NEED HELP ASAP WITH TRANSMISSION

[Kalgorn]

On the way to school today, got stuck in sick traffic because of the snow. Heavy stop & go. Started to hear a whine from under the hood. Figured it was my alternator but it sounded like driver's side. Noticed voltage would drop when I put my foot on the brake and the whine got louder with RPMs. Whined at idle too.

 

Got to school, had class, got out, turned my car on and no whine. I thought "Hmm, may have just been a fluke with the traffic". Well, of course I got stuck in traffic again on the way back and it started whining again. My car stalled (does that once in a while) so I put it in neutral and turned it back on. When I turned it back on, the RPMs climbed to about 1500 and the car was making an even wierder whining noise. Put the car in drive... nothing. Just revved for about 2 seconds and then kicked into drive. Fuck... transmission is going? This is ridiculous.

 

So I got all the way to my girlfriend's school to pick her up with the transmission slipping like crazy. I think it won't get out of second gear. I popped the hood when I got here, checked the tranny fluid... dark brown and smells burnt.

 

FUCK

 

What the hell can I do? I'm about 7 miles away from my apartment but I had plans to go home tomorrow because my girlfriend and I are taking a bus to NY. I guess I could change my tranny fluid but not here in the parking lot at her school... plus it's snowing like crazy, getting dark out, and I have no ride anywhere to get stuff.

 

FUCK FUCK FUCK

 

Someone has to have an idea...

[pwmin]

too much fluid is worse than not enough but im sure thats not the problem. thats why you should check your fluid every once in a while so something like this doesnt happen neway, just try to get it home if possible; if not youll have to have it towed or get someone to tow it with their wbody or something change the fluid and see if it helps. theres not much else you can do other than taking it into a shop. may not just remedy it with a fluid change cause its highly possible something else is messed up, but theres a chance. def dont have it flushed. it will make it worse

[Kalgorn]

Well I just changed the fluid about 1.5 months ago and added a bottle of Lucas Tranny fix. That's what REALLY pisses me off. It's got fresh fluid in it with not even 2000 miles on it. It's going to be tough to change my fluid because I don't really have a way to get the car into the air. All I have is the scissors jack that came with the car. I would have to either buy a real jack or buy some jack stands. I can't afford this. This car is getting out of control. I only needed it to last me one more week to get finished with school.

[digitaloutsider]

If you transmission doesn't need it, NEVER use Lucas tranny fix. I've never seen a transmission use it, then last over 3 or 4k miles.

[manitcor]

dont use anything in your transmission except the GM reccomended oils, do not use synthetics, do not use addatives. I would not be surprised to discover it was the lucas that screwed you in the first place.

[Kalgorn]

Oh greaaaaaaaaaat... I had heard great things about the Lucas additive for transmissions. Such good news.

[Kalgorn]

Hmm... should I get my hands on another bottle of Lucas Tranny Fix, dump it in, and hope it gets me home just so I have a place to put the car? I only have a couple more days of school left until I'm done and move back home.

[pwmin]

id say its fucked so you may as well try. get more opinions though. sounds like changing the fluid isnt going to do shit. that sucks. time for a 284

[Kalgorn]

Time for a 284? Shit, time for a new car. Unfortunately it's too early for that... all I wanted was a few more months out of this car... then I was hoping to have a decent job and pick up a newer car.

 

Damnit. I don't want to go and drop ~$1300 on this car to have the transmission rebuilt and then end up selling it not too far down the line.

[Regal_GS_1989]

Well, you said that it happened in heavy stop and go traffic. It is possible that you overheated it, which would cause it to slip, and easily cook the clutch disks/bands. When i was working at a tranny shop over the summer, we had a guy come in with a 90 siverado, and was complaining that it started slipping on the highway. We flushed out the tranny(not with a machine, but by disconnecting one of the cooler lines, running the engine, and constantly pouring in clean fluid until the clean stuff started to come out) than slapped in a new filter and filled it back up with clean fluid. Bam, Ran 100%.

[Kalgorn]

That's what a buddy of mine on another forum said. He said to disconnect a line from the cooler to drain some out and get some fresh fluid in it so I could at least get it home and do a full change. I don't know where the lines to the cooler are though.

[Crazy K]

the metal lines connect to the passenger side of the radiator, where the cap is. Follow them down to the bottom of the radiotr support, and then towrds the drivers side. There is a point where they link with rubber hoses which go to the transmission. and weither of these links there is a hose clamp. detach the line and you are set. good info?

[Kalgorn]

Well, decided to try my luck with at least getting the car to my apartment. Umm... yeah. Got about 1/2 a mile and it just slipped like a bitch. Got it towed to my house (about 30 miles) with our road service and it didn't cost me a dime. Unfortunately, now I have to figure out what the fuck to do with this piece of shit. I don't want to fix it... I love that car so much but rebuilding or replacing that tranny just isn't worth it on a car that I want to get rid of in the near future.

 

I might just try changing the tranny fluid and hoping it gives me some time with it...

 

Anyone want a '92 Z34 with 103k miles and a blown tranny? Christ...

[chadz34]

Well, decided to try my luck with at least getting the car to my apartment. Umm... yeah. Got about 1/2 a mile and it just slipped like a bitch. Got it towed to my house (about 30 miles) with our road service and it didn't cost me a dime. Unfortunately, now I have to figure out what the fuck to do with this piece of shit. I don't want to fix it... I love that car so much but rebuilding or replacing that tranny just isn't worth it on a car that I want to get rid of in the near future.

 

I might just try changing the tranny fluid and hoping it gives me some time with it...

 

Anyone want a '92 Z34 with 103k miles and a blown tranny? Christ...

How much do you want for it?

[gp90se]

y'all badmouth lucas, Ive had it completly fix the tranny issues in my blazer (put 30k on it since added), my regal which always slips in 2ed gear, but the lucas firmed it up a tad and in my fathers caravan which has stuck valves in the tranny. Sounds like your tranny is pretty fried, but throwing in a bottle of lucas after draining some fluid couldnt hurt at this point.

[pwmin]

How much do you want for it?

and

Sounds like your tranny is pretty fried, but throwing in a bottle of lucas after draining some fluid couldnt hurt at this point

 

werd to your mother!

[White93z34]

i may be intrested as well, pm me a price if you want to sell her, i may bite.

 

but playing devils avocate here, if you drop the trans out your self and reinstal a rebuild is only around $500

[Kalgorn]

Well my dad and I are going to try flushing it and pumping new fluid into it ourselves. If we can at least get it driving alright, we're going to get it to a dealer ASAP and trade it in. And apparently I'm being forced to buy a new car that I can't afford just because it will have a warrenty on it.

 

If I can't get it running, I'll run it by my dad about selling it to one of you guys. He originally said he wanted to find a used transmission and have it put in... I definately would rather not spend that kind of money.

 

I'm not putting a tranny in myself. I don't have the tools or knowledge to do it and my dad already said he refuses to do it too.

[pwmin]

what do you mean by flushing and pumping? if your going to force fluid in there you wont accomplish anything but making it worse if thats even possible. just throw all the tranny additives in there you can like BG trans condition, lucas, etc. and try to get some good fluid in there so it doesnt look burnt. may have to do it a couple times after running it to get the fluid to look decent enough to maybe fool the dealer. poor car.

[Crazy K]

what do you mean by flushing and pumping? if your going to force fluid in there you wont accomplish anything but making it worse if thats even possible. just throw all the tranny additives in there you can like BG trans condition, lucas, etc. and try to get some good fluid in there so it doesnt look burnt. may have to do it a couple times after running it to get the fluid to look decent enough to maybe fool the dealer. poor car.

what? more additives??? No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just do a simple cooler line bleed, while adding fluid, until it runs clean. Then change the fluid and filter. use no additives. At 103k miles Your tranny should still be in good shape unless it was abused.

 

It it is still malfunctioning then, post it to us on the board and we'll see what we can do.

[Kalgorn]

Okay, here's an update:

 

Took a line off the tranny cooler and hooked it up to a hose into a bucket. Did a little swapping of fluids and got the fluid looking A LOT better. It runs fine now. Doesn't whine at all, got the fluid up to a proper level, and it drives the way it should.

 

I'm still trading it in though. It's not really worth it, to me, to take the chance. That tranny could be pretty fried and I just bought a little bit more life with it. I planned on getting a new car when I got out of school and got a decent job anyway, so this isn't the biggest deal. Only problem is, I won't exactly be getting a car that I had hoped to. I've gotta find some cheap car. Going with a 5-speed though. No more of this automatic crap.

[Crazy K]

hello? only 103k? You're just starting to break the car in! but you are right about possibly risking killing it. I personally would do a full fluid flush and filter change and just drive. I think that these trannies are pretty indestructable, but you might get quotes on a rebuild in case it actually does fail someday. It would be hella-cheaper to pay $1500 for a rebuilt tranny and have a great car, than pay $20,000 for a mediocre new car. You might baby it abit for now, and see how it acts.... Even if a trade in might give you something for it, I think that the probable 500 you would get would be such a rip off. If you decide to get rid of it, you might offer it on here. Someone would be quite happy to get such a nice car.

[Kalgorn]

I would love to offer it on her, but I'm sure my dad wouldn't be a fan of that because of two reasons:

 

1. It's nice to just get some money for it quick by trading it in

2. Who knows how long I'd have to have it sitting around until it sells

 

Plus, yeah I may "only" spend $1500 on a rebuild for the tranny, but getting a new car means warrenty, reliability, better gas mileage, and I'm requiring a 5-speed instead of auto.

 

I dunno... I love this car so much and I got 1 year and 9 months out of it, but I think I need to just move on...

 

I might try calling my cousin and asking if he'd like to buy it back since he loved this car. His sisters couldn't believe he sold it. Hmm... :|

[Crazy K]

you might, make sure that it goes to someone who will value it. What kinda car are you thinking of replacing it with?

[Kalgorn]

I would definately rather see it go to someone who would treat it right and do something with it instead of just letting it sit around or get stuck at a dealer, put on their lot, and set for some ridiculous price that will never sell. Unfortunately, I don't really have that choice. I can barely afford any of this as it is. I just put almost $40 worth of tranny fluid into this car today and spent like $13 on hose to do the fluid swap.

 

I'm looking into a Cobalt or Focus because they're cheap little cars that will get good gas mileage and shouldn't be too bad with a 5-speed (I'm requiring a 5-speed). I'd like to go with a Cobalt because I'm (obviously) a huge fan of Chevy.