I'm glad I found this forum. Here's my situation.

I bought this 09 Aura 2.4L in 2011 with 22k miles. It's been a great car for 13 years. Best car I ever owned. It currently has 109k and troubles.

Last week while on the interstate I noticed it felt sluggish. Wasn't terrible, still drive fine. Got it home. Over the next couple days it got worse. Large RPMs up to 4k and labored on trying to go over 20mph, with major hesitation switching gears, engine light on.

2 coworkers suggested the Trans was slipping. Guy at oriley agreed, read codes. P0016, P0017. Codes I had before, but the actuators were changed with the sensor last year.

Oriley guy suggested I spill and fill my trans fluid as it has never been done. I did. Took out a gallon of worn out black fluid. Replaced with fresh dextron per spec.

Warmed up the car. Test drive resulted in cut power and new warnings I'd never seen. Service ESC and traction control lost. Cut power, ran at only 10mph. Limped it 2 blocks home. Parked it and left it for the day.

Next day, I figured maybe the new fluid had soaked in or settled or whatever. I've never messed with a transmission. Fired it up. Power is back. Drives better, but still resistant on acceleration. Especially from a dead stop. Labored on acceleration but still drives. Did notice a ticking sound, almost constant.

Park it and decide to take it to my local repair shop the next morning for evaluation.

Next morning I hop in and start it. Cranks but wont turn over at all. I tried and tried but never turned over. Had it towed to the shop. No compression. They say my timing chain is probably broken, and I might need an engine. they want to open the chain up and see the condition and go from there.

My concern:

Is it worth it? I feel the trans has gone bad and the timing chain is collateral damage. Replace the chain with the risk of a bad transmission? are they unrelated? does it sound like it was a timing chain issue all along and the trans is probably fine?

I love the car, but man. It's only worth $4k in good running shape, on a good day. Repairs will probably be close to that.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

With the 0016 and 0017, I don't think you ever had a transmission problem. I think the chain stretched or skipped and that's why it was sluggish.
slap an engine in it, and run it another 150k. Change the oil every 2500-3k miles to keep the timing tensioner happy.

Are you local to east Texas by chance? I could do the job.

 

Thanks for your opinion. Would you say the black transmission fluid was nothing to worry about? I keep finding conflicting information on the internet.

I'm in Indianapolis. Car is already at the shop. I'm supposed to call them this morning with a decision. I'll probably have them open it up and assess the chain/engine and go from there.

 

Don't condemn the tranny before fixing the engine. A poor running engine can cause erratic tranny issues.

 

Wouldn't say nothing to worry about, at 100k and the age, it's due for a service. I still don't think that was your initial issue.
Fix/replace the engine issue. And have them service the trans with a fresh filter and fluid exchange and drive it til the wheels fall off.
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That's what I'm thinking now after all the research I've done and read. Sounds like it was all a timing chain issue for sure. Gonna see about the engine and chain and probably fix it. Going to be a couple days before I hear anything.

 

I feel like you're right, after all that I've read. I'm probably going to do just that. Car market is still crap at the moment. If I can fix it for, hopefully 3k or less, I think I will. Beats buying another car with these inflated prices. Still holding hope the market eventually bottoms out to eventually upgrade for a fair price. I'll know what they find in a couple days.

 

Stress to them to do only a fluid exchange on the transmission and not a transmission flush which redistributes all of the deposited crap all over the transmission. You want an exchange not a flush.

 

It is crap. I work at a dealership during the day. I wouldn't even run my credit on a single car on the lot.
I wish you were closer. I know I could fix it for less than 3k. Maybe not much less, but I'd just send the head to the machine shop, new gasket kit, and timing set then send it.

 

Any updates?

How did you make out?