We bought this car about a year ago with 90000 miles on it at auction. Shortly after we began driving it we began to notice a very slight vibration when backing up. I learned that there was apparently a problem with the all wheel drive on these cars and a mechanic suggested draining and refilling the transmission and adding this blue additive that was supposed to "possibly" help. The car seemed to be OK for the next 6 months and although we still sometimes noticed the slight vibration in reverse that was the extent of it. The other day my wife said that while stopped at a light in drive she heard a sort of grinding noise. The noise went away and the light changed and she was relieved to note that the car seemed to be running fine. She drove it the 3 miles to our house and we then determined that it would not back up. It makes a soft "whirring" noise in reverse but nothing happens. I have a friend who used to rebuild transmissions until he gave up his shop last year. He's not familiar with this problem but he says that if I get one from a junk yard he'll install it for me. I am a little dubious about a junk one though in light of the apparent known problems with these. Is anyone familiar with this problem and if so what is involved in fixing it. Can we perhaps point my friend in the right direction so that if he removes my transmission he will be able to repair mine for me? I guess I would feel better about that than a "maybe" from the junk yard. Some other questions, is it OK to use the car without reverse for the time being? Will we damage anything else? Can I at least drive it the 25 miles to his shop if we determine that perhaps he can do this for me? Thanks very much for any advice. Lenny Stein.
- posted
18 years ago