Well I'm in the marines here in Monterey, CA and bought this 77 vette. Well I'm just starting to learn to fix my car but I've got problems. First off it runs hot and smells like its burning antifreeze so I think I might have blown a head gasket.... I'm in the process of checking right now but also my transmission stopped working and I was wondering if that had anything to do with me taking off the radiator, cause I know its got those coolant hoses to the trans. but if that is the problem how do i fix.... or maybe thats not the problem. When I put the car in any gear and push the gas it just revs the engine. Like I said its my first engine I've worked on so HELP! :confused: :confused: :flag

 

also my odometer/speedometer don't work.... any thoughts or ideas?

 

I'll answer the easiest one... The speedo can be one of 5 things First, i will go over the cruise equipped cars (3 if you dont have cruise control) It's either the speedo head (not cheap and no fun if it's that) the upper cable (goes betweeen the speedo head and xducer) lower cable or speedo gear. If it's a no cruise car, it's either the head, cable or gear. Go with the easiest things first.. Check the cables and gear at the transmission. when you undo the cable at the top at the xducer, slide the shield back and insert it in the ducer. If it spins free, it's not the ducer. make sure the cable end is attached properly to the upper cable as well. If you have any ?'s IM me. I have been all through my speedo system... :seeya

 

Welcome to Vette ownership. The car will teach you a lot. And I mean A LOT!

I could barely do a brake job when I bought my 77. Now I'm pretty capable. If you put your car into gear, and it doesn't go, you most likely have a blown tranny. But first, start easy. Check the fluid. If you pulled the radiator and drained the tranny fluid from the cooler, your car isn't going to go. The tranny needs fluid to operate. So read your manual (do you have a manual? If not, pick one up :yesnod: ) and check your fluid.

While you're checking your fluid, give the dip stick a sniff. Assuming there is fluid on the dipstick, see how it looks and smells. Is it black? Does it smell burnt? Could be a problem.

If you have the right amount of fluid in the tranny, and this does not fix the problem, you'll need to pull the pan. See if you have a lot of metal shavings in the fluid. If so, the writing is on the wall. The TH-350's are plentiful. You can buy a new one for around $600. You can get good used ones for much less. And swapping one out can be done in an afternoon.

The coolant smell isn't always a head gasket. You could just have a coolant leak. Do you have white smoke coming from the tailpipe? Check your oil. Does it look like chocolate Yoo Hoo? These are signs of a bad head gasket. If you don't see either of the above, I'd want to look further. See if you can see where the leak is. You may just have a bad hose that is leaking coolant onto the engine, or a leaking water outlet, maybe a bad water pump.

You ever here of the KISS principal? KISS stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. You can go broke, real fast, trying to chase down the worst case scenario of every thing that can go wrong with these cars. So look for the easy stuff first. If it turns out to be the worst, attack it with a level head. And if you can (sounds like you can) do it yourself. You'll learn a lot and save yourself a lot of money.

Check out my website, the link is below. I have some tips for new Vette owners, and some other stuff.

Good luck.

If you have questions, this is the right place. Feel free to IM or e-mail me if you need more help. I've been through my 77 and have learned a lot about it.

:cheers: