97bossvette

I was driving my Corvette the other day and all of the sudden it was running real rough and sounded real loud, i pulled over, put it in neutral and it was idling fine,, put it in drive again and it would stall out when i was stopped and was idling really low, drove it home and at fast speeds 50-60 it was driving fine, i pulled in my street and once again it was idling really low and was stalling out, then i put it in park and it was idling fine, 1st gear or reverse it would stall out or drive for a second and then jerk and then stall out, drove it to my mechanic and he said the codes read something with the transmision and also the over drive.He said he couldnt do anything then so i drove it home and it drove fine maybe 5 miles. Next morning started it up and drove about 40 miles and it drove fine then i felt it almost like a downshift feeling and smelt something. Drove another 10mintues to where i had to go and parked it and the trans was leaking and smoking and the car said it was running hot. Parked it then came out a few hours later and the car would not go into reverse. What do you guys think this is? Low fluid or time for a new trans.?

BlackZ06

You are so far past "low fluid" ...... sounds like something new needs to go in the car, though your description is vague enough it could be a new tranny and/or a new engine ....

Why would you drive a car with a transmission problem 40+ miles after the mechanic tells you the car has a problem ??????

97bossvette

I drove it because i figured if it was a transmission problem then it wasn not going to get fixed easily and there is no way that i could make it worse and at that point it was driving fine

BlackZ06

Well, you probably made it worse. I'd recommend you get it towed to a good Corvette shop. Assuming that your earlier description of "trans was leaking and smoking " was accurate (you do know the transmission is in the rear of the car .... if you had fluid and smoke from the hood area, you have an engine problem too) you need a new (rebuilt) transmission now. Driving the car any further with a tranny in that bad a condition, you could set the car on fire.

lucky131969

Oops...sounds like it could have been a low fluid problem before the 40+ additional miles, now it's tranny time..........tough lessen

97bossvette

smoke was from the rear coming from the transmission and leaking transmission fluid

97bossvette

also car has 37k miles

BlackZ06

That's VERY low mileage for a transmission. They should easily go 100k and more unless heavily abused. Like I said above, if it was smoking and leaking GET IT TOWED .... it's not gonna fix itself sitting there, and driving it any further adds to the risk of more damage to the drivetrain.

RunNE1

As far as how the car would act, you would notice that it would not hold speed and the rpms would rise if you were trying to cruise. If you were on it, it would bounce off the limiter while hunting for a shift. 3 and 4 would go before 1 and 2. I have never had it run rough though the louder part could be that it is in a higher gear than normal. At least this is what has happened with my last 3 transmissions. It sounds more like your intake may have come loose. It freaked me out the first time it happened to me. Couldn't figure it our until I saw the loose clamps. Now as far as the leaking trans fluid, that has never happened to me even with three failures.

97bossvette

there is also a shift kit that was put into the car from the owner before me, last time i drove the car it held its speed fine and would rise fine if i were cruising. Like i said it was shifting fine when i was crusing but at low speeds it would stall out and at a stop still i had to rev it in neutral and then kick it in drive so it wouldnt stall out. If i was on it, it was driving fine before the car wouldnt engage in drive or reverse. When it was loud it sounded like a blown headgasket but that noise went away.
Any chance it could have just been low on fluid, also the temp of the trans fluid was running hot before i had it towed home last week

BlackZ06

If you had to "rev the engine in neutral" to keep it from stalling .... you have an engine problem. If you were reving it and then "kick it in drive" ... you have damaged the transmission. And the "when it was loud it sounded like a blown headgasket but that noise went away" ... well .....

You have a MAJOR transmission problem .... quit thinking it is, or was, "low fluid" ..... low fluid in the tranny will cause the transmission to slip out of gear, or shift gears when you don't expect it to .... your description is nothing like that.

Your description of the noise and having to rev the engine in neutral lead me to believe you also have an engine problem. Your "abuse" of the tranny ("kicking" it into drive while reving the engine) probably made the transmission worse.

Either get the car towed to a service location, or get going yourself on fixing it. I GUARANTEE you have a bad tranny, and I'd check the engine immediately for DTC data

..... if the engine is having a problem running in neutral ... your engine needs work also. Posting more questions about "low fluid" is wishful thinking. Your car is broke, no amount of tranny fluid is gonna fix it now.

97bossvette

In park and in neutral the engine idles and runs fine, it was just when i put it in drive or in reverse is when the car would kick and stall out

BlackZ06

Then there is good news and bad news for you ..... the good news is it sounds like your engine is OK .... the bad news is .... your transmission is in bad shape .......

You need to address your transmission issues ... either take it to a shop ..... or fix it yourself ... but I can assre you just "changing" the fluid is not gonna fix your problem .....

I'm not trying to be mean .... just honest .... it sure souunds like you have a tranny problem .... you need someone who can look at the problem directly, and can fix it ....

Where are you located in the world (fill in your profile) as maybe someone can recommend a good shop for you .....

97bossvette

I am located in NJ and i found a transmission out of another 97 with 45k miles for 400 + 100 shipping, what do you think about buying this ?

BlackZ06

I'd want to know more about the history of this tranny .... why is it out of the car ?? It's a fair amount of work to swap out a tranny, are you gonna do it, or pay someone ... if you're paying someone, you don't want to have to do this again in a few months. 45k miles of "hard driving" and that tranny may be just short of failing like your current one did.

I'd call someplace like ....

http://www.rpmtransmissions.com

and Gene at

http://www.gmpartshouse.com

and get prices on rebuilt transmissions ... if you can go with one that has some kind of warranty would proably be a better choice. Also, if your budget can stretch this far, consider having the clutch and slave cylinder done at the same time (install a remote bleeder on the slave).

Otherwise .... $400.00 for a tranny ain't bad ... I'd offer him $300.00 and see if you can get it down any further.

97bossvette

Yea he said he would guarantee that there was nothing wrong with it, it was removed because car was involved in an accident, how much can i expect to pay someone to replace my transmission, thanks?

97bossvette

well anyway i opened up my transmission today and found lots of metal schards from big to small pieces, probably add up to a quarter or more, guess its time for a new trans