and driving again?
How wouldn’t the van go into gear for your mom originally? Would the shifter move, but when applying gas the van wouldn’t move? Or the shifter wouldn’t move out of park at all?
Is the van still 2 hours away? if it is home- how did it get there? tow or drive?
She couldn’t move the shifter into reverse, turned the car off for about a half hour and turned it back on and it shifted fine. We had it towed back to our town.
If the shifter wouldn’t move, then this leans less towards an internal transmission issue, and more towards an external one:
bad shifter cable, faulty brake switch, faulty release within the shifter mechanism- any or all of which are way cheaper than $5000 to repair.