My Mother in Law is having trouble with her 1999 Buick Century. This week her speedometer and odometer stopped working, and at the same time, her transmission stopped shifting. She has Reverse and 1st gear, but that is it. What could be causing this?

By the way, it has the 3.1L V6 and the car has 54,000 original miles on it.

Any assistance with this issue would be much appreciated

Steve

 

In all likelihood, the gear driving the governor, and in this case the speedo pickup as well may have spun free or stripped inside the transmission. As a result, the valve body inside the transmission has no way of knowing how fast the car is moving, or if it's moving at all. Since the car (obviously) isn't going to shift gears while sitting still, it remains in first gear. Reverse isn't affected since it doesn't need to shift. If it's an electronic-shift transmission, the problem could be just the speedo pickup itself, since the same signal that makes the speedometer read would also tell the computer how fast you are going, and when to shift gears. In either case, it should be easily repairable and most likely will not involve removal of the transmission from the car. I've seen the exact problem you describe occur in cars ranging from Ford Tauruses, Chrysler Minivans, and even the old, rear-wheel drive Jagusr XJ-6. Any competent, trust-worthy mechanic should be able to either assist you or perform the repair without leaving you broke. I hope this helps, and please post the results of whatever you find out.

 

Ok, thanks for the info I will post another reply after we confirm what the root cause was.

Steve

 

SpecialDude,

I just talked to my mother in law and she said that they took the car to the garage and discovered that squirrels had eaten through a section of wire that controls (or sends a signal to) the speedometer They replaced the wire and everything is working fine.

Thanks again

Steve