Yeah, that was kind of my thought process also... i mean theoretically there could be some snap torque loss but, i assume if there were it probably wouldnt be very noticable. ive done most of mentioned things already, for other reasons.... and i NEVER do trans flushes via flush machines on my own vehicles and i HATED selling them as a maintenance jockey. they are usually a good way to cause problems.
unfortunatly im stuck diagnostically until i have money... i dont like throwing parts at things in the name of diagnosing, but the fuel injectors are among possible suspects and they are so old and loud im just going to replace them anyway, so i cant justify cleaning them at the moment.
im in the process of getting around to a flow test on the exhaust, and only other i thing i haven't done is check the brakes for drag... ill be doing that later, because i should, but if that were the case as many miles as ive put on it, it would have probably worn loose and killed the e brake down to noisy or slippery levels by now.
and Buck, thanks for the offer, but you dont need to do that... i pulled the crossmember yesterday to check it out, and now im bummed cuz the holes are stripped to ****, and the bolt hole corner is busted. so ultimately it probably was HACKS not being careful, and after stripping/breaking the hell out of it, they just left it loose or didn't put the bolts back in at all. YAY.... so for now im going to "engineer" it with some JB weld and oversize tap, and hope that itll hold well enough till i can spend 150$ to change the extension housing. if i had the money right now, i would spend a couple extra hundred and just get a tranny rebuild kit, just for fun... but oh well. guess im driving the pontiac for a while.
oh hey, one more thing, ive never really had to do this stuff "at home" with DIY resourses (or lack of)... if/when i decide to rebuild the trans... any recommendations on ramps, stands or other inexpensive ways to get the vehicle blocked up high enough to pull the trans on the ground?? i dont feel like standard little jack stands are gonna get me enough clearance to roll that pig of a trans out from under the vehicle, especially while the trans is sitting on a Jack.