Transmission just stopped

BRIAN MIGLIONICO

MEMBER
2008 CADILLAC SRX
3.6L
6 CYL
4WD
104,000 MILES

I'm trying to get help here. The car listed above just stopped. The shop said transmission is bad. I jacked it up and pulled the drain plug completely "cold" nothing came out. (Normally I know a car should be hot, switch through all gears several times, then pull plug to verify fluid). But here it was cold, no fluid, pulled pan and maybe there is 1 quart to 2 max. Pan also has thick gray sludge especially on magnet area. Trying to understand if this would cause transmission failure to engage (due to lack of fluid and pressure)? Also, if filled would it resolve the problem? Any other suggestions/tests?

1 Reply

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

Being out of fluid can certainly damage the transmission. The gray sludge is likely metal shavings.
Depending on how long it ran and how much internal damage this has caused, it may or may not work after you fill it up with fluid.
There is a good chance it will need replacement or rebuilding.

Anytime the fluid is low there is always a chance of internal damage. This also will lead to a hard shift or no shift at all.

Since you have it apart, it might be a good idea to fill up with fluid and see if that helps. But the gray sludge is concerning. Then again, the other option is to overhaul or replace the transmission, so adding fluid can be tried.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/automatic-transmission-problems

If you would upload a picture of the gray sludge that you are seeing in the transmission.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.