I have a 2000 Olds Silhouette Van with 204k miles. I do all the maintenance on this car myself. Van has a 3400 V6 and runs great and has a lot of power. Was driving home from work, went over a railroad tracks and the Transmission went out. Just stop working. Car was still running but has no drive. Won't go in Reverse or drive. Will go in and out of park. I was getting a little of torque converter shimmy before this went out. Just wonder if the converter has finally gone. I check the dip stick and the Trans fluid is very high. The level has always been at the right level. Does it make sense to swap the trans with a JY trans and install a new converter? Or should I give up the ghost and just sale her with her broke. This van has been in the family a long time. drove her all over the country. Hate to see her get junk.

I would check and see if the torque converter bolts fell out. With high fluid and the sudden dissconnect of power it'* possible it could be that simple.

if its not that i wouldnt put a JY trans in anything. they are likely as bad as what you have. people rebuild that trans all the time so it can be cheap if you find a shop that doesnt gouge people. i had the one done in my bonnie for under a grand. it was a volume type shop that does a few of those per week

I doubt the bolts fell out, you would have one hell of a noise form that flex plate if it ever got even loose.....

What worries me is the high fluid level.......possibly your cooler in the radiator leake and you have coolant in the tranny fluid, which could have caused that shudder.....coolant in a tranny, as Frankenstein would say, "Not goooooood!"

if it was that you should be able to see some signs on the dipstick, like whitish foam or the fluid will look kind of pink. if thats the case you are still looking at a trans rebuild and a new rad

Thanks for the tips and tricks. I don't see any white on the dipstick or any milky stuff on it. Theory is if the torque converter went, the internals, the excessive fluid that the torque converter would hold would blow out. Causing the high fluid level. Flywheel blots could be a problem. Just wonder how I could look to see if they are broken off without doing a lot of demo of parts. Could pull the starter and look? Any ideas?

there should be a black plastic inspection cover under there