Car died on morning commute!

[Starkapopolis]

Hi all, my 91 Leg LS auto has been running great lately. This morning, at 5:45 am on my way to work, as I pulled off the interstate, the car lost power, the engine was still running, I could rev the engine, but I had no power, like it had been kicked into neutral. I checked the gearshift, it was in drive. I tried it in 3rd and 2nd. Still no push. Pulling onto the shoulder I looked under the engine and had what I think is oil pouring out from under the engine block. It was dark and I was cold and running late, so I parked it and hitched to work. My car is still on the shoulder and I was hoping someone could relieve me that it's most likely a cracked hose or something that is going to cost less than $12.

 

probably not - because I'm being punished for not starting my Christmas shopping yet.

 

Any ideas? Car has 122k mi and didn't have any problems prior like this except that I thought I smelled burning oil the last two days...

 

brian,

Tucson, AZ

[zyewdall]

How was the temperature and oil pressure guages?

 

Is the oil from the engine or the tranny? If it was still running okay without making horrible noises, I'd suspect you blew a tranny cooler line and lost the fluid in the torque converter, rather than loosing the engine oil.

[Starkapopolis]

Good question, thanks for asking. It was idleling fine so hopefully it's the tranny cooler line, like you say. I don't know yet, but I'll check this afternoon.

 

By the way, is that line hard / expensive to replace? I don't have my haynes on me.

 

Thanks again.

[Starkapopolis]

Oh, and the temp and pressure gauges were normal at the time - I think.

[TheBrian]

I agree with Zyewdall If you spilled all your automatic transmission fluid on the ground, it would be like being in neutral all the time. But when cruising on the highway, your torque converter clutch locks up, at which point, your transmission fluid plays little role in keeping the car going.

 

I think you got the $12 blown hose you'd hoped for. Then again, it could be two broken CV axles and a cracked engine block...

[Starkapopolis]

Interesting - so it'd be like that movie where the city bus had a bomb attached to the accelerator and as long as they didn't slow down, they were fine...

 

prefering the cheap hose over the cracked eng block solution,

 

brian

[Dickensheets]

If it is a cooler line, don't buy the part from a dealer!!! It's $30 there.

 

Go to Auto Zone and buy 6 ft. of oil cooler hose for 90 cents a foot. Then cut to length using the old hoses for guidance. Replace both lines. Buy a handful of hose clamps while at Auto Zone and replace them. Trying to reuse the old Suby OEM clamps is a real headache.

 

Finally lube the hose ends with a few drops of ATF so they slip on easy.

 

rd

[Starkapopolis]

Thanks for the instructions! I'll give it a try this afternoon.

 

brian

[Legacy777]

Yeah, I'd say it's a cooler line too.

 

You may want to inspect the other lines as well.