I stopped at a fast food place and went to drive away but it wouldn't go. It was like it was in neutral. It had been driving fine up til then. I gave it some more gas and it finally creeped off but kept dropping out of gear like it would go into neutral. I had to pull to the side of the road and wait a few minutes before it would drive off again. This kept repeating many times until I finally managed to limp into the driveway. The next morning it drove fine when I took it to a repair shop. They checked fluids and said it was full. When they drove it around front and I went to take off it again wouldn't go and there was a repeat of the having to stop and wait with engine off for a few minutes before it would drive off for a block until the next episode. And now it will hardly move at all except for a few feet and it makes a growling in reverse. To top it off the water pump or something has gone out as when I put water in it drips at a good rate down onto the ground. Will overheating or anything ( it has never seemed to overheat ) cause a problem with the transmission? I read the thread about transmission diagnostics but mine did seem to drive, for a bit anyway. Any ideas? I hate to take it to a transmission shop because when I took it to AAMCO it cost $500 just to take the tranny apart for diagnostics. Then it cost $1600 to rebuild it and that only lasted 20,000 miles until this happened.

 

It's broken. It's useless as it is. You have to fix it. You have to make an executive decision as to whether you want to keep it or fix it well enough to dump it.

When I was in your place two years ago. I made the decision to keep it (had it since new, was easy decision). I put $3200 into the trans (kevlar bands, high end TC, etc.), added $900 with of new tires, $900 worth of Magnaflow front to back, $350 in Bilsteins, and a couple hundred under the hood. It runs better than it ever since I've owned it.

 

I am definitely not going to put a lot into it. Even if you fix it like you did it is still an old car and you won't get your money back. Hopefully it is just one of the less expensive things to fix. If not, well the scrap yard is calling it's name.

 

Actually, it's a truck. Making a decision in my direction isn't about 'getting your money back', it's about having a vehicle you like and trust. My money spent is recovered in a year of not making payments on something newer.

I don't mean to argue with you, whatever each person decides is what is best for them (). I just wanted to point out alternate thinking on the subject.

 

I should have posted this long ago but it turns out that the trans lines were plugged with goop, possibly from the former owner using stop leak or something. My mechanic blew out the lines with compressed air - he said nothing was happening and then it suddenly all came out spraying all over him. He filled it back up with fluid and it has worked fine until now. But I thought it was going to have to be rebuilt again. Good thing my mechanic was honest because he saved me a bundle.