Tranny Repair

The "check engine" light had been off and on - mostly off - for a couple months. No symptoms. Ignore it and it goes away, at least until the next time.

Finally a symptom. Klunk! up into 4th gear, or so I was informed, since I wasn't sure if it was 4th or 5th. All day it was snowy and slick, so the car never went all that fast until mid afternoon. It was mostly highway driving, steady in whatever gear for long periods. But the klunk! repeated often enough that I called my favorite mechanic and asked who they recommended, since I knew from years of doing business there that they didn't handle trannies. They gave me a recommendation. The tranny place could fit me in for diagnosis that afternoon.

By then I knew I had lost an upper gear, since my RPMs had risen from their usual steady 2.5 to 3.5-4 thousand. I kept it under 60 mph until I got it into the shop. By that time diagnosis took a bit, since there were around 40 codes from the check engine light going on and off, and each had to be cleared. Each told the same story.

The klunk! was due to (jargon jargon jargon) when the (jargon) slipped going up into 4th gear. The computer recognized it and finally started preventing it from staying in 4th gear, in order to protect the gear, or even going in in the first place. More engine wear, worse gas mileage.

Yep, I'd figured out that last part.

What seems odd is the rebuild that my tranny needs to protect that 4th gear is as costly as if 4th gear went and got destroyed anyway. Or at least I think the two grand is as expensive as if the damage occurred. I could be wrong. But since I plan to put another 200,000 miles on this car, it's necessary.

I waited after they closed for my son to get off work, get his cell messages, and come pick me up on his way home. This just had to be the night he didn't turn his phone on until he was almost home, so he had to come back down, pick me up, and head home all over again. Now I'm here, trying to figure out whether I should go straight to bed or fix something for supper first, meaning I have to stay up even later.

Oh, you noticed too that blogging just delays that decision?