I got my oil changed on the 8th. The mechanic mentioned I needed repair on my rear transmission mount. Apparently, the noise I am hearing when I switch to reverse is metal hitting metal. When I pressed him for how long I can drive without major damage he couldn’t tell me. Just that it is not good on my crappy old “death mobile ghetto blaster” car. Well, I know I need to get it fixed but cannot afford as I am on a fixed income, etc. The mechanic also mentioned something about oil leakage from the valve cover gaskets but that it is very little and not to worry too much about it. I know my cars gona die on me soon, I’v tried getting my boyfriend to teach me how to drive a stick (both his vehicles are sticks) but he is reluctant because as he puts it someone inexperienced driving a stick (i.e.me) can easily kill the gears and then neither of us will have a running vehicle. So, I guess my main question is how long can I go without fixing the transmission mount. Other than the annoying noise, it hasn’t affected my car in any way.
bumping up
We could give you better advice if you give us the year, make, model, engine configuration, liter/cu in size of the engine, and mileage on your “death mobile ghetto blaster”.
If this is a rear wheel drive car, the rear transmission mount usually keeps the transmission tail from rising up to hit the floor tunnel. A broken rear mount can cause the car the shake badly when accelerating hard. Replacement of that rear tranmission mount is not a hard job so should not cost you much, i.e. ~ $100.
Hope that helps. Get back to us with additional information.
Sorry for the limited information. I have a 95 Dodge Intrepid, six cylinder engine, ahh, I got over 200,000 miles, 236-237 within that range. I 'v had a lot of work done on it but when I purchased the car from a “friend” he put in a new transmission, that was fall 05 do the tranny is about three years old, anyway, I should have got back sooner because I found a local mechanic who won’t rip me off like the corporate bastards, he lifted the car up and showed me exactly where the mount was, I need a new one but he also said when I asked what the worst that would happen if I let it go he said probably nothing, oh, and Midas ripped my ass off too. They quoted me at $250 for the mount.
I know the problem is trying to figure if it is worth it. I would say not to fix it. You might drive for the rest of the engine’s life and not have another problem.
If you let the mount go, the engine will move around more as you go into drive and reverse. That will load the other mounts and may cause them to fail. As the mounts get worse, you will probably hear banging as you shift between park to drive and park to reverse. Eventually the engine will become so misaligned and loose that you may get shudder under acceleration or even pull out of the CV axles.
If the car is in pretty good shape otherwise, it might not be a bad move to get the mount replaced. You have pretty well used up this car so you could also opt to drive it until it drops, recycle it, and then buy a newer car. You have to decide if the cost of the present repair and the likely repairs in the future would be more or less than buying a newer car with monthly payments.
Hope that helps.
What are CV axles? Where would they be in my car?
Ya, its probably not worth it, I’m trying to get my boyfriend to teach me how to drive a stick, its kinda like anything in life how are you going to learn without experience but you need experience to get experience so its a catch-22.
They are in the front of the car, in line with the front wheels. If you block the front wheels so they won’t roll, look up behind the front wheel. You will see a bar with rubber bellows at each end – those are the half shafts (axles) with the CV joints at each end. The end to the middle of the car sticks into the transmission. If the transmission moves too far to the right or left, the left or right half shaft will pull out of the transmission; the car will no longer go; and oil will leak out of the transmission. You can coast to the side of the road but the car will only move further by pushing or towing. This is an unlike event because you will be having a lot of indications before this happens.
What sort of indication? It would be really helpful to know because this is my only vehicle and my boyfriend refuses me to teach me how to drive a stick. Thanx.
Your boyfriend is a d#*k, and you should dump him. Any man who says a woman can’t learn to drive stick. or refuses to teach her, is not to be trusted. You need a new boyfriend, not to mention a new car.
Thank you for the comments mcparadise. My boyfriends rationale for that is he is worried I will kill the gears and ruin his engine. I know, I should dump my boyfriend but I can’t stand to be alone.
Reread my post of 9/16/08.