Ok, so I was driving accross the country, and while going 75 mph my drive shaft literally fell out of my 2000 Subaru Forester, ripping out a bunch of “stuff” in the process. They did a thorough repair, including a new transmission cap, and I thought I was all set. Then it started making a rhythmic grinding noise at highway speeds, and, once I get it warmed up, it will make a similar, lower pitched grinding noise at about 35 mph. At 60 mph, I can avoid the noise by avoiding pushing the gas lightly, which results in erratic driving. My mechanic told me it’s the transmission, and I cannot afford to fix it-at least not now. I wondered if anyone could tell me how bad it is to continue driving it without a repair. I do not drive on a daily basis, but do hope to take it on longer trips (several hundred miles).
The drive shaft fell out? I’ll bet it ripped a bunch of other stuff out in the process. This is an extremely rare and unusual event. Has anyone offered an explanation as to why this happened? Because it shouldn’t have.
Be that as it may.
What’s a transmission cap? Never heard of it. And who are “they?”
If there is a problem in the transmission, every time you drive the car you make it worse. Grinding noises are never good.
Long trips? Forget it. You’ll be stranded somewhere when the transmission fails.
I hate to say this, but if this were my car I’d get rid of it ASAP. You’re going to spend lots more money on this car if you keep it. Lots more. Walk away now. There’s something seriously wrong. None of this should ever have happened. This car is not one you want to keep. Bail out.
I agree with Mcparadise. I think this problem is going to end up costing you more money than it is worth. If you can afford to make fairly low monthly car payments, you can make a great trade-in on a new Forester with the good deals going on now. The new Foresters are way ahead of the one you have now.
Investigate having a salvage yard transaxle installed…