Dear stinafina,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. If the trans fluid was a deep, clear, rosy red, that suggests it is not the cause of the shift problems.

If the fluid is cloudy or milky, that is a sign of water having got into the transmission fluid. Water dissolves the glue, that adheres the clutch pack facings. When the glue dissolves, it allows micro-fibers of clutch material to get into the fluid. Those micro-fibers clog the transmission fluid-ways. Do not get an AW tranny re-built: a huge waste of money. Rather, go to a salvage yard, and find a sound unit. The fluid must be a deep, clear, rosy red.

Even if your tranny's fluid is a deep, clear, rosy red, it should be flushed and replaced with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF.

The Aisin-Warner transmissions are very well-made. They usually outlast the cars, in which they are installed.

You original post suggested to me, that you went to start the car, and could not get it in gear. That is, no matter how you moved the shift lever, the car did not move. If so, then the problem could be in the shifter linkage.

If the car stopped moving while it was out on the road - the engine runs, but the car does not move - that's a quite different problem. I believe the AW30 transmissions have an electronic control module. That module - or the wiring to it - could be the source of the problem.

Yours faithfully,

spook