Transmission problems on 3speed ._.

[gr91]

ok, so i was out one night, pretty far from home. coming back home and then all of a sudden i feel it pulling hard, but stopping, and making a horrible metal noise., so i pulled into a parking lot and tried to see if there was something wrong with it. nothing sounded fine, looked fine no fluids coming out just striked me as weird, so at 12:30 am goin home, not much cars thank goodness, so i was driving and as i pass like 30 mph all of a sudden it sounds like a heavy klunking metal sound! My car comes to a screeching halt! IN DRIVE still, and i attempt to keep goin but nothing! i push the gas, and its not moving, its barely budging! and so i put it in L and nothing it still doesnt move i put it in 2 and still no movement! so i put it in reverse and it moves fine. so i reverse into a street that was right to the left of me.
I get it towed home 2 miles away from home for $80
I wasnt even goin to try to drive it home, in fear i might break something. so the next day i ask my uncle and he tells me it might be the driver's side wheel hub bearings, he says just go get one used. the whole spindle. so 2 days later i finally get the piece, i put everything back together,
(oh and btw yeah that spindle was pretty bad anyway it had a metal to metal light screeching sound and it had some play in it.)
i go do a test drive and still the same thing plus this time the car turns off on me!! TWICE ! it didnt happen immediately. well anyway my uncle calls a good mechanic he knows and says its something in the transmission, (they said it in spanish and i forgot what it was) well anyway guy quoted me $400 thats a $120 REFURBISHED part, new fluid and new transmission filter and gasket. and the rest is labor
well today amy grandpa said try chhanging your filter and fluid. maybe the filter is getting clogged. i thought whatever, i did it. tranny fluid was black almost, but you can still see the red, well grandpa test it around. said problem not fixed, but he said it didnt turn off. the thing is he came back slow around the corner, he said at low speeds like below 15mph its normal until after thats when its persistent to lock up, anyway im lookin for some input, my uncle and grandpa say to get a used tranny. then they say to rebuild. and honestly, i just want to move on. idk if its even worth it. i feel like all my money time and effort is gone to waste on this one problem. anyway suggestions? i need help fast, i start school tomorrow and its hard for me to keep getting rides and borrowing cars!

[SCT]

Open the differential cover.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. I replaced my axles and wheel bearings but a certain sound persisted. I literally made super hard, fast turns intentionally to get whatever was wrong to completely go wrong which it eventually did. Turns out, my differential was dry for a LONG time and some bearings had completely worn away leaving a huge gap for the spider gears to move around, jam up, and clutter the other gears.

And yes, your car WILL NOT move. When this happend to me, I left at a buddy's place overnight. Next day, I try to drive it. Made it out the driveway. First 3 feet forward, it halted. I had my friend in an Explorer to push the car to break it free. Didn't move at ALL!

.... then that initiated my auto-to-5spd swap which was what I wanted for quite some time prior

Here's a picture of what I saw. And not a drop of ANYTHING came out and except metallic dust and pieces. It is the three small gears (actually four but you don't see the fourth) that were able to move around and jam up.



And honestly.... I don't remember exactly how I managed to get to work and back even though the SEARS Auto I worked at was only a few miles away. And I could be mistaken, but I was without my car for up to 6 months. I know I bummed rides from my parents and used their cars on Saturdays and Sundays since they were off. And I can only remember a few times a couple friends took me to work. Never rode the bus or anything... hmmm... wtf did I do? Maybe my car didn't sit for 6 months...

[90 GP]

The differential is likely cooked. Its a separate unit with it's own tranny fluid reservoir. You have to remove fill plug to check the fluid level periodically. Most people don't check it and it slowly self destructs. You could also have some leakage where drive shaft enters differential (oil seal). If it leaks that's where your fluid went.

[gr91]

the crappy part is, i was looking for a suitable synthetic gear oil i could use. so basically you guys are telling me that its done for? to either rebuild or swap? -.- damn. this really sucks. i might just get rid of it for the fact that i may be gettin an 08 subaru wrx for free. with turbo and 5 speed ;3 what do you guys say? :0 should i attempt or part ways? cause theyre charging me 700 for a rebuild. and i know i cannoy do this in my driveway.