Nissan Altima with an Ethical and Moral Dilema

I have a 2002 Nissan Altima Automatic 100k miles on it. The other day I noticed it spewing Tranny fluid. So I had been driving it a few days before hand about 30 miles a day. I take it into the mechanic to find out the Torque Conversion Seal is gone and it will be 15 for the part but 600 for the labor. Now I have a few questions, 1. What could have caused this?

2. Is there a chance I burned out my transmission even though I still had fluid in there?



I don’t see any moral or ethics involved here. Sounds like a seal went out which is a cheap part. However the labor involved in replacing it is pricey since the transmission will probably have to be dropped. There is a chance your transmission is damaged. Did you notice anything different in the way it drove?

I agree with FoDaddy that morals and ethics are not valid issues in this situation.

The only personal issue that the OP might have to wrestle with is whether it was wise to continue to drive a car that had transmission fluid “spewing” from it. A minor leak is normally not cause for alarm, but “spewing” of any fluid from a car is certainly a good reason to investigate the situation thoroughly before driving.

The “spewing” of trans fluid was roughly the automotive equivalent of arterial bleeding, and while it may not have actually led to further damage, it was certainly not a good idea to continue to drive under those conditions.

Are you asking whether to repair the car or whether to put it down?

An '02 Altima with only a 100k miles is a bit young for a torque converter seal failure.
It could be caused by “just one of those things” or possibly someone in the past getting a bit rough with the transmission if it had ever been out for one reason or the other.

If you were driving it around seriously low on transmission fluid and experiencing any shifting oddities then it’s likely that you have damaged the transmission to some extent.