I bought my 1992 in a town about 30 miles from my house. The only noticeable thing was that while driving above 20 mph you have a loud persistent whining noise that changes with speed.
I decided to attempt to drive it home. I checked the transmission oil both while the engine was cold and off, and while it was hot, running and in park and in drive. In all cases the transmission fluid was correct as far as I could tell.
About 15 miles into the trip I was met by a horrible crunching noise when I went to decelerate from 45 mph. I pulled over immediately and attempted to survey the damage once the car had been idling and I was determined that nothing was on fire. Transmission fluid is still normal. I attempted to put it into reverse and it was met with loud grinding and crashing noises. I did not try drive at that point and just opted to get it towed by AAA home.
I'm a hobbyist I know how to do a lot of things on cars including rebuild a distributor.
My question is what do you all think could have failed? I assume this is the three speed because there was no overdrive button.
I went into this expecting a possible engine overhaul and transmission replacement. The engine though seems to be perfectly fine and doesn't seem to burn a lot of oil.
Because this car is a survivor and has a story to tell I am determined to get it working and driving again. What do you all suggest I do?
I have no garage, and I have some friends who are car savvy but none of them who have attempted a transmission swap in a driveway. Should I just bite the bullet and buy a used transmission and have one of the shops down the street put it in? Should I consider swapping the vehicle to a 5-speed? I've done this once before on another car. I'm aware of wiring and other things that will take time to solve and involve taking apart a lot of the car interior.
Generally speaking if I get a used or rebuilt 3-speed that's in good condition what type of mileage could I expect out of it?
I know the five speeds are pretty bulletproof.
I decided to attempt to drive it home. I checked the transmission oil both while the engine was cold and off, and while it was hot, running and in park and in drive. In all cases the transmission fluid was correct as far as I could tell.
About 15 miles into the trip I was met by a horrible crunching noise when I went to decelerate from 45 mph. I pulled over immediately and attempted to survey the damage once the car had been idling and I was determined that nothing was on fire. Transmission fluid is still normal. I attempted to put it into reverse and it was met with loud grinding and crashing noises. I did not try drive at that point and just opted to get it towed by AAA home.
I'm a hobbyist I know how to do a lot of things on cars including rebuild a distributor.
My question is what do you all think could have failed? I assume this is the three speed because there was no overdrive button.
I went into this expecting a possible engine overhaul and transmission replacement. The engine though seems to be perfectly fine and doesn't seem to burn a lot of oil.
Because this car is a survivor and has a story to tell I am determined to get it working and driving again. What do you all suggest I do?
I have no garage, and I have some friends who are car savvy but none of them who have attempted a transmission swap in a driveway. Should I just bite the bullet and buy a used transmission and have one of the shops down the street put it in? Should I consider swapping the vehicle to a 5-speed? I've done this once before on another car. I'm aware of wiring and other things that will take time to solve and involve taking apart a lot of the car interior.
Generally speaking if I get a used or rebuilt 3-speed that's in good condition what type of mileage could I expect out of it?
I know the five speeds are pretty bulletproof.
