Transmission blown? welp

[m3ta1head]

I was commuting today as normal, with no signs of trouble from the transmission at all. I started from an intersection in 1st, and as I shifted and eased the clutch into second gear something clunked and started rattling violently. I moved the shifter into 3rd and it engaged-I accelerated without issue to the next stoplight. I attempted to start the car in 1st again and released the clutch-it rattled again, and now it won't engage into any gear-it just rattles when I let the clutch pedal out. I looked under the car at the stoplight and noticed a red, watery, slippery fluid leaking out from the transmission area, however I was not able to get a good look at exactly where it was dripping from (in the middle of rush hour traffic).

What do you guys think I am looking at here? :shrug: Did my clutch explode or something? I had the car towed home tonight but I will have it towed to a shop tomorrow morning for full damage assessment. Looking forward to that

 

[todras]

Good old stock mtx75 differential bit the dust.

 

[blu_fuz]

That's kinda what it sounds like unfortunatly. Only way to know for sure is to open up the trans :blackeye:.....

 

[m3ta1head]

That's kinda what it sounds like unfortunatly. Only way to know for sure is to open up the trans :blackeye:.....

Oh man. So I'm looking at spending no less than $1000 on this hunk of junk...great

My ksports come in a week, too...I don't know if I can afford to keep this car at this rate. I might part everything out.

Here's a couple of pics of the underside of the car-you can see the fluid leaking. I don't see any physical damage, but then again I might be mistaken.

This picture was taken at the scene of the incident-you can see the (diff?) fluid all over the road.

 

[blu_fuz]

Yep, you blew the diff and it poked a hole in your trans case :blackeye:. You need a new trans and you might want to upgrade the diff in the new trans to a pre98 MTX style or quaife/torsen...... And your car isn't an SVT (even more:blackeye.

I would part out your car and use the money to look for an SVT or move on to another platform. :shrug: You are looking at around 1k in parts then throw some $ on that for labor if you don't do it yourself. Sorry man.

Worst case, you buy a used trans and don't upgrade the diff. But again, it is just a ticking time bomb still.

 

[Matty K]

Hey, sorry I missed your call last night - I was working on some freelance stuff until 3 AM :blackeye: . I agree with how the experts have called it - blown diff. I also think they might be right in that you should probably just get what you can for the car and try to hunt down a SVT (or different platform, particularly if reliability is your main concern), as what you'd spend probably wouldn't be justified on an SE - unless you went balls out and did a 3l and built trans and all. It wouldn't be justified, but man would it be fun.

There's a few decent SVT's for sale in the CA Classifieds...

 

[blu_fuz]

PS, don't have it towed to a shop. Tow it home.

 

[m3ta1head]

PS, don't have it towed to a shop. Tow it home.

I had it towed to a trusted family mechanic-he's looking at the car right now. I'll probably just have it towed back home-I have AAA gold so I'm covered to tow it anywhere.

I'm going to look into snagging an SVT...maybe I can just swap over all the performance parts and call it a day. PS-this sucks.

 

[m3ta1head]

My mechanic confirmed the damage. He also quoted me $850 installed with a MTX-75 from the junkyard. Worth it? Like blufuz said, it's still a ticking time bomb. I would rather do everything right and rebuild a junkyard trans with upgraded parts but I really don't have that kind of money to spend.

I have a funny feeling that I'll never drive this car again

ps: anyone need a set of 18s and nearly new tires, or ksports?

 

[blu_fuz]

Start letting people know what SF body parts are good that you can sell.

Farewell SF SE

 

[m3ta1head]

Most of it is good-there are some scuffs on the passenger side front door and side skirt, a large dent in the passenger side fender with some surface rust. Everything else is almost perfect-a few dents from hail here and there. The only thing is that I'm a full time student (through summer) and I really don't have the time or tools to pull everything and ship it. I'd rather sell it as a whole parts car to someone who would have the time to part it.

If anyone is interested, don't hesitate to contact me...I will give a very reasonable price. The car has all the parts listed in my signature. Could make for a monster 3L build...if only I had the money

I'm looking at VWs as a replacement...84 GTI for $500 on craigslist. What do y'all think?

 

[juankordonez]

I was commuting today as normal, with no signs of trouble from the transmission at all. I started from an intersection in 1st, and as I shifted and eased the clutch into second gear something clunked and started rattling violently. I moved the shifter into 3rd and it engaged-I accelerated without issue to the next stoplight. I attempted to start the car in 1st again and released the clutch-it rattled again, and now it won't engage into any gear-it just rattles when I let the clutch pedal out. I looked under the car at the stoplight and noticed a red, watery, slippery fluid leaking out from the transmission area, however I was not able to get a good look at exactly where it was dripping from (in the middle of rush hour traffic).

What do you guys think I am looking at here? :shrug: Did my clutch explode or something? I had the car towed home tonight but I will have it towed to a shop tomorrow morning for full damage assessment. Looking forward to that

Hi there. I just got a problem very similar like yours. I was driving my car on city (no more than 30mph), I put 1st, then 2nd, around 2500rpm my car made a clunk sound two times, I engaged 3rd and then stopped the car, I noticed a big leak under the car immediately. I had towed my car. My mechanic said there was a leak between the engine and transmission (rear main seal) and the oil was comming from the engine. The car still running and engage every single shifts as well (that's make me think the transmission is OK), Later, I drove it as second time, but made the same clunk on 2nd again). Did you have any of those Symptoms?

So, What do you think? just the rear main seal? or I have to replace transmission/differential?

thanks for your help