[yellowfiero]

While driving home yesterday from a little league game, I was accelerating normally from a stop. While the vehicle was shifting from 1st to 2nd, it seemed to go 1st to nothing (revved up). Then as I let off the gas, I heard what sounded like a bucket of bolts rolling around. I pulled into the nearby grocery store parking lot to examine things. The engine ran a bit rough in park, but smoothed out when I put it in gear with the brake on. I could accelerate, but again, no 2nd gear, just the bucket of bolts sound. No reverse either. I was 3 miles from home, drove it home in 1st gear, topped at 30mph.

With 194,000 miles, I call it quits. Not interested in a tranny rebuild at this point. We did that with my wife's '95 TS when it had 100K (still running great at 170K). I am planning to turn this car in with the upcoming government program. If the law passes as it looks now, I'll get $4500 toward a new Honda Fit, which is like a mini-minivan. The program's interesting, as all vehicles need a max of 18MPG, at least 10 years old. The running condition is not specified, but it is irellevant, as long as I can drive it there. All cars turned in cannot be resold or used for parts - their engines and transmissions must be destroyed, so the dealer's don't stand anything to gain.

Oh well, it was a great vehicle for the time I had it. I might grab a few parts off of it before it goes for the other van, like the overhead console with the temp/compass etc.