I was in an accident, rear ended a car, that ended with my 99 Ranger being totaled. I bought it back from the ins company since there wa not that much damage. The airbag replacement cost tipped it over to being too expensive hence it being totaled

Ok, so the only issues I've had to fix were a broken power steering hose and the fog lights. I had it towed to my house and now it won't go into gear? I drove it a couple hundred feet after the accident and they body shop moved it a couple of times. Any ideas why after the last tow it would stop going into gear? I am hoping for something easy!!! Otherwise I'll just have to scrap it.

Thanks
Monk

 

Did they tow it on a flat bed or with the wheels down?

 

yes ^^^

And assuming automatic or is it a manual trans?

 

Yes, it is an automatic. It was towed twice, bot wheels down.

Seems like I'm missing something pretty oblvious?


Thanks,
Monk

 

Crap, I'm thinking that one of the towings trashed my transmission.

Please someone tell me I am missing something simple!!

 

was it towed in neutral?

 

I have no idea! It was towed from the body shop to my house. Before that, from where I wrecked to the body shop, 40+ miles. I drove it off the road after I rear ended the other car and then again once in a parking lot to get it out of the way. It only had minor front end damage and the airbags. I already fixed it, the battery was dead when they brought it.. so once I got it charged and running I went to move it and nothing in any gear. The first towing was good, he knew to unlock the hubs, neutral etc.. so seems weird it won't move now.

 

I have a friend who towed his ranger like 50miles on neutral and he forgot to disconnect the drive shaft. It burnt up his transmission after he had put the money into it for a 5.0 swap. It now sits in his yard waiting on time to fix it. That was like 4 years ago too.

 

Front end has the trans cooler(in rad), maybe trans fluid leaked out?

No, you should never tow an automatic, it will cook the transmission.
Maybe they towed it by the rear wheels from accident location, that is what many tow truck drivers do with RWD vehicles, or they put it on a dolly.

Automatics have a pump hooked up to the torque converter, this circulates fluid and creates the pressure needed to get bands to engage.
When you tow the vehicle the drive shaft spins the trans from the other end, so no pump and no circulation, trans cooks.
4x4s sometimes have a option for neutral in the transfer case, these can be towed if transfer case is in Neutral
I believe you can add an external pump for towing on some models, not that this matters to you.

You can tow it short distances, under 5 miles maybe, not sure how fast they heat up.
Or if the engine was idling while towing the pump would be working and that would help

 

I've had mine towed but they lifted the rear tires and dragged the front.

Would it matter if it was a manual?

 

From my understanding if you're not hauling it on a flatbed you need to disconnect the driveshaft.. if not you fry the tranny if hauled a long distance. I think you CAN do it.. but you need the transfer case (if you are 4x4) in neutral. If you don't have a manual transfer case, you have to do this by hand.. you would need to search how to do this.

My guess is they cooked the tranny.. I would see if they can be held accountable for the mistake, but my guess is no. You probably signed something (maybe without even knowing), saying they are not responsible for damage. I could be wrong, but it's worth looking into. For future reference, request a flatbed truck for towing.

 

Yeah I hate to say it but it sounds like the tranny is toast. When I had mine rebuilt it was about 1700 bucks. About 200 of that was parts. If I could go back I would have manual swapped it instead of rebuilding