High Mileage and Problems
 

well, this is officially my first posting on this site, but i'm hoping somebody can give me a hand.

i own a 2000 alero (3400 v6 engine) which has close to 94,000 miles on the car and bought it with 91,000 miles. i've ran into a few problems so far with the transmission (slipping in the winter) and i took it in for an inspection and was told that I need to have the whole transmission rebuilt for a hefty price. also, the engine makes a ticking noise when its at low rpm's. is it worth the trouble to look into these problems and put any money into the car or should i just dump it and find something newer? after all, i do like the car and it has decent handling and the body's in excellent shape but i don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a car thats never going to be right. please, help me!

could the slipping be because your running synthetic???? cause i saw on the other thread you wrote that you use synthetic, if you switched to it when you got the car, thats probably why the tranny is slipping...... they say its not good to switch to synthetic oil if you have a lot of miles on your car

Welcome to the site! The most common ticking sounds is just lifter noise, but we need more info to determine if that's the case with yours. Where is it coming from? Does it change with rpm, vehicle speed, etc.? As for the transmission, does it shift funny or anything? If it's only minor slipping, you can probably add a conditioner to it with a complete flush and get many more trouble free miles out of it.

as far as i can tell, the ticking is the worst when the engine's cold and gets quicker and slightly louder as the rpm's increase then disappears around 2k and up. the transmission has only slipped on me really bad when it was around 20 degrees out and sometimes it seems to "clunk" into gears (isn't very smooth)

as far as i know, engine oil and tranny oil are totally separate....i'm not totally sure what the transmission shop put into it but it seems to be doing slightly better after a fluid change and filter cleaning...

I'd voice my opinions on what you should do but I'm sure i'll get flamed for it. Just read my signature and it'll tell you what I did when faced with the same issues as you.

I have 108,000 miles on my car (2.4)and ive used synthetic since the day Ive owned it, the ticking noise sounds like its ur lifters, rarely common for the 3400 as many would say, if ur mechanically inclined id check it out urself to save some money but if not take it to a mechanic and let him check it out.

It def sounds like lifters...fairly normal and not really a problem, more of a niusance.

There didn't happen to be any ice on the road when your tranny was slipping, did there? :rolleyes2: Tranny fluid does tend to act funny when it gets cold...just like any other petroleum based product, it gets thicker, but once it warms up it usually straightens out.


Yes, tranny and engine oil are totally separate, I don't know what billy was thinking(:drunk: ) The flush and filter change most likely took care of the problems though.

thanks for explaining that... no, there was no ice on the road. i could feel it acting weird as i was backing up down the driveway and then when i was on the road, i hit the gas and had to rev it up to 3k just to gt it rolling on a level surface. also, when i had it taken in for the tranny fluid change, the guy said that there was a few peices of some needle bearings in it. does that sound right and if so, is that bad?

as for the lifters...i'm going to buy an oil pressure gauge to see what my engine is holding...

i was told one day back in the years where I owned a dynasty by the dealer when my tranny was slipping:

"You'll come back here in less than a month on a towing for a full tranny rebuild for 2800$"

Yeah riiiiiiight. I had a simple flush of the trans oil, then some additive and I sold the car 2 years later and it was still running good. The guy that bought it ran it for a long time too.

thats a relief...hopefully mine holds up too

yes, edge of sanity, make sure you treat your alero like shit and then complain about it and buy a new car

well my 2001 is at 291,138 and still runs good, no break downs ever since the day i got it. amazing huh? just the regular every 2000 mile oil change and 91-92 octane gasoline.

^is that in miles?

Wow! that's impressive. It sounds like you got a good piece

sounds like you got a well balanced engine...hope mine makes it to at least 110,000. do u have alot of lifter noise?

Pieces of needle bearings in your fluid is not a good thing. You might be lucky and just have one broken needle from a bearing that doesn't carry a heavy load...in which case you should be fine. However, damage caused by that needle could come back to haunt you later. Just keep an eye on you trans and if it starts acting funny again, don't hesitate to get it checked out.

My lifters make that noise too. not really a problem, been that way since about 30K miles, now I have almost 90K

I'm starting to have tranny issues again, very minor, but I have a hose leaking too :(

Hahaa!!!!


Ive put 100000kms on mine and only had a few minor stuff, steering high pressure line blew, all bearings/hub replaced, two tie rods..

I think thats acceptable for 2 years, but im also religous with oil changes, Im running 87 octane most of the time..

Running high octane is worth every penny if you can afford to (afford not to?) its cleaner, dosent leave as much deposits, and is efficient..

Gimme an answer, because that's awesome if it is. I'm at 174,000 all original parts, never any problems.