My '05 XLS AWD is currently immobile because it seems to have lost all its gears. I hope I don't need a new trans. Had the fluid flushed today in hopes that the issues would be resolved, but it went out completely on the way home.
The problems started out of nowhere and progressed very quickly, which is why I thought it might not be a bad transmission. It was fine and suddenly major issues started about a month ago (it's at 107 thousand miles). We had a really bad December, and after a really rough snow, where I was driving it cold and in salty, crappy conditions, it started to give me trouble. It would act funny and make grinding noises while turning at low speeds, like the power steering was going out (no fluid issues), then, about 3 weeks ago, it suddenly refused to move unless it was warmed up completely (for about 20 mins). Prior to that, I had only noticed the grinding/steering sounds on occasion.
When the major problem with shifting first started, it would go into reverse fairly quickly (5-10 mins) after I started it but still take another 10 or so minutes of warming up before going into drive, and shifting from neutral into D would be hard, like it didn't want to go. And it required the car to be warmer each time. At first, I only needed a few minutes to get it to shift, and by the end, it was taking a full 20 mins. If it wasn't warmed up enough when I drove it, it would make a horrible sound, like a loud groan, and it would suddenly shift down from 4 to 3 or into 2nd or 1st, until it was absolutely warm, which meant I was at 10 mph in the middle of the road, or unable to take off at a red light, soon after starting it. After getting warm, it drove pretty smooth, until it sat and got cold once again, and then it did the same thing. Every time I drove it, these things became louder, harder, rougher, and more pronounced, and in the last week or so, it would shake around 40mph and drive smoothly at higher or lower speeds.
Today, the mechanic said it seemed to be in good shape after flushing the fluid, but on my way home, it did the groaning thing between 3rd and 4th (it was totally warm) and then suddenly downshifted into 3rd and would not shift out of 3. The N was flashing on and off, and the D was still lit (it had been previously sticking between N and D, with both lit, even though it wouldn't go into D while at all cold). After 5 miles of this, it stopped struggling in 3rd and just went into a kind of neutral gear, and it made a quiet whirring sound with almost no power. Just enough to pull into a parking lot.
(It had also recently started to make a dry, cracking sound when I started it, over the last week. It was worse each time I started the car, and tonight even after the gears went out, it would turn over very loudly and I could shift easily, but it was basically in neutral and none of the gears would do anything).
I really feel that this is a rapid deterioration to be a transmission going out, but I don't know. Are there sensor/computer issues that this could be? Or linkage? Cables or belts?