Being a typical girl I am pretty clueless when it comes to car stuff. Knowing that most auto shops and mechanics prey on our ignorance, I tend to put off trips to the shop unless my car is due for a major service or oil change.Lately, while driving along on the freeway, the tachometer will suddenly surge and the RPMs will shoot up to around 4,000 for an extended period of time.
Does anyone happen to know what the bleep might be wrong? Also, can anyone recommend any good, honest auto repair shops in SF?
6 comments:
Does your car have a standard transmission? If it does it could easily be the clutch. How many miles do you have on it? Clutches generally last between 80k-120k miles.
If its an automatic, then I don't really know. Could be lots of things.
It is an automatic with 43,000 miles on it. My friend told me to take it to AAMCO, so I dropped it off there for a diagnostic at 1:30 today. They just called me and dropped a MAJOR bomb which has me hyperventilating:
They checked the level and condition of the transmission fluid. The fluid has contamination. The car has delayed shift points. There is excessive friction material. There are friction clutches in the transmission. I have no idea what any of that means but it sounds TERRIBLE!
My head was spinning, but it stopped when he told me the transmission needs to be rebuilt. It apparently needs to be removed, inspected and overhauled at a cost of $2,000! Plus, the man said the torque converter may also need to be rebuilt for $425. Lastly, the guy told me they may find additional damage to the transmission.
Ok, time to exhale. Bottom line: It's going to cost me at least $2,425. In addition, I will be out of a car for about a week = I now need to ride to Dunnigan on Saturday.
What a nightmare!
Ouch. Sorry to hear that.
How does one's transmission fluid get contaminated? Did you make someone mad?
Again, sorry to hear that.
Nope, I didn't make anyone mad, I just have a dark cloud sitting over my head. First it was the dogs, now it's the car. Lesson: don't own pets or cars. The good news (yes, I always look for the silver lining) is that it is friction and not metal in the transmission, which is the lesser of two evils.
Given that it's a MAJOR problem, I don't think I trust AAMCO to do the work, so that's $89.95 in diagnostic charges out the window. I am going to call a few other service shops and get estimates on the work now that I know what the problem is.
Noooooooooo, NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO AAMCO!!!! MLE you should have called me! Take it to PlanetSaab and tell Jay that I told you to take it in. He will work on BMW's if they are a friend. He's an excellent mech and I called him last week about my Audi and it's strange break light issue.... had it fixed in Denver and it's all better.
Thanks Vera. I'll try him the next time. I don't know what possessed me to take it to AAMCO. I knew it would be cheaper than the dealer and I wanted t get to the bottom of the problem. My sister just bought a car just like yours so you'll have to give me the name of the CO shop for her.
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