1997 JGC transmission leak

[kat75]

I think we've just about resigned ourselves to getting a new car, but I thought I'd try to do a little research anyway, just in case.

Hubby was driving along and the transmission completely lost all power; he had to coast to the side of the road. He checked the fluid and it didn't show at all on the dipstick. Put more fluid in, and it just POURED out of the bottom. Ended up getting a tow.

This was just yesterday, so we haven't had time to check it out (Hubs is riding the motorcycle.) I am wondering if it's not even worth bothering to look at. Isn't it pretty involved to pretty much change ANY gaskets/seals/etc on a transmission? The thing has 240,000 miles on it, so it's no big loss if we can't fix it, but I'd kick myself if it was a stupid $25 part. I don't want to put $300-$400 into a car that we were planning on replacing in 6-8 months anyway.

I know the info is pretty sparse, but I wondered if you transmission experts could tell me anything at all. The car's transmission will not engage at all, and it's possible it's just completely shot from being run with no transmission fluid.

Sorry for the post that's long on words but short on information. Thanks for all your help!

[fredjacksonsan]

First thing IMO would be to locate the leak. It could be a hole in the transmission pan, a leaky seal, or something more expensive. If it's an easy fix then I would try to fill it up with fresh fluid and see if it works.

It's certainly possible it could be toasted from running without fluid, but that's not certain until you test it.