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Anyone mechanically inclined?

Bitaemo

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Canadian
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
266
Location
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
About 6 months ago, I bought my first second car. It was one I wanted my entire life, but family/kids always came first. I bought a 2002 Camaro 35th Anniversary. Literally mint condition, 45K on the engine, never water/winter driven from Arizona. It was a dream.

I've only put 1.5k on it since I got it, nice Sunday only driver etc. Yesterday I decided to drive it to work. On my way home, I was shifting in 2nd, (Maybe going now 30 MPH) and all of a sudden there was a BANG and a Grinding feel coming from the steering wheel and gear shifter, and the engine died. I pulled over, and the car leaked about a cup of oil on the ground. The grinding sound lasted only a few seconds, and then the car went silent.

I tried to start it again, but the starter made a very quiet grinding sound for about 2 seconds and then stopped. After that nothing but clicks like a dead battery if you tried to start it. I checked my engine oil, it was full and clean as a whistle, so I didn't run dry.

I've had no problems with it at all, in fact the dealership had hooked it up to a computer about 2 weeks ago, to clear an error code left by leaving the gas cap off accidentally.

I can still shift gears ok.

Sadly this happened after the service department closed where I towed it, and they have no technicians until Monday, so I am on pins and needles to find out anything until then.

Since I bought this car used, there is no warranty on it.

Ive googled rebuilt engines and found I can get a 3.8 V6 for about $1700 and a 5.7 V8 for about $2800 with about 75k on them. Im hoping thats not what it is after you add labour, and shipping.

Is there any mechanics here? What do you think? My salesman told me that the oil on the ground wasn't motor oil, he says it doesn't smell like engine oil. He thought it was transmission fluid or something because it was slightly redder then engine oil. Id say a brownish oil with a red tinge. But what does he or me know? Nothing much really. Sorry if this post is useless, just feels good to get it out, and hear some other possibilities.
 
It sounds like you need a new transmission.. Even though it had light miles on it, it might have been driven rough. For high school graduation I was given a 98 Pontiac firebird ram air. I went through a transmission at 30k because I drove it like a race car!! Probably not the smartest thing to give a 18 yr old kid a 365 hp sports car :laugh:
 
Where did the oil/transmission fluid leak from, front or rear? When you say you are still able to shift gears, do you mean when the car is off or have you been able to restart it? I had a Jeep whose gear box went out on me and if I remember correctly I couldn't get it out of gear so shifting wasn't possible when on or off. Did you check the transmission fluid level? I'm no mechanic but Cooter was my favo(u)rite character on The Dukes of Hazard.
 
It not turning over sounds like a locked up motor but if it didn't loose any oil it may be the tranny. Hard to say w/o seeing where the oil is coming from. Is it a stick or automatic? Sticks are usually pretty tought to break. If it's a stick, it will be a very thick gear oil. If it's an auto, it'll probably be a redish color being tranny fluid. If it's motor oil it'll either be black or a golden brown color. Good luck any way you look at it. Tranny's can be very expensive. My last Dodge 1 ton dually trans was almost 4k to rebuild.
 
Crawl under it and see where the liquid came from. I'm kinda thinking maybe the engine locked up and caused something to break in the transmission which would be the reddish fluid.
 
That engine is way too new for me to be of much help. Kinda sounds like a thrown rod (sometimes called Todd) though. Sounds like the started can't turn the flywheel, if you can't turn the engine by rotating the main pulley, then it's a seized engine.
 
GM manual transmissions use Dexron III ATF, so it could have come from there. You'd have to crack the case to get it to leak from the transmission, I would think. The only way to tell is to get in on a lift and inspect it. It should be pretty obvious where the fluid came from if it's a clean car. You should be able to find a reasonable price on a used transmission if that is what happened.
 
Sounds more like transmission failure than anything. Problem with buying a used manual transmission vehicle is you have no idea how the person before you treated it. 45K miles may not sound like a lot, but for someone inexperienced in manuals, it's enough to destroy it. Transmission fluid could leak from the transmission dipstick funnel if the internals got hot enough, or from a seal if the damage was severe enough.
 
Anyone else think it might be possible that instead of throwing it into second it popped into reverse and dropped the transmission?
 
Anyone else think it might be possible that instead of throwing it into second it popped into reverse and dropped the transmission?
It wouldn't be possible to put it in reverse while going down the road. All you would do is grind the gears until you got stopped. You've almost certainly blown something in the trans. My guess, like many others here, is that it was driven pretty rough by the previous owner. I feel bad for you. That's the risk with used cars, you never really know what you're getting.
 
Is there any mechanics here? What do you think? My salesman told me that the oil on the ground wasn't motor oil, he says it doesn't smell like engine oil. He thought it was transmission fluid or something because it was slightly redder then engine oil. Id say a brownish oil with a red tinge.
Tranny time!





Good luck with the rebuild!
 
Is there any mechanics here? What do you think? My salesman told me that the oil on the ground wasn't motor oil, he says it doesn't smell like engine oil. He thought it was transmission fluid or something because it was slightly redder then engine oil. Id say a brownish oil with a red tinge.
Tranny time!





Good luck with the rebuild!

That hurt! :D
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. I am on pins and needles right now waiting to hear from my service manager. Im praying its the transmission, it seems to be about half the cost of rebuidling the engine.

Ill let you all know what it is. Kind of a Bitaemo's Lottery. Except I dont win anything. Except a racked up credit card.

:-(
 
I suspect sabotage. Perhaps even a hate crime...

2vry7ow.jpg
 
Actually, upon thinking of this more, it sounds as if you may have thrown a rod. Best to get it checked out by a professional.
 
Here is a child's illustration of what I think happened:
s_bite.gif


As for professional assistance, contact this gentleman:
robertshaw_captain_quint_jaws.jpg



Stop driving your car on the beach, okay Tim?
 
Clint, If I didnt know better, Id swear you had supernatural powers.

For everyone guessing and wondering what it was... heres a clue....

4810171292_541c18e48d_b.jpg


And heres the piece that went with it:

4810171324_4bfd03967b_b.jpg



Correct. I shot a rod right through my engine block. The engine is now dead. Easy $3000 or more repair. Still waiting to hear.

Sigh. No more cigars for a while. :-(
 
I still say that second photo is a shark tooth. That's what happens when you piss off Jaws.
 
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