My transmission is trying to go out on me. At first it felt like wheel spin but, it's become clear it's slipping. Driving light throttel and part throttle shifts fine at this point. Any heavy throttle though and it feels like it's in neutral untill it catches and causes some wheel hop.

I want a T56 but my car is set up for an auto and I don't have the cash for a T56 or the extra parts. At the same time I hate to waste money on an automatic I have no intention of keeping. Local shops are quoting $800ish which seems awefull high for a run of the mill 700R4 rebuild.

Anyway it's not that I lack faith in a strong 700R4. It's that I hate driving automatics and my MPG suck with one.


Any ideas?

 

I can't suggest what to do with your transmission problems but from reading your sig I do have one suggestion.

Install a thermostat. EFI systems need the engine temperature at least 170* to get out of open loop. You'll probably see much better fuel mileage then.

 

Yea I actually need to update my sig. That's my old car. I'm running a 92 RS currently. It also has no thermostat though. It gets up to around 160ish or higher now that the weather has warmed back up.

 

Still too cold for EFI. Without a thermostat, the temperature can fluctuate too much depending on the air flow across the rad. Without a thermostat, the coolant also flows through the engine too quickly to properly pull heat from hot spots.

The only vehicles that don't need a thermostat are drag cars like mine. I leave my water pump off until I build some engine heat. Once I get back to the pits after a run, I leave the pump on to circulate the coolant with the rad fan on to bring the temperature back way down again. With a thermostat, the coolant flow would be restricted when the temperature dropped below the open temp of the thermostat. I normally bring the engine temp back down to 100F before shutting off the pump and fan. Of course with an alcohol engine, it also doesn't get much higher than 180 after a full pass.

You're doing more harm than good running without a thermostat in an EFI engine street car. The engine just isn't getting hot enough for the EFI to go into closed loop and your fuel mileage is suffering. Too cold of an engine also doesn't burn off moisture in the crankcase. Does the underside of your rocker covers look like someone filled your engine with mayonnaise?

 

I haven't pulled the covers. It might but it won't be due to, at least no alltogether due to, a missing thermostat. The crankcase itself is getting water in it from time to time. I'm fairly certain one of the head gaskets is leaking though. Could be a cracked head or block as well. You never know with a used car.

It's all moot though as far as this engine is concerned because the 305 that I dropped in my 88 back in 97 only got 2000 miles on it before it ripped the transmission, flexplate, and rear end apart in it. I have no idea why other than the age of all the other parts. It's a strong motor but with only a cam and factory heads with a 3 angle valve job and some clean up work it's not OMG LOOKOUT or anything. However, those heads were pretty warped and had a good amount milled off to even them out. The engine had slightly dished pitons in it so it was probably running a 10:1 or higher CR.

I wish I just had the cash for a T56. I hate to have to swap the motor and the tranny without just doing it all in one swoop. Guess I should have held off on that stereo. Oh well . . .