I'm trying to figure out if my 95' suburban is worth fixing....
(243,000 miles (not individually fuel injected) This is in Massachusetts)
One very cold evening a couple of weeks ago, it refused to start - good electricity, headlights, the engine turned fine, but refused to catch. About an hour later, it did start, but would only run as long as I kept my foot on the gas - it would die if I tried to idle.
Driving off, I had very low power, and the engine revs were very high - almost like I was stuck in too low a gear. After about 15 miles, suddenly I had full power, and drove the rest of the way home without a problem.
I've had similar erratic problems since then; it is clearly temperature related. My first thought was an electrical problem, with one of the cylinders failing to fire. Replacing the spark plugs and cables did not fix it.
My garage now claims I have transmission problems; they say that the system is sticking in low gear. (of course, this is only after charging me for the electrical work).
Fixing the tranny runs into major bucks, and I'm trying to decide if it's now time to call it a day. Does the garages' diagnosis sound plausible? Are they just looking to rip me off? They are quoting $3500 to replace the tranny, if it comes to that.
I'd been kind of planning to get a different car this summer anyway, so spending more than around $1000 to fix it is probably not on the cards.
Any ideas or advice are welcome.
thanks,
Peter Trei