My civic has 282k miles on it and i've had it since it was new.

So it was pretty hot up by my house...and my civic started running a bit warmer than usual on a long drive...i turned on the heater and opened the windows to get it home. Checked coolant level, was about a pint low, topped it off...check tranny fluid (was ok, but really bubbly) and went to bed (this may be unrelated). The next day when I was driving it, i noticed it struggled to shift from 2nd to 3rd...and made a 1/2 second grinding noise.

Next day, made same grindey noise when i shifted into reverse.

Today, when it went from 2 to 3...same grindey noise as before. Now when I shift it into reverse, it feels like it's in neutral...won't engage at all.

Question is...easier to rebuild or get a used one with less than 125k miles?

If rebuild...what should I look for in terms of r/r?

 

get a new one, i hear its real hard to rebuild an auto tranny.

 

just grab another auto trans from any 88-91 civic. im surprised that trans lasted that long, you must have taken real good care of it.

 

Yeah...she's my baby. What is the average one of these transmissions is expected to last? Don't want to get an abused one and go through this again in a year :P