I have a 93 s10 blazer with 4.3 cpi motor and a 700r4 tranny. The transmission has no 2nd or reverse. The vehicle shifts straight from 1st to 3rd. Can I drive my truck this way to get to work until I can save enough money to get the transmission rebuilt?
Sure, right up until the transmission fails completely at some unknown point. Probably sooner rather than later.
In other words, not a good idea.
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Not recommended. You will likely have a catastrophic failure before too long that takes out the whole transmission.
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Debt isn’t always bad. If you can do something with borrowed money that you can’t do otherwise and that thing results in lower total costs even including the interest you pay, you’ve saved by borrowing.
In light of how you’ve maintained your transmission so far, most likely you will drive it until it fails completely, at which time you will have to pay the price of the accident you may cause and deal with the failure catastrophically. If you borrow money now to fix your transmission now, then maintain it properly and drive in a transmission-friendly manner (the transmission of my '87 works as well as it did new) you will pay less in total. Unless you decide to stop owning a car instead.
The most cost-efficient practice is to save money before you need to spend it; that way you collect interest instead of paying it, you get to shop for the best price & transmission (etc.), you don’t have to drive a defective unsafe vehicle.
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Yeah agree. Of course it’s better not to use credit, but after all that’s what its for if you don’t have the cash. In the old days before national credit cards, businesses would usually carry accounts for people for repairs, or merchandise. Now they just take credit cards.
… and then the OP will have to bear the cost of towing, in addition to the trans repair costs.
It is much better to be able to drive your car to an independent trans shop, rather than winding-up stranded in an inconvenient place, at an inconvenient time.
other than the transmission, what’s the overall condition of the truck . . . ?
Well maintained?
Straight?
Bashed up?
Solid?
Rusted out?
If it’s poorly maintained, needs lots of other repairs, and is rusted out, it may not be worth fixing it, in my opinion
There’s better, newer and more fuel efficient suvs out there
As far a drivability, I’d worry about lack of reverse more than shifting from 1st to 3rd. But I guess if you are careful you can avoid problems where you need reverse. The 1st to 3rd problem could eventally wear out the clutches I suppose. Has a good trans shop had an opportunity to do a proper diagnosis? It’s possible (albeit unlikely) there could be a relatively simple fix available, like a replacement solenoid.