Will not back up when transmission is shifted into reverse

PAMMY TAMMY

MEMBER
2004 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER
4WD
AUTOMATIC
170,000 MILES

Back in spring my vehicle would not back up and I took it to a mechanic local here and he said he could fix it. It cost me $750.00 and it worked okay when I got it back. In 60 days it did the same thing that it did before, I took it back again and he fixed it again. Now a few months later, it is doing it again. I put it in reverse and it just sits there. And I had to get someone to push it backwards. It goes into drive and drives forward except now it only shifts two times and that is it. And it slips a little bit. When it first did it this time I put my car in reverse and it jerked backwards but it backed up then put it in drive and took off and it slipped for about 50 feet and then smoothed out. But now no backing up at all. Help

4 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

It sounds like the shifter is either out of adjustment or we have greater internal transmission issues. The fact that he was able to fix it, can you let us know what he was doing or replacing in order to get it to operate again and that will help us know what could be happening?

Also, here is a guide that has some general info on transmission issues that could help when we find out what the mechanic was doing to get it running:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/automatic-transmission-problems

Lastly we need to check for codes but I think the real place to start is finding out what they were doing and that will help us figure this out.

Here is a guide on how to check for codes:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

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Monday, December 21st, 2020 AT 4:41 PM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
48,363 POSTS

It sounds like the reverse valve spring in the valve body has gone bad but to be sure lets run the codes. Can I ask what they fixed?

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what happens.

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Monday, December 21st, 2020 AT 5:22 PM

PAMMY TAMMY

MEMBER
2 POSTS

They rebuilt the transmission. That is all I know. My husband took the car to the mechanic and he said he would rebuild it. And he would take it all apart and re-use the good parts. That was back before July and now we can't ask anything because he died in August and the shop is closed. Everyone we talk to and tell them about it, ask who is the mechanic and when we tell them, they just shake their head and say they have heard things about that shop, yet he was recommended by another shop. I just know that they had the car the first time for over a week and the second time they had it for 10 days and the car came back messed up worse than it was.

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Sunday, December 27th, 2020 AT 8:03 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Okay. Sorry to hear that. I suspect your issue is in the valve body which normally gets reused when rebuilding the unit. So I would start with that but if you are able to get codes out of it we should be able to figure something else out but looks like you are going to have to find another shop either way.

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