Hey guys, this will be sort of long so please bear with me. I'm a stickler for details mind you.

If you search the forums under my username you'll find a thread I made awhile back regarding my Overdrive going out about 2 months ago. Then last week my shift cable underneath the car came loose when I went to get gas so I had to snap it back into place after I filled up.

I got home safely. Today I decided to go out there and try to figure out what I could do to fix the problem. I thought my shift cable was bad and that's a $30 part, no problem. However, I've thought that my transmission overdrive gear was gone too. I thought I'd need a rebuild and I almost sold my Jeep to pay for the rebuild!

Well, fast forward to today. I don't know about all of the 3rd Gen's but on my 88 IROC-Z, it's as we all know a mechanical 700r4 transmission. I get under the car and find that a bolt was gone! There is a bracket piece that holds the shift cable in place. If it get's loose then the shift cable will start to slide off the bolt it snaps onto. That was the case for me & the bracket only had 1 bolt in but it was loosened up. I went to O'Reilly's and bought 4 new bolts, 2 longer pieces and 2 factory size. I put the long same sized bolts in and now my bracket & shift cable is secure!!

Okay, that's only HALF the news guys. Nevermind the fact that I'm wondering how in the world that 1 bolt was gone and the other one being loose. I told a few people today about me fixing this & they said there's a possibility that someone who didn't like me loosened them up. I also found 2 other bolts that were loosened but not enough to fall out. I tightened those up too.

I get into the car, start her up and let her run for a moment. Now remember, when my overdrive went out I said I only had R, N, no (D) and then I had D. I went to put my car into the Reverse, then Neutral & then WALLA! My overdrive works! Holy crap...... All my gears work and the car shifts great. ALL THIS TIME I thought I needed a rebuild and that's what all of the shops told me based on the symptoms of my overdrive being gone. They said my sprags/planetary gearing must have gone out for it. I test drove my ride and she runs stronger than ever! Instead of spending $1,600 I spent at the most $5.00!!!

Sorry......... I'm just happy that I don't have to spend money for a new tranny or a rebuild and that I DIDN'T sell my Jeep which I really didn't want to. On the vandalism part, my IROC has been the subject of abuse from kids in the neighborhood & from an adult as well. My friends all think someone got under my car, loosed the bolts up and well, maybe hoped I'd get into a wreck or worse.

Anyway, this is a good thread for those who think they may need a rebuild. Check your shift cables guys, just in case. You NEVER know.



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That is GREAT news! Its sad to think someone might be loosening things on your car. Its really F-ed up in my opinion. You should get a motion activated cam and see if you catch anyone. If ya do....you should torture them a long time before you end their miserable lives. Glad your all fixed now though. Its nice to hear things work out like this.
Teagen

 

Thanks. I am glad I got it figured out because I would've been really angry if I had sold my Jeep and came to found out that all I needed to do was spend $5 to fix the 2 problems.

On another note I've noticed on this website that nobody really responds to my threads. I mean I might get 1 or 2 guys who say something but normally my threads go unanswered. I ask good questions and I almost always do a search for info before asking a question. It just seems like there are click's on here that stick together and apparently nobody has anything of use to offer. I take that back, every now and then I get some useful tips but it's usually through emails.

Thanks again Teagen!

 

I guess it depends on your issues, and what questions you ask.

Alot of times, no one else chimes in if someone already responded with the correct answer. Just because 14 folks don't respond doesn't mean your question hasn't been answered - most folks just don't waste the time reiterating the same correct answer.

Also, like me for example - if I'm not confident that I have a good answer to repond with, I don't. Not all of us are experts. Most of us feel really bad when we give an answer and later find out it was wrong - better for us to keep our mouths shut I know very little about TPI cars so I stay out of the TPI forum usually. I know NOTHING about the DIY Prom stuff, I never even look in there (that's a scary dark world to me ).

Another 'trick' - after searching and reading posts that are similar in nature to your issue, look for the 'more inclined' members that responded to those posts that relate to your issue, and send them a PM with your question - usually they don't mind - I've 'bugged' alot of folks here on PM because after reading other posts, it seems that they are really knowledgable with my particular problem area. And I've never had anyone tell me to 'go away' yet.

And you have to be patient - not everyone comes to the boards everyday. I'm currently unemployed, and bored to death - so lately I'm here alot. Everyone else has job, wife, husband, kids, cars, bikes, cruise-ins, the track, etc. etc. You can't expect a good answer in a day always, sometimes not even in a week. If 3-4 days passes and you don't get a good response, then post a 'ttt' (to the top) in your thread to bring it back up to the top of the threads.

Look at the numbers beside your post - one column is replies, one column is views - views is a better guage, lets you know how many folks have read your question and thus how much 'attention' you are getting. If there's 25 views and no reponses, just means the person with the answer hasn't come along yet, but at least you know 25 folks were interested in the problem.

Glad you found your tranny issues and got fixed easily. It's amazing how many folks spend several paychecks on a car repair that they didn't need because they simply did not look at their car. It's also amazing how many shops (120% of them) do repairs on cars without even driving them - how you going to fix my car without even driving it? That's why no one but myself works on my cars!

 

1.) Thanks for replying to my thread.

2.) Thanks for giving detailed reasons for my questions/statements.

3.) Like you I won't respond on a subject I have no knowledge of. Sometimes I'll make an educated guess (much like I did with my car yesterday) and sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm not.

4.) This site is in my opinion best used as a reference guide for past threads and present threads to help people with 3rd Gen's who might need some tips/tricks/advice on getting a job/jobs done. Not so much if you're looking to make friends, at least that's been my experience so far. I'm very much interested in talking to people off the site and showing my car and my progress and taking an interest in their car's too.

5.) I'm glad I found the problems and fixed them too. To be honest I was clueless for awhile but once that bracket had loosened last week, it gave me a "light bulb" flash in my head that hmm, maybe my overdrive gear is out because of the cable being loose. Turns out I was correct. I'm glad because I've spent the last 2 months learning crap about transmissions and rear ends that would fill half a book in anticipation of buying a new tranny/rear end. (I'm still going to get a new rear end and beef up my 700r4 so that it won't ever break on me).

6.) Like I mentioned before, I'm the type of guy to talk about cars alot. Problem is I can't seem to find some guys in the area who want to get together and hang out for a bite to eat. I've done some more modifications to the top end of my engine (surrounding it more so) and I've got some interesting stuff going on.

Matt

 

Try these guys: http://www.fastlouis.com

Also do an internet search for "St. Louis Car Cruise Ins" and see what pops up - I'm sure that in an area that big, there's got to be alot.

And feel free to PM or email me anytime!

 

CamaroIROC88350--

I found TGO when I was looking for a Camaro community.
I broused some threads & saw there are SO MANY helpful members, and there are alot who read threads thinking maybe they CAN help but after reading, they either realize it's out of their grasp, or forget to come back after searching for similar issues.

I am no mechanic, body worker, wheel // tire enthusiest, etc. I enjoy learning about our Camaro, & I believe TGO is a support to all who venture in!!

A trend I notice is the ppl who know every aspect of 3rd gen F bodies usualy check in after dinner hours for a short time, then early evenings on weekends, and there are some that spend all weekend in the forums.
Then there are those who are in every chance they get, trying to help solve a problem from start to finish before they move to another topic.

The venture you had, someone else WILL too, & if you are not in the forums, then this thread will serve as a reference!!