I may just subject the HHR to the abuse of about 2000 miles a month for a while, see if I can try to pay it off early, and try to get a 2011 model one next year, somehow, so I will have two HHRs. I'm way under average on mileage for now on the HHR I have now...it's an '07 and is at 26,600 miles at the moment.

Even though I've only had this beater for about five months and will take a huge dive on it financially, I'm thinking further work on it is just throwing good money after bad.

I dunno...I go all over the map on thinking about this. Arrgh!

 

Clean fluid can leak faster than very dirty fluid. I'd clean the underside real good, put your pan back under it and then take a look to see where the leak is. You will probably have to raise it up for the inspection.

 

The shop says it's not a leak, precisely...it's pushing out of a vent.

 

Clean it and you can verify that.

 

Tough to analyze a visual problem with text, but my rule of thumb is to avoid vehicles with transmission problems, especially newer cars. I've rebuilt older rear drive transmissions, but the new stuff is computer controlled and FWD is just a pain to work on.

 

Mark my words...I will never ever ever ever ever get any car again that is an automatic, new or used. I just loathe the things...I have a perfect record of having transmission problems with automatics...it's some weird voodoo zombie curse thing.

 

Depending on how much they cost, a salvage tranny wouldn't be a bad idea. The downside is that you don't know how good/bad it was before you get it. Check www.car-parts.com and get a real-world price on a replacement tranny for your ZX3 then decide if it's worth keeping.

 

I just went out to look at it myself. I can't lift the car, as I have no ramps or jackstands, but got on the ground and crawled under as best I could, as well as looked from the top. I also simply felt around with my hand where I could not see. I feel no vent leaking, and the only place I can see fluid running from is from the very bottom of a bolted on plate on one side of the trans. Great.

 

There is no tell tell sign of when a trans is going to go. I had 2 auto taurus's and a Caravan go all within a year. The first taurus leaked about as much as your escort from the day I got it and I drove that car for 2 years before it just died NO gears at all. the caravan died after going up an icy long hill with spinning the tires a lot. The other Taurus showed no signs at all I got in it on morning after a nice easy 200 miles highway drive and I made it 500 ft and it died. AUTO transmissions stink. I have yet to see one out last a clutch. And even if they lasted as long as the first clutch the trans job is like 3000 a clutch job is around 400 installed... I have not owned an automatic anything for 5 years!!!! I will never own one until I am 80 and can't do it anymore by then I won't be driving 32K a year and my average speed might have dropped 10mph so the auto with be treated nice and easy

 

Amen