Help Transmission problem

How do you know? What are the symptoms? What mileage? How long since the lube was changed?

I ask because most "transmission" problems turn out to be leaky clutch slave cylinders.

Lanny: My Miata has around 170,000 miles on it. The current symptoms are: It does'nt get reverse, it seems to be "stuck" in low gear..and won't advance to a faster speed no matter how hard I push the gas pedal. Also,it quickly revs up to a high rpm yet can go only about 12 mph. 1st gear and 2nd gear feel almost the same. No matter what, I cannot go faster than 12mph. My thoroughly certified transmission shop says they need to take the tranny out to diagnose it because after test driving my car, they say it has an "internal" problem. Removing the tranny to see what parts it needs costs at least $1,000.

Additionally, before my tranny went bad..the last couple of years it seemed very worn out. It hesitated severely as I tried to advance speed. It was impossible to go from 40mph to 60mph without waiting a long time. Anyway, do my symptoms sound like I need a new tranny to you? And can I (a novice) fix or diagnose a leaky clutch slave cylinder, How is this done? I'd appreciate any advice...at this point if I can't fix my tranny I'll be paying over $1,000. to replace it. Thanks. Silver

That sounds to me like you have terrible clutch slip.

That sounds to me like they either haven't a clue or else are ripping you off.

SteveM

Stephen Malb> That sounds to me like you have terrible clutch slip.

It sounds more like a sick *auto* transmission to me.

Ye, could be: I had something similar the one time I changed an auto 'box myself and the kickdown linkage was all wrong. However, it _did_ use all the gears and the differences between the ratios were correct but the upshifts were very late, as if it were in kickdown mode all the time. Turned out I'd been sold a different type of gearbox from the one I'd removed (B-W type 35 vs B-W type 30 IIRC) and the kick-down linkage was mechanically different so adjusting as per my Haynes manual set it up incorrectly. Gearbox vendor sorted it out for me FOC.

OP never actually stated it was an auto, BTW.

SteveM

This is an automatic, then? Sounds like it's dead all right. (Diagnose??? Try "rebuild" or "replace"... it's not going to be fixable short of that, I'd wager)

If it's a manual, your certified transmission shop is trying to rob you blind.

The slave cylinder thing only applies to the manual, and the symptoms are that you get a mushy clutch pedal or (ultimately) you can't declutch at all.