1997 Saturn SL1 GEAR SHIFTING

1997 SATURN SL1
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FRANCINESMITH
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  • 2 POSTS
Transmission problem
1997 Saturn SL1 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual

My car just recently started acting up, the first gear
slipped and then the second gear slipped and then the shifter lopped over toward the driverside and now it wont take first or second gear makeing it hard to drive. putting it in first makes it stutter and stall kinda like its trying to stay in nutural
Dec 24, 2008 at 12:56 PM
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JUSTIN FREED
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Sounds an awful lot like your transmission has seen better days. However, since there is not a lot of info to go on and this is a virtual diagnosis - all bets are off!
Check to make sure all shifter cables are secure and in good working order-no loose bolts etc. If the car can go thru the shifting motions without running but it doesn't work when running - yeah, your tranny is most likely the culprit. If it was just the slipping of the gears, I might suggest it could be the clutch.
If you can do the work yourself (are you sure you know how and have all the appropriate tools - in this car, you need to pull the engine and transmission as one unit so, you need a good workspace and a cherry picker) you can probably find an acceptable junkyard transmission for around $300-400.
If you are going to have the work done by a professional shop, you should really consider the value of the car and what it will cost to repair and determine if it is worth it....
Good luck!
Dec 31, 2008 at 2:01 PM