locked transmission

Hello,

Right now I am just looking for possible advice on the potential causes of this problem in my 1998 Subaru Outback. I was recently returning from a trip to the bay area from Reno and had quite the scare. I was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden the fifth gear just let loose. Engine RPM's jumped at which point I slowed down and dropped to fourth, which was still engaging. So then the check engine light comes on, and I pulled off the freeway (was going that way anyways). Opened up the hood to notice that there was transmission oil all over the place. And as I was headed over to the auto parts store to get more oil (I was in West Sacramento on a Sunday morning, no place to really go but there), the transmission locked up on me. All four wheels locked, me sliding, thanking someone or something that I was not doing

80 on the freeway when this happened. Instead I was just in the middle lane on a three lane major thoroughfare, and as all four wheels were locked (in both directions) it wasn't going anywhere.

So, this leads me to my questions. As of now I recent college grad without meaningful employment (read: broke), and was wondering to what extent the damage could be to my transmission, or is it the center differential? It is a manual, 108,000 miles. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Alec

Reply to
Al
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OK, here's a wild-assed guess...

Something broke inside the transmission, either creating a hole or destroying a seal when it jumped out of 5th. That's why you lost your transmission grease.

Next, the parts of the something that broke flew around happily inside the transmission until the second incident, whereupon they found a way to jam up the works.

I think the technical term for what happend to your transmission is "grenaded" Time to look for another one in a junkyard.

BTW, I live in davis and may be interested in buying the car from you as-is if you decide not to fix it. Contact me via email if interested.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

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