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Manual trannies to be specific.
For those of you who don't remember my earlier posts, I bought (several weeks ago) a 900 Turbo for $320, with the thought that the clutch was bad.
Well, I finally finished getting the new clutch in last night. (many of you are probably in the same situation as I am - business with work and family and stuff gives me about an hour or two a week to work on cars right now!)
After getting the clutch in, I figured I'd change the tranny fluid. Can't hurt, right? Well, I got under there, and pulled the drain plug. And that's when disaster reared its ugly head. Or should I say, "that's when the truth about a previous disaster reared its ugly head."
Ya know how these trannies are supposed to have about three litres of fluid in them? Well, about half a litre of thick, blackish purpleish sludge came dripping out of that drain hole. And then, I looked up at the (magnetic) drain plug I held in my hand, and realized that there was a tree of steel shards growing off of it.
I stuck my finger up inside the drain plug hole and felt around. Yep, there were more metal shards just peacefully laying about in there.
My guess is this - the combination of the clutch being so worn out and the fluid being so low led to the previous owner grinding one of the gears up. When the big crunch happened as he was driving, he assumed the clutch had died, and parked it until he sold it to me.
Still though, for $320 I'm very happy with my purchase. I just need to get a gearbox in it now! I'm fully confident in my mechanical skills to get this job done, and I have the tools, the place (a nice garage) and the time (it can take all winter if it has to), I just don't have much knowledge about these trannies at all.
So I'm coming here for advice. :D I figure I've got three options:
1) Buy a rebuilt unit, or get mine rebuilt. Pros: I'll have a like-new tranny. Cons - I don't have heaps of cash laying about. What do people usually pay for a rebuild? I do not have any sort of relationship with or knowledge of a local tranny shop, do people usually send trannies away for rebuilds?
2) Buy a used tranny. Pros: Cheap! Cons: Risky! The only junkyard I'd trust locally for Saab parts (http://www.goldwingsaab.com is an hour's drive away) has no trannies available right now. Plus, since these trannies are so weak, if a 900 is sitting in a junkyard, it is likely that the tranny is either blown or about to blow. Is there any way to tell if a junkyard tranny is good? Any access panels or parts I can take off to get a good look inside a tranny?
3) Rebuild my tranny myself. Pros and Cons - I don't really know. Do people do things like rebuilding these trannies themselves? I've got a small assortment of the tools I'd need, but I wouldn't mind buying other tools. What are some good (online) sources for parts? What do parts typically cost? Has anyone on here actually done this before? Are there repair manuals available for these trannies? The Bently is no use here.
I'm kind of leaning towards number 3, but I don't honestly have any idea what it would take money- or time- or skill-wise to rebuild one of these trannies.
Any thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated.
-Nate
1991 VW Corrado g60, 182k
1988 Saab 900 Turbo, 82k
posted by 12.3.14...
, Fri, 20 Sep 2002 13:57:07, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 20:24:59, Thu, 19 Sep 2002 13:27:50
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