Axianator
I am a banana!
Alright, guys. Might have a potentially serious problem here. I seem to remember a few other ATX'ers also having this problem, but I don't recall the cause(s) nor has the search turned up anything useful. I welcome any and all opinions. Here's a brief account of what happened:
I was out driving tonight around 2am on some local 40mph highways. As I came to the red light at one of the usual intersections, I made my stop and waited for it to turn green. As it did, I applied my usual amount of throttle (read: not much) and intended to putt through the intersection. The only problem is that right as the RPMs started to rise, something gave (or broke free) and the car stopped moving. I also had a new, RPM-specific, "belt whining"-type noise when the car was in gear.
I proceeded to put it in neutral, seeing what would happen. The car did go into neutral and the engine seemed unaffected. The whine went away, the engine idled fine, made no strange noises, and would rev freely if I blipped the throttle. I then tried to go into reverse and the had the same results as drive--no movement coupled with the whining noise.
I got out, checked for fluids and didn't see any. Fortunately, I was only a few feet out in the empty intersection and was able to push her back to the crosswalk line. I waited until some very nice officers stopped their patrol car and helped me push the girl into the Autozone parking lot just up the street. That's where my SHO resides now at 3:30am.
That brings me to the question of the hour: what's going on? Forward clutch piston? Something in the shift linkage? As I said, I recall a few accounts similar to this but don't recall the cause.
FWIW, my '95 ATX has 135k on it and is not really abused. The first 100k were gently-used, female-driven miles. I have put 35k miles on her since buying her in Dec '99. Fluid changed at 70k by the original owner and then 100k with Mobil 1 ATF by me. Fluid still looks and smells great 35k later, although I had planned to change it very soon.
Any ideas?
<small>[ October 23, 2003, 06:00 AM: Message edited by: Axianator ]</small>
I was out driving tonight around 2am on some local 40mph highways. As I came to the red light at one of the usual intersections, I made my stop and waited for it to turn green. As it did, I applied my usual amount of throttle (read: not much) and intended to putt through the intersection. The only problem is that right as the RPMs started to rise, something gave (or broke free) and the car stopped moving. I also had a new, RPM-specific, "belt whining"-type noise when the car was in gear.
I proceeded to put it in neutral, seeing what would happen. The car did go into neutral and the engine seemed unaffected. The whine went away, the engine idled fine, made no strange noises, and would rev freely if I blipped the throttle. I then tried to go into reverse and the had the same results as drive--no movement coupled with the whining noise.
I got out, checked for fluids and didn't see any. Fortunately, I was only a few feet out in the empty intersection and was able to push her back to the crosswalk line. I waited until some very nice officers stopped their patrol car and helped me push the girl into the Autozone parking lot just up the street. That's where my SHO resides now at 3:30am.
That brings me to the question of the hour: what's going on? Forward clutch piston? Something in the shift linkage? As I said, I recall a few accounts similar to this but don't recall the cause.
FWIW, my '95 ATX has 135k on it and is not really abused. The first 100k were gently-used, female-driven miles. I have put 35k miles on her since buying her in Dec '99. Fluid changed at 70k by the original owner and then 100k with Mobil 1 ATF by me. Fluid still looks and smells great 35k later, although I had planned to change it very soon.
Any ideas?
<small>[ October 23, 2003, 06:00 AM: Message edited by: Axianator ]</small>
