Mistakenly replaced the trans and TC, what is the real issue?

Im working on a 2006 V6 2wd, 160k miles

The car was experiencing little to nearly 0 acceleration up hill.

It was able to go a few mph in reverse but forward, practically insignificant.
The car then started making all kinds of horrible noises, so I assumed my issue was the torque converter.

I found a junk yard trans / TC package with a 6 month warranty for $400 so I figured I might as well replace the whole trans since my current trans has had a rocky past anyway.

I put the new trans in, and initially thought it was fixed, as I was on level ground, and although there was some hesitation, it did ultimately begin accelerating decent. I parked on the hill in front of my house, and went to drive off the following day, and bam, right back to square one, unable to accelerate forward up the hill

While idling, I noticed an excessive amount of whitish smoke coming outta exhaust

I've heard that usually is a sign of a blown head gasket, however the engine doesn't get hotter than 180F and there's no bubbles in the rad so I don't think it's a head gasket issue but not experienced enough to say definitively.

Can anyone think of any other potential areas to consider, or best course of action to pinpoint the real problem?
I'm not overly concerned about spending the $400for nothing but id certainly like to avoid wasting any more money unnecessarily

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Has it been throwing any codes? It sounds like it’s misfiring

could be plug or coil pack related. If you have a code reader you can check the codes and then swap plugs and coils from one cylinder to the other. If the code follows, that points to a coil or plug issue

 

Thanks for the suggestion,
And don't take this question the wrong way, but would a bad plug or coil pack prevent any forward acceleration ?

Wouldnt a bad plug or coil simply affect performance but still allow driveability?

And what about the white smoke billowing from exhaust?

Would that be related to either of those possibilities?

Also, I do have a professional Autel 608 scan tool, however there are no engine or transmission codes being thrown whatsoever.

Not 1 damn code

I'm not ruling out a data issue of some sort, but the scanner shows no misfiring whatsoever, all 0.

It is reading data though as at least the majority of live data values are being read and are within reason

The only ones that arent as expected are the rpms of each cylinder which all 6 show 59999rpm or something like that.

Also the engine sounds (audibly) like it's idling quite high, yet in fact it's only idling at 700 rpm which I think is more or less normal right?

 

I missed that, I thought it was just some loss of acceleration. How does the fluid level in the trans look? I think there is a procedure to check the fluid level at a certain temp range

I’m not sure on the white smoke from the exhaust. Is that a constant thing or just when you first start it up in the morning? If the latter, it could just be condensation burning off

if no codes, then probably isn’t misfiring and something else is amiss. I would definitely start by checking the trans fluid level if you haven’t already. Also, how did the flex plate look whenever you had the trans out to swap them?

700 rpm idle is normal

 

Is the loss of acceleration on hills only? Like no other drivability issues on flat ground?

 

Interesting that you were able to drive it after replacing the transmission and transfer case, but then went back to original symptoms.

 

Ya well the car was on level ground where I was replacing the trans. The car was definitely lacking on power even on level ground.
But it was at least able to start moving and get up to like 30 mph no problem

( the power/acceleration definitely felt a bit weak, but it was still driveable)

When starting on an incline, not some much.

I'll start giving it some gas with my other foot still holding the brake, (to prevent rolling into the car parked behind me)

Once I let off the brake, with like 30% + throttle applied, the car stays put. No movement at first, and if I remained at 30% throttle it would begin to roll backwards.
If mash the throttle like all the way down, it'll creeeeeep forward but like 1mph and thats with the engine screaming like 80% throttle.

I haven't yet tried full throttle cause it sounds like it's about to blow up already at 80%. So I end up reapplying the brakes and giving up.

I left it idling for like 30+ minutes after a few attempts like I described, and the coolant temp stays at 180 F and transmission temp is slightly less

The smoke from exhaust has stopped, I think that was from the car sitting for so long, so exhaust is no longer billowing smoke, in fact no smoke at all anymore, yet the no power remains.

 

Did you replace the torque converter or re-use the original one when you did the swap?

 

White smoke usually means burning coolant - head gasket
2006 is within the year range prone to head gasket leaks (2003-2006)

Get a leakdown test done to verify.

 

Sticking Brake caliper?

 

The new transmission came with a new TC.

It was the TC I thought to be the problem from the beginning, I only replaced the whole trans cause the whole thing was basically the same price as just the TC by itself.

That's the only possibility left which I have considered is that I bought another bad TC

 

Is it potentially possible that when I put in the new transmission, that the TC could be incorrectly seated in the transmission, yet still bolt up to the flex plate, and have the bell housing still bolt up to the engine flush?

If that were the case I think it wouldn't move at all right?


I'm thinking either I got a bad replacement TC, or otherwise there's more issues with the truck than I initially thought,

Like maybe worn piston rings or something, robbing all the power from the engine?
I'm really at a loss and not experienced enough to properly troubleshoot this

I can take direction well but not if I don't know where to start/ look

 

Another consideration is could it be the starter gear not disengaging from the flex plate and causing excess drag on the engine?

The reason I ask is because I have been having intermittent no start issues and think the starter is going out

 

Has anyone wondered why there's a transfer case being discussed on a 2wd 4R?

 

No, because he's abbreviating TC as Torque Converter

 

Aha! My mind just didn't connect that, thanks.

 

Update,
So I cleaned the throttle body, and removed the additional air filter from the air filter box. I also adjusted the shift linkage and cleaned some shit and I'm not sure what the fix actually was, but the car goes into drive and shifts through all the forward gears now with no issues

It has plenty of power to go up hills etc.

BUT.
it will not engage reverse.

I can shift into reverse, and the R lights up in the cluster, and reverse lights come on in the back, but the car is not in reverse, and still tries to drive forward when applying throttle.

It shifts fine from p to r to n to d all the way to L and back,

It's a little stiff going from p to r but not alarmingly so.

But will not drive backwards

I am getting 1 code, P0500, Vehicle speed sensor
So I was thinking maybe this is being caused by the reverse safety switch or shift interlock or whatever the device is called that prevents reverse while in motion. Because the transmission thinks the vehicle is driving forward / in motion due to a incorrect reading from VSS
Would that make sense?
Or did I get a bad transmission

The vehicle speed shows 49,000 RPM yet engine speed shows 710 RPM on my scan tool
One more thing of interest is that while R doesn't actually reverse, it happens to be the only gear which lights up on the gauge cluster ( when gear selector is shifted into R)

No other gears illuminate on the cluster at all in any gear other than R, where the R illuminates as expected,
Yet it drives and shifts through the forward gears as expected

 

The code isn't necessarily relevant to not engaging reverse. My thought is that you might have over adjusted the shift linkage and while it shows reverse, it's not fully shifting into reverse. Try readjusting it until it actually engages reverse again and make sure it's still working for the forward gears. Visually verify the linkage on the transmission as well when someone shifts through the gears while you watch. Just don't get run over!

 

P0500 means the speed sensor on the transmission is returning the incorrect speed. Either a bad sensor or damaged wiring between the sensor and the ECM.

Correct gauge indication means the transmission range sensor is working correctly.

 

By correct gauge indication, you mean correct gear illuminated on the cluster right?

Because that only illuminates for Reverse, and no other gear is illuminated,
With that said, the fuel level gauge, and temp gauge also don't work so I'm not sure if that is related or not