udfxrookie

02 ES300 (automatic) shifts, you can see the shift cable moving on the transmission and the gear selector on the dash moving, when car is put in neutral all wheels move freely, when in Park all the wheels are locked up so there IS shifting.

HOWEVER, In drive or reverse when the gas is pressed only rpm's move, the car doesn't.

The engine was replaced a while ago with one with 35K due to blown head gasket on the previous 220k engine that previous owner NEVER maintained.
The transmission was JUST replaced with a 30K transmission and Torque converter.

What in the WORLD could be the issue??

LeX2K

Check for pump pressure by removing the cooler line going to the radiator, the one closest to the battery.

HomerJay

You did not specify, but if a shop installed the transmission contact them immediately.
​​​​

udfxrookie

LMAO I'd be the shop that's why I'm on the forum, else yeah... that'd be the FIRST thing I did vs posting on a forum LOL but ty for the... helpful response

udfxrookie

I will do this first thing in the morning and respond, TY and great way to check the pump!!

HydroDog

While your under the car make sure you bolted the torque converter to the flywheel.

udfxrookie

That's an integral part of putting them together and ensuring the tc is properly installed, yes the 6 bolts are in... Checking pump now as suggested, will report back

udfxrookie

Checked and it's pumping nice red fluid, fluid level is also good... I just don't hear it engaging when I select drive or any other gears.
It does it's job as in.... when in neutral all the wheels move, but when you put it in a movable gear I don't hear anything and normally (especially older cars)
you hear SOMETHING =( No way the previous one failed and then a new one with 30k miles just doesn't work... no one has luck like that, this HAS to be electrical... but what =(

udfxrookie

Is the gear shifter simply a glorified lever... i.e. it literally does NOTHING other than move the cable that DOES actually move the neutral safety switch on the transmission?

LeX2K

It does move the NSS as well as the internals of the transmission. You sure there is enough trans fluid? I swapped a transmission once and there wasn't enough ATF the car wouldn't move 1 millimeter. Have you confirmed the cable is in fact moving the shift lever on the tranny? This generation of ES has a flaw where the mechanism inside the car breaks and the cable doesn't move anymore.

Good to hear the pump is working, many people have incorrectly seated the torque converter and subsequently bolted up the transmission which crushed the pump because the converter was was not keyed properly to the pump.

udfxrookie

Yup...because I screwed the pooch on my BMW and did NOT seat it properly so that transmission is being delivered tomorrow lol.
Transmission fluid is most certainly good as I've checked, double checked and then triple checked lol. With with me checking everything and all looking well the floor shifter is the only part that is the same through all of this. I know the cable in fact does move it as I've had to set the cable up to ensure P is P as well as reconnect the cable on the floor shifter.
So I'm left with ECU or floor shifter? =(

LeX2K

Manually put the car in drive at the transmission lever (front wheels off the ground of course) if that doesn't work then the transmission itself might simply be no good. Even if one solenoid was bad it should go into at least one gear .Dumb question, you have both axles installed right?

udfxrookie

Axles are in properly... hard not to with the splines but I understand especially with people nowadays lol. The thing is when I did the engine swap initially and didn't swap the trans the car worked great and my daughter drove for 4 days. Then one day attempting to leave work it simply would not move... I instantly checked the cable
to ensure it was moving the selector (neutral safety switch) on the transmission and it was, so I assumed a solenoid as the tranny was over 220K and the previous owner blew a head gasket so I knew they didn't take care of the tranny. I got it towed home, new transmission with TC and 30k miles came in and I have the SAME issues.
There's NO way a solenoid went in the first older tranny and I bolt up a new one, perform a flush through the system and then the new one has a bad solenoid... WAY too coincidental.

These are the reasons I'm leaning to something electrical vs mechanical.... the floor shifter, the ecu needing to be reprogrammed (I performed the reset and reset of calibration/learning settings though)