Bad Transmission / just bought car Options

[kingtut12]

Hey there - I am brand new to this site and really like what I am reading. I just bought a 95' Celica GT (Iris blue color) for $300.00. Yep, $300. My brother in law was just gonna junk it after the transmission went out and I looked at it and found a perfectly "fixable" car. Interior is immaculate, paint and body are almost perfect. The engine had no noticable issues as I remember him driving it recently. The dealer told him it would be $3500 for tranny replacement - hence, his "junking" it idea. So I bought it.

My question is this - Is the used transmissions I see on ebay really worth it? They are like $300 bucks and I have a transmission shop here in town quoting me $450 for an install. That is far from $3500, which sounds great and almost too good to be true. What do you guys think? Secondly, I come from the STI/WRX world and have participated in block swaps, front mount IC installs and turbo/ext.wastegate installs. I have never tried to install a tranny before, but with my limited but somewhat experienced skills, is this a do-able project?

Thanks for any info you can give me.

[joehernandez]

the price is extremely good for the car men,, the transmission, well thats the regular price for an used transmission, but you better post the link sowe can check it and so we can tell you what we think about it,
and about the other thing,, i don,t know whats a tranny jejejeje

[Bitter]

i'll assume its a manual transmission? if so then what does it do or not do when you try to drive it? it could be something totally simple like a busted axle and the dealer was trying to take him and his wallet for a ride.

[kingtut12]

Well, that could be true. Its makes a horrible sound when you put it in gear and begin to take off. Also, shutters a bit - the mechanic said something about it "grounding" out. In the electrical world, i know what that means...but in the transmission world I'm not sure. Car starts fine - and you can rifle through the gears with the clutch depressed no problem. I may be able to shoot a quick video of the sound and what its doing if that helps. And yes, its a manual.

Thanks

[Bitter]

what if you try to start off in 2nd gear? have you checked out the clutch at all? shuddering could be clutch chatter which could indicate a very worn out clutch, warped flywheel, damaged pressure plate, etc.

This post has been edited by Bitter: Jul 7, 2007 - 12:35 PM

[SlowCelica94]

Sounds like you can handle a tranny drop. You'll wanna rent a tranny jack tho. I'd get a factory service manual too.

And junkyard/ebay trannies are rarely a good idea, escailly if you're planning on racing with it. If you're really going to keep this celica around, get a jasper, they rock.

[bindertch]

So no noise when the car is idling out of gear. No noise when the clutch is pressed in? Like Bitter said try starting out in second. Also you could try draining the fluid and see if there is any metal flakes in it. If it is a gold color then it is a synchro if it is silver then it is a gear if both then the synchro could have worn through and your eating away the teeth that it splines to. Good luck and let us know with a vid or sound of the noise.

[kingtut12]

Thanks for the info guys - I have been so busy with work lately, i have not had a chance to really test it out. I will keep you all posted.