Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle blown tranny or diff?

Well I think my tranny just died tonight at 60K. shift feel has been a little off lately, second was being very tempermental. I was driving tonight and the shift pattern started feeling wierd, went through the gears to 40 mph and it just disapeared. tranny wasnt responding to changes in the stick, stick moving pretty much everywhere. I figured the shift cable broke or the end of the cable slipped off the tranny. I check it, all fine. I put the car into 3rd by moving the selector on the tranny and limp home. Ironic thing: though the tranny wouldnt respond when i moved the shifter, when i got home I sure did pull it out of third. Everything moves when you move the shifter, but nothing works. I didnt hear any noises when this happened. So, what do you guys think? Personally, I think I am screwed.

If there were no noises, then I think I would go back and recheck your cable groments and make sure they have not completely come apart on you. "bigmoneyracing" has a great thread on this subject, with pics and plenty of conversation on part numbers, that should help you out. It can be found, using search, here in the tranny forums.

Then again, it "might" also be possible that you bent a shift fork. I know of one other person that has done this, but can't remember if there were noises involved with the bending of the fork. That's mainly because 5th gear locked up on him and he bent the fork trying to get the car out of gear too quickly or something like that. But, IIRC, after the fork bent he really couldn't do anything with the shifter after that, so... I think he managed to get it in third, like you, and limp'er home.

I think we can rule out the dif blowing on you, because almost everyone that has had that happen has stated several noises and I know for a fact that it's a noise that, if you have ever heard it before, will never forget. Plus, you would not have been able to limp home. Crawl, maybe.

If you were able to get the tranny into third gear and limp home, then I think we can rule out the clutch and pressure plate assy.

I feel that you have something wrong in the shifting system, just hard for me to put my finger on it.

Good Luck!

I agree. I'm sure it is a linkage problem.

was 3rd still engaged when the shifter started freewheeling? i dont get how you would be able to shift anything at all by hand if the shifter wasnt able to do it. sounds like the bolt on the shift tower broke while it was in 3rd gear...

ok, the end link that handles the front to back movement seems ok, the lower one. the upper one that goes side to side seems wierd but i cant get it off. i depressed the spring and now it is stuck that way, and my fingers just couldnt take pushing on those lil plastic parts anymore. i couldnt get the spring to pop back out. i tightened up the bottom one as far as i could tho, the car still will not go into gear, I can move it from 1st to 5th with the shifter pushed all the way forward. it is leading me to think that the side-to-side connection is messed up somehow, i just cant get to the damn thing...