I dont think this is model specific.

I have a 94 Chevy Blazer and last week a mechanic informed me that my Transmission is failing, but I could drive it in Drive without having to get the transmission repaired. I asked him how far/how long I could do this and his reply was 'A ways.'

I only use the car to drive to work and back (And the occasional Chinese take-away). A round-trip of about 15 miles for both journeys. It's 55 and 45mph along my local roads.

I'm really looking for some reassurance that I am not going to cause further damage to the car by only using drive. Or, is this something I should just get fixed, or, should I start looking for another car.

Everything else about the car seems sound. But what I know about cars, you could write on the back of a postage stamp.

Thanks. My name is Nid and I'm in Virginia.

 

all he said was "its failing"? Failing how? How did he come to this conclusion? If your transmission actually is "failing" then no it is not ok to drive it. The problem will get worse, and worse, and worse, and then it will end up costing 10x more than it should. Depending on whats actually "failing" it could be an easy fix. You need to find more information. Is the fluid dirty/burnt? Is it shifting into all gears? Is it shifting hard? Is it shifting softly? Does it shudder? Does the torque converter lock up?

A trans failure can be a ton of diffrent things. And how else would you drive your blazer other than in Drive?

 

As I said, I dont know anything about cars, much less about automatics. I am from England and knowing someone with an automatic is virtually unheard of. So, when I came to the US last year and got this car, I was told to put it in the position with the circle around the D to drive.



I took the car to a local garage to get some electrical things repaired and mentioned to the mechanic that the car was shuddering/pulling when I was driving. Very noticeable when i was maintaining 45. I asked the mechanic to find out what the problem was. I believe he said that the transmission was trying to go into overdrive and not doing it. I asked him how much it would cost to repair it and he said around $1800. He told me to just use drive and I asked him how long I could use the car like that.

I will try and find out more information, but it's going to be a few days.

 

find a new mechanic. that guy is an idiot.

 

I agree with racerx, that guy is a dumba$$. The D with the circle around it means overdrive. The D without the circle mean it won't go into overdrive. Thats used for like towing. So if you were driving in D (with no circle) that would make sense because it will never go into overdrive in that gear range.

 

I spoke to another mechanic and he says it's the 'The torque converter clutch' that's the problem. I asked him about driving it in 'D' and he said that my gas consumption would take a hit, but it would be fine to keep driving like that. I asked him if it was worth getting it fixed and he laughed and said no.

Thanks for your replies.

 

it is not the clutch it is the lockup solenoid making it shudder in 4th gear or around 45mph. Mileage will only suffer on the highway around the city it is the same thing.