Rebecca
New Member
Hi All,
I'm new (just posted my intro in "New Member" section) and I am in need of some advise/guidance.
For the last few months, my truck has been stalling when shifting it into reverse from drive. If I go to say, parallel park, within a second or two of changing gears from drive to reverse, the RPMs drop significantly and then it stalls. If I gas it quickly enough when it's safe to do so, the RPMs recover and then I can proceed but usually that isn't possible. Now, once it stalls, I put it in park and it starts back up just fine and then when I put it into reverse from there, I don't have any issues. Also, if I'm just getting in and need to back out of a parking spot, I again have no issues (going from park to reverse). Honestly (and yes, this was probably pretty stupid) I haven't been all that concerned about it. It's a nuisance but that WAS about the extent of my worry. Fast forward a few months...
I brought the truck down to a shop Wednesday last week for my inspection, front brakes/rotors and a major issue with the front suspension. I was pretty sure it was the idler arm (hitting a bump or bad pavement at higher speeds threw the entire front end into mass chaos...felt like the wheels were going in two different directions...scary and dangerous - another story for a different day). Anyway, mechanic experienced the stalling which I had totally forgotten to mention given the pressing issues and he proceeded to tell me it was more than likely my transmission is going out. So, if your still with me, here's my question/dilemma...
Is this stalling definitely symptomatic of a failing tranny or are there some other possibilities I can look at first? We did check the transmission fluid levels - good to go and I haven't experienced any other issues that would be related to the tranny...in fact, it shifts very smoothly both in and out of 4WD and in extremely aggressive driving conditions (DC metro traffic). Although I'm bracing myself for the worst, I'm praying it's not that significant of a repair. Between replacing the heater core (that was ugly), starter, pitman and idler arms, upper control arm, and a myriad of other repairs I've sunk a great deal of money into it in the last 9 months in addition to the initial purchase price of around $7,500 I spent on it just 12 months ago, I feel like I have too much money invested in it now to walk away. I'm hoping I don't have to ask myself the question of "When do you just draw the line and accept that the upkeep costs are just not economically viable anymore?".
I apologize for the long winded post and I'd greatly appreciate any/all suggestions and thoughts you all can offer...
Thanks - Rebecca
I'm new (just posted my intro in "New Member" section) and I am in need of some advise/guidance.
For the last few months, my truck has been stalling when shifting it into reverse from drive. If I go to say, parallel park, within a second or two of changing gears from drive to reverse, the RPMs drop significantly and then it stalls. If I gas it quickly enough when it's safe to do so, the RPMs recover and then I can proceed but usually that isn't possible. Now, once it stalls, I put it in park and it starts back up just fine and then when I put it into reverse from there, I don't have any issues. Also, if I'm just getting in and need to back out of a parking spot, I again have no issues (going from park to reverse). Honestly (and yes, this was probably pretty stupid) I haven't been all that concerned about it. It's a nuisance but that WAS about the extent of my worry. Fast forward a few months...
I brought the truck down to a shop Wednesday last week for my inspection, front brakes/rotors and a major issue with the front suspension. I was pretty sure it was the idler arm (hitting a bump or bad pavement at higher speeds threw the entire front end into mass chaos...felt like the wheels were going in two different directions...scary and dangerous - another story for a different day). Anyway, mechanic experienced the stalling which I had totally forgotten to mention given the pressing issues and he proceeded to tell me it was more than likely my transmission is going out. So, if your still with me, here's my question/dilemma...
Is this stalling definitely symptomatic of a failing tranny or are there some other possibilities I can look at first? We did check the transmission fluid levels - good to go and I haven't experienced any other issues that would be related to the tranny...in fact, it shifts very smoothly both in and out of 4WD and in extremely aggressive driving conditions (DC metro traffic). Although I'm bracing myself for the worst, I'm praying it's not that significant of a repair. Between replacing the heater core (that was ugly), starter, pitman and idler arms, upper control arm, and a myriad of other repairs I've sunk a great deal of money into it in the last 9 months in addition to the initial purchase price of around $7,500 I spent on it just 12 months ago, I feel like I have too much money invested in it now to walk away. I'm hoping I don't have to ask myself the question of "When do you just draw the line and accept that the upkeep costs are just not economically viable anymore?".
I apologize for the long winded post and I'd greatly appreciate any/all suggestions and thoughts you all can offer...
Thanks - Rebecca