I just cant do it anymore fella's - my car is done- about a month ago - i had the fuel pressure regulator problem where its spits out 45 psi all the time spent about 2 paychecks on that then then the cap and rotor - and most recently the third gear on my tranny- i quit- ...to have the tranny rebiult will be more than its worth- for now it sits next to my house under a cover waiting for me to get home from school and put a for sale-sign- as is sign on it- his really upsets me because i really love my car- it was my dream come true and now im taking a huge loss- i already went through the rear main seal- all new brake lines wich was the biggest pain in the ***-a water pump- 2ecm's - my whole fuse box got redone (because of fire)- its not enough the tranny's gone but i got a pool of coolent chilling in my passengers side floor board -which only means the heater core is leaking- ....Im sorry im venting- actually i want to cry- your the people i could turn to- cause its not just a car to me- it was my freind- and now i have to put her down- it brings tears to my eyes

 

I feel your pain. Some people have bad luck, others have it not so bad. For me, well, I've had pretty comparable luck to yours. You just gotta stick it through and have lots of patience sometimes. Sometimes, a car is just in it's time in life where everything needs replaced and fixed. Thats about where mine is at (around 75,000 miles or so). Sometimes stuff lasts a little longer, but when stuff starts going, it goes. I feel your pain. If you're like me, you will have some patience and take some time to learn how to fix stuff yourself (for the most part, I understand the average person can't rebuild a tranny). Granted, you will have LOTS of time in it, playing with this and with that, trying to get stuff to work, figuring out how to get a certain part off or in, but hey.....in the end, it's all worth it.....especially if you really love your car!! (which I know I most certainly do!!)

Hang in there man.

 

Our cars are a labor of LOVE, if you want econmic car or good gas mileage, un believable relibality buy a rice burner. But if you like good looking American IRON you don't care about how much money goes under the hood get another 3rd Gen.

6cycbird86 send that one to the bone yard or park her till you can do a total resteration or get yourself another 3rd Gen to turn into a project car.

 

I feel ya, I bought mine for 400, hoping I could do some basic repairs and have it on the road for little over a 1g. Come to find out what was wrong with the tranny was more then I could fix, 900 in one FAT chunk. Im in to the whole car about 3000+ but the MRS loves it, so were gonna keep it for a while, no matter what goes out on it. The way I look at it, before long, every part on it is gonna be new, so I wont have to keep replacing parts.

 

Well as for the coolant, just bypass the heater core. Sure it'll get a bit chilly without heat, but you won't have a leak, until you get the coin to replace the heater core (core ~ $35, takes you a few hours).

Trans, get one from a junkyard, and swap 'em yourself. Be sure to get the torque convertor from the junkyard car! Yours probably has a ton of metal inside it, and the only way to get the metal out of your torque convertor is to cut it open, clean it out, and weld it back together- only done by specialized torque-convertor-rebuild shops.

Either that, or drop it out, and rebuild it yourself! Search the trans/drivetrain board, there's tons of messages on how to get started, what books to buy, etc. (The Haynes GM Transmission Overhaul book gives a photo-by-photo rebuild of the 700r4 automatic!! As well as the TH200-4R, TH350, and TH400 automatics.) Stock rebuild kits are about $90, new fluid pump $70, rebuild TC about $100.

Just seems wrong that you've replaced everything else, and you're going to sell it without enjoying it. Also sounds like you're going to mechanics to get this work done (two paychecks for a fuel regulator? ouch)... or are you doing the work yourself? If I had to pay mechanics to work on my car everytime something went wrong, I would've been living in a tent years ago.

 

Don't give up man! The car has been problems for you, but most likely it is because the person who had it before ragged it out and then rigged it back together.

The heater core replacement is a pain in the butt to do, but not impossible. It will probably cost you about $165 to have a shop do it for you. The core is about $35 dollars like the infamous TomP said. I had to do that on mine a couple of years ago, and mine is a 1992, the newest of the 3rd gens. Get a manual, some tools, and have at it! The dash will pretty much have to come apart, but if you do all the work yourself, you will feel great once it is done.

The tranny shouldn't be too hard to find. Get one out of a junkyard and toss it in there. You should be able to get one of those for about $300 or less. Any OD automatic from an S series 60 degree V6 truck or 60 degree V6 F-body will drop in. Just make sure that the speedometer hook up is the same for both. While you have the tranny out, replace the motor mounts and the trans mount. You might want to get a poly trans mount. They are probably pretty close to being dead. Also, check the joints in the drive shaft. They are not hard to replace and not too expensive.

I am just trying to think of all the things to make your car more reliable. Hope you can muster up the money and will to keep it going.

 

Correction tom... stock OVERHAUL kits are about 90 bucks... a rebuild kit goes for 360 in Summit, or aound there, and if it's shot, he's going to need a new TC, another 230 bucks...

I was going to rebuild my friends v8 700r4 for my motor swap, but I found one working great for 150 bucks, so I stole it!!!

look around and try to find part for her...

In the classifieds there is a 2.8 car, running, selling for something like 20 or 400 bucks... buy it, swap in the working drivetrain and enjoy..

Or use this as a good excuse to drop in the 350 you always wanted.

 

Actually, the kits you're referring to are racing rebuild kits. I'm talking about a generic rebuild kit. The guy that rebuilt my trans showed me the receipt for parts, the rebuild kit was very inexpensive compared to that $350 B&M beauty that Summit sells. And the guy got me a rebuilt torque convertor for $100. Rebuilt = cut it open, examine it, if it's okay, clean the metal filings out, weld it back shut. 'Course, it wasn't a performance torque convertor, just a stock one.

That's the stuff I'll use when I rebuild my trans. (Or, rebuild a junkyard trans, then swap it in.) I was going to get the super B&M kit, but my motor really is "just" a v6, I don't need a totally bulletproof trans to handle 300 HP, ya know? I'll just add a TransGo shift kit, and maybe the corvette servo.

 

I was under the impression that better parts were standard.. I didn't see any standard ones... oh well though, one learns something everyday... I'll keep that in mind if I ever need to replace parts on the trans.

oh, and one small correction... 350 HP, 400ft/lbs tq!

 

Just looked up the rebuild kits at carparts.com .. the ones they have are made by Fram (avoid!!), but cost is $144. Hm, maybe the guy had a parts hookup or something. But hey $144 is still cheaper than $360! The overhaul kits are $30 for 82-86 or $40 for 87-up.

Off Partsamerica.com, master repair kit by Pioneer is $146. Fram's KT1104, the same kit that carparts.com wanted $144 for, is $165! Funny how partsamerica lists the KT1104 under "overhaul kits" and not rebuild kit.

Expressautoparts.com shows two kits by ATP, one for $129, one for $144 (adds a filter; vaccuum modulator (weird, we dont have a vac modulator), front pump bushing and tailshaft bushing).

Strange, they don't sell torque convertors or fluid pumps. I guess that's a specialty trans-store-only item, eh?

 

TomP, guys, not everyone on here has your level of mechanical ability, an' rebuilding a trans. is not a good first time project. I know what 6cycbird86 is going through, I've taken the ol' Ghost off the road for a while - things were breaking down faster than I can fix em. When a car gets so old, (an' didn't get the best care from the original owners) everything just starts to go - and they need lots of attention. Using a car like that for a daily driver is only for the mechanicaly adroit. It quickly becomes an exerise in flogging yourself. So 6cycbird86, I say if you have to, sell and moveon ... but how much can you get for an '86 with a bum trans? If you have the room why not park it, get yourself a daily driver, an work on it in your spare time. Good place to start - its broke - you ain't gona hurt it by messing with it.

Cars and Women - they'll break your heart ..... GET USED TO IT.

 

I can't agree with that... through my 1st two real relationships (19 here) my '77 Firebird stuck with me. She's never let me down, and even when things needed a little work, she understood - and we worked through it. She was my first in so much - my first experience with a spun bearing... my first crank kit removal/installation... *sniffs*

Seriously, your car will ALWAYS return ANY work you put into it. No matter how much she needs - and she won't run off on a whim on ya.

 

True, but it isn't -hard-... seriously... a flip through the Haynes GM Transmission Overhaul manual will show you that! They've got a photo by photo rebuild of a 700r4 trans!! It's really just "remove old, put in new", with only a few things to be careful of. I mean yeah you can't put things in backward or upside down, and you can't work in the backyard or in a sandpit, but it's not hard stuff! People seem scared of transmissions.. granted I haven't rebuilt mine yet, most I've done is install the shift kit, and remove/re-install the trans after it blew for the 2nd time, but it's not rocket science. Even if the dude gets a junkyard trans for $100 and swaps it in himself, he could sell the car for more.

And yeah Doward, like I always say, "Cars vs Women; I always know how to fix the car." The other is impossible.

 

I watched my step-dad rebuild my 700R4, but I'm not quite ready to tackle one on my own yet. Although, I do have the Power-glide out of the Vega that I want to get working again.(and mate w/ a V6).
Fix my car, ok ..... Fix it with my girlfriend, when I done dun the Wrong thing; You ever see a guy trying like crazy to stick the pin back INTO a Handgerande ??!!
But seriously, something happens to the human psyche when they've got a car, that they Have to get back together, to go work or school, etc. I've seen people, standing at the auto parts store, panic. Its like playing poker with your rent money or something. It just adds another level of stress that you don't need.