99 taurus making me =(

well i have a 99 taurus SE i bought recently from an auction, it was a horrible ordeal now that i look back on it but the price was good at the time. 70000 miles full power everything and cost me 2700. but since i have horrible luck and am an idiot the transmission went bad about 2 weeks after having it. come to find out there was absolutely no tranny fluid in the car. took if i remember correctly about 2 gallons to fill it back to good, again im an idiot. well after that the car was working like when i bought it again till i parked it like most people do in a parking lot. alot of orange sludge was coming out of the holding tank for coolant. so i take it to a friends house and his dad (pretty proficient with cars) flushes the radiator and all that and we refill it with coolant.

so ive been driving after that ordeal for like 2-3 months now with slight transmission problems. some jerky movements between gear shifts. i didnt stop driving because ive got a very busy life with 40 hours of school and 30 hours of work a week but i knew i was going to have to do something. i kept the tranny fluid to good standing this whole time but now it seems i gotta do something.

so yesterday im driving to work and all of a sudden after i go from idle at a stop light it doesnt wanna shift anymore past 35 MPH (2nd or 3rd gear?) i dont wanna punch it cause im like 5 feet away from work so i just roll on in. gives me same troubles all the way home (15 minute drive) and i just keep it at 35 MPH the whole way. this morning i gotta go to school for exams and its still giving me troubles so im getting kinda frustrated cause im being a total burden to everyone on the road so i rev it up trying to force it (again idiot) and it finally shifts and the check engine light goes off and it works like it use to the rest of the way. but then i come from school to go eat and its back to crap and thats where i am now.

so essentially what im asking what course of action should i take now. im not too familiar with cars since ive taken the bus everywhere or been given rides for the past few years. luckily a well planned PS3 selling right now ebay will give me about 1000 and i have 500 saved up from work should i put this to getting tranny work done?

any help would be greatly appreciated

Kinda sounds like the trans might be upset a little. I'd pour a bottle of lucas trans fix in it for s---s and giggles.

Driving without tranny fluid probably burned up the clutch packs. Then adding fluid probably sent the pieces burned off the clutches throughout the transmission doing more damage. Your looking at between 1500 to 2500 to get it fixed. Make sure you check with the better business bureau about wherever you take the car, some places are not very reputable.

im gonna try the lucas today to see what happens but its back to working good but it cant shift into rear so its not that good.

given the lucas does nothing which with my luck it wont. would getting a tranny from a scrap yard and replacing this one do the trick or will it need more than just that and a brand new tranny?

thanks again

Guess it depends... If you spend 3-4k on a new/rebuilt transmission there's a good chance it will last longer than a scrapyard transmission. How much do you want to put in this car?

and my internet is back...

not that much necessarily. tranny with 80000 miles is going for 350$ at a local scrapyard which is better than id have seen on car-parts.com. and i dont make thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat much money so a new tranny is really not gonna be able to happen. but any idea on what the labor costs on putting a new tranny should be?

again thanks for the help guys.

and my internet is back...

not that much necessarily. tranny with 80000 miles is going for 350$ at a local scrapyard which is better than id have seen on car-parts.com. and i dont make thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat much money so a new tranny is really not gonna be able to happen. but any idea on what the labor costs on putting a new tranny should be?

again thanks for the help guys.

I've had bad problems with junk yard transmissions specifically. IMO, it's in the junk yard for a reason. That's just my experiences though, maybe it will work out okay for you. It may get you by for a year or two.

Pete