Sorry it didn’t turn out to be a simple fix like the brakes trublmakre. You can get a much younger car for $3000 anyway.
hear that… :rolleyes: how we don’t have spellchecker on this rig? heh
Yeah, I’m probably going to end up buying something else. I know that you buy a used car as is and the guy that sold it to me 6 months ago for $2500 has absolutely no obligation to me, but I might just drop him a letter letting him know. He made a big show of being a nice, Christian guy when I bought the car, and for some reason a couple of weeks later he actually sent me $250 in cash in the mail, “in case I need it”, (my friend that went to look at the car before me gave him a big spiel about how I’m a struggling single mother with 3 kids and groceries to buy and blah blah blah) so while I won’t be expecting anything from him, I think I’ll just let him know. You never know.
It’s nice to be able to come here, and ask questions, and wonder aloud, and vent. You people are awesome.
My 85 started doing that, but it’d go into reverse after I’d driven it for a while. This came in handy, since I could get in the car, drive to the store, back into the parking place, and then when I got done shopping, simply pull out. By the time I got back home, it’d be able to go into reverse again, so I’d back in and be ready to go the next time I wanted to go somewhere. Also, if your car’s got overdrive, simply put it in 3rd gear (or whatever is just below Drive on the shifter) and you should be able to drive the car without it making any horrible grinding noises. I drove my Accord like that for about a year before the timing belt went.
So Tuckerfan Since you’re familiar w/ the car maybe you can add some perspective.
If this car was an old ford or a chevy, (as I am not a Honda guy)
I would at least drop the tranny pan and change and flush the fluids, replace the filter and check out the bands. I don’t know that it’d do any good but it sure couldn’t hurt.
Is there anything particular about this vehicle to say, “don’t bother”?
Honda transmissions don’t have pans. The filter can only be replaced by disassembling the tranny.
But regardless of the vehicle type, the symptoms described fairly shout “major internal problem.” The odds of routine service and adjustment doing any good, even on a Ford or Chevy with these symptoms, is somewhere between zero and nil.
Hey Gary I forgot you were here. 
Yeah, you’re probably right. I didn’t know about he pan obviously.
But I’m forever the optimist. Thinking maybe it’ll buy a little time. I’ve done a bit of transmission work but it’s really not my thing. (Besides I’m a stick man.)
My mother-n-law’s old Mercedes was acting this way once upon a time. Didn’t want to shift. Slipping and getting stuck in gear. I got lucky I guess with a simple flush, filter and fluid and tightening the bands was a snap. I didn’t mind working on that old Benz though. Everything was made to work on.