So since I've had my car, it's run flawlesly. Only complaint I've had is a slight valve cover leak. Well today, I went to leave work, and I put it in reverse, it wouldn't engage. So I put it in drive, went into gear, tried reverse again, nothing. So one more time in drive, then back into reverse, and it went. It drove and shifted ok, but I parked, and it struggled to get back into reverse, just not as bad now. It seems to work okay now, but it never did it before, what should I look for being that it has 189k on it?

 

Is the trans fluid at the correct level? Do you change it every two years or 20K? If not try a fluid change. If you do take care of the trans you'll have to have a professional look at it. Transmissions are pretty complicated.

 

I've had the car a month.

 

is this the original transmission, or has it been rebuilt?
-Shift solenoid...or just wear and tear
Is there a check engine light?

 

If you've confirmed that the transmission fluids are at the right levels and it's still giving you problems, most shops will do a free diagnosis.

 

There's no CEL and I don't know if the trans has been serviced.

 

hey voodu, if I were you, I'd get the car in the shop ASAP. I had the same problem with my benz and I could get the car to shift to drive, but not back to reverse or park once I got it to "d". I was 19 and stupid and drove my poor baby like that for a couple of weeks. My transmission stopped shifting and the gears wound up getting all chewed up and I had to rebuild my transmission Not trying to scare you, but just have it checked right away.