advice on pre-trip car maintenance

[emotion_sickness]

Im in a bit of a dilemma and i need some input on this...I am wondering how hard the playa and desert roads are on a vehicle...

I have a car which the transmission is acting funny (i have to rev it up really high to get it to go into 1st gear, and when it catches it catches HARD!) and i don't want to get stranded somewhere. im also going to be needing a new battery, oil change, and all the other dinky little regular maintenace items one does before a road trip, but otherwise the car runs great out on the open highway.

My hope is that it'll get me there and back without any problems whatsoever, but my fear is that I'll get there, the car will sit in the sun for a little over a week, and wont budge when im ready to leave!

I have a rental car reserved as a plan B but $$ is really tight for me so I'm wondering whether to A) drop the big bucks, fix the car and come down there with next to nothing... B) rent a car, come down with a little bit more than next to nothing, and return home to a car who's tranny may or may not last thru the winter, having just spent all the $$ I had saved up... C) fix the minor stuff but not the tranny and hope it lasts till i can get it fixed after returning home... or D) *GASP* not go (which isnt really an option Im wanting to consider...I have been planning on going all year and it would be heartbreaking to have to give up my goal this close to reaching it!!)

LOL is there anyone who wants to gift me a new transmission? or could work on it on the playa? j/k... im sure things will work out ok, things have a way of falling into place so maybe im just getting stressed out for no reason but any advice would be more than welcome!

[phil]

I have a car which the transmission is acting funny (i have to rev it up really high to get it to go into 1st gear, and when it catches it catches HARD!)

Without being an expert, that happened to me on a used car I bought. I took it to a transmission shop, and there was no seal between the halves of the transmission housing. They put in a seal, and all was hunky dory. I don't remember the cost. If your problem is a broken seal, it's not extremely expensive, and the problem you and I shared on it not going into gear is a dangerous one when you're facing downhill and are trying to back out.

[Token]

Sounds like you need new clutch plates and maybe springs. This is regular wear and tear. Is it a high mileage car?

Go see what estimate you get from a few local shops and decide. Make sure they drive it so they know exactly what the issue at hand may be.

In the long run, fixing your ride will be the right thing to do, even if you end up at BM flat ass broke and in the dog house.

[EB]

I'd go the rental car option, for these reasons:

1.) Peace of mind. Who wants the spectre of a broken down car haunting you on Sunday?

2.) Investment. Do you really want to fix up a car just to beat it up again on a roadie? If this is your "get around town" car, then just leave it where it is and let Enterprise/Hertz/Avis take the wear-and-tear.

3.) Reliability. If you rent the car, you'll be covered if it breaks down (provided you don't drive it on to a burn platform on Saturday night and let loose.) If you drive your car, you're SOL if it breaks down.

With renting, yes, you're paying more than you want, but you're also not "rolling the dice" with your vacation, which, you've already likely spent over $500+ on anyway.

Also: there's not too much by way of "desert roads" and "desert driving." You're going to be on an Interstate or a state highway for all but 3/4ths of a mile of your trip and that last 3/4ths you'll be going 5 MPH (or under!) on a flat pan.

Just make sure you keep the car door's CLOSED as much as you can and give it a good wash before you return it.

[emotion_sickness]

thanks for the words of advice so fast folks! for some more info, the car is not too high mileage for being a 1992, only about 90,000 (most 1992 cars from Montana are up into 130000+!) and it had been pretty well maintained when I bought it...the prev owner had changed the trans fluid in sept 06 and i bought it in feb 07...so i dont think the fluid is the problem. i've heard horror stories about people getting a transmission flush and then the tranny goes out soon afterwards, so im kinda hesitant to do that...but i took it to a trans shop in town and that was the first thing he said they would try, and then jumped straight to new transmission if the flush didnt fix it. needless to say im trying to find a different transmission shop for a second opinion!

yeah, i think the rental car is my safest bet...sucks they are so expensive...thats going to add an extra $700 bucks to my trip budget! $1000 more and theres my new transmission... on the plus side tho, the rental car gets better gas mileage than my own so i can cut some $$ from there, plus ill be able to bring more stuff with me!

[Captain Goddammit]

You still have options as far as rental car vs. fixing your own, but I'd definitely rule out heading to the playa with a known bad transmission!

[Dustdevil]

What you heard is correct on a fluid flush. In my shop our transmission tech will not even change fluids if it is not a vehicle that we have serviced on a REGULAR basis. I have personally seen failure occur many times after a fluid flush. What kind of vehicle is this and what size engine? When you are factoring in the variables and putting price tags on the options, don't forget the tow truck and your time lost, before or after BM. If you tell me what type of vehicle I can probably offer more insight to the problem.

[gyre]

You really think the fluid change is a factor?
I had always heard that was a myth.
How do you think it is related?

I have had many trivial things cause what seemed to be major problems.

I had a '66 fairlane with 60 kmiles and it would not catch reverse.
Several shops told me I needed a tranny.
It was a $30 part on the outside of the transmission.

[Toolmaker]

Go with the rental or a rideshare (beware of playa flake factor with rideshare). It just not worth having a problem getting to your burn and getting stuck in a way that isn't easily fixed.

The one time I lost a tranny it was after a fluid change and screen change. I'm just a shadetree mechanic so I had it explained to me in laymanese. "That grit you wiped out of the pan was the only metal allowing the gears to mesh boy" or something like that was used to tell me how I fucked up. Now I try to keep up on it every 20K miles or so depending on vehicle and how much I beat up on it. Seems the newer vehicles are getting more mileage out of fluids so check your manuals on fluid change frequency.

Aside from that with a working vehicle (even a rental) take a good look at all the rubber (tires/hoses/etc) and fluid levels and quality. If you're renting take a quick peek before you drive off the lot and make em give ya a ride with decent oil if it looks shoddy. Dead engines are about as much fun as dead trannys.

[nocturnal_steve]

You didn't say if was an automatic or manual trans. If its a manual, you have a serious problems and are burning the clutch. If it's an automatic you likely low pump pressure and/or have seals leaking internally . In any event the problem will get progessively worse and I'd leave the car behind. I am not a professional mechanic but am talking from 30 years of messing with and brokering classic cars.

[Dustdevil]

Hello Gyre,

A 66' Fairlane would use either a C4 or C6 transmission. This is old school technology and really good stuff. The units that are affected by a fluid change are the newer units. AOD, AODE, A4LD etc. They operate at much higher temps than your Fairlanes' unit did. This creates an entirely new set of problems. Fresh fluid seems to take the outer coating off of the friction discs. This causes them to begin wearing at a rapid rate. If the fluid is changed on a regular basis, it does not seem to be a problem. Units from the late 70's and up are prone to this problem. If the vehicle he is talking about is a Ford, at 90K miles the unit is nearing the end of its' reliable life. Ford has for years been plagued with trans failures between 100 & 150K miles. Several companies have gone to Allison units in their truck line. I have never understood why American companies can't get it right. I never really beleived in planned obsolencence, but.....In my line of work we just call it job security.

[panda]

$700?! What kinda car are you renting? If you don't need much space you can definitly get a car MUCH cheaper than that from a rental place. And you want to rent. What happens if you take the chance and take your car to save some money and then end up spending even more money than a rental would have cost because something breaks and you're not even at home to just stick it in the driveway till you can fix it?

BUT, look for a different rental car, my friend, cos $700 is ridiculous. We're renting an SUV for *seven* people for $616! I have found in many researches through all the major car rental agencies that Alamo is by far the cheapest, PLUS, they have a AAA discount, so if you have AAA, that's another little added bonus. Or, have you considered finding someone on the rideshare board to join you and help pay for gas and maybe even a little rental cost?

[gyre]

Dustdevil,
The Fairlane had a 289 and a C4, I think. And dash air.
It would clean the clock of a stock mustang gt too.
It also got 25 mpg on the highway.

I know a company that cures the newer trans.
The first thing they do is make them lubricate when stopped.
They even have a radical lockup assembly.
That ultimate part isn't cheap though.

It is my belief that all newer automatics need an auxiliary cooler.

When it comes to newer gms, I've had some that were always twitchy.
Reliable on the highway, but issues in and out of first.
What kind of car?


The cheapest rentals here for vans are some small independent companies.
That might be worth checking.

[Lassen Forge]

You still have options as far as rental car vs. fixing your own, but I'd definitely rule out heading to the playa with a known bad transmission!

My brother did that 2 years ago and he almost didn't get back home. Can you say stuck on this side of the pass without a pot to pee in???

He got to the top of donner and nursed it home. Barely. But it was fucking dicey!!!

ББ

[honeyfire]

Regarding the rental car, does the $700 include the insurance they want to sell you for it?
Call your insurance company, odds are good that your regular car ins will also cover liability on the rental, mine does. When i rented last summer, using my own ins dropped it from $675ish to $250!
I've gotten excellent prices and service from Budget, but it's SO worth shopping around, it varies in different areas.
Good luck and happy burning!

[gyre]

My insurance does not cover rental cars but I can add any car by the week much cheaper than the rental co insurance.

[emotion_sickness]

the car is a 1992 ford mustang with the 2.3L engine and A4LD automatic transmission.

the rentals i am looking at are a pontiac vibe suv crossover from Hertz and a Subaru outback from Avis. Both cars are within a couple dollars from the $700 quote i got without any of the extra insurance they offer.

[karr]

PLUS, they have a AAA discount, so if you have AAA, that's another little added bonus.

You can also get a discount through Costco. I called Alamo today for a minivan rental for 10 days and mentioned AAA and was quoted $378. I went to the Alamo website and used one of the advertised specials on the Costco website and the online quote is for $345.89 plus they also allow an additional driver at no extra charge (Some rental companies charge between $5-$10 per day for an additional driver.)