took my car out for the first time in almost 2 years..

[novaderrik]

and it was interesting... the car started right up and settled into a smooth idle, apparently a half a tank of E50 gas stays good for a long, long time... then i topped off the atf (it leaks out around the front seal when parked- the floor of the storage unit is probably a superfund site now...) and then tried to drive it the 4 miles out to the house... wouldn't shift out of first gear.. checked fluid- it was full... pulled out the tow strap and pulled it with my brother's truck just to get it done faster... then we left for a few hours, and i left the windows down...

which of course means that a thunderstorm had to roll thru and soak the car...

so after i got back home, i vacuumed the water out of the car and fiddled with the tv cable a bit- unhooked it from the throttle body and pulled it all the way out and let it snap back about 20 times with the engine off... hooked it back up and went for a drive- it shifted into 2nd gear this time...

that seems like progress to me..

did the tv cable thing about 50 more times, did the TV auto adjust procedure, and went for a drive- success... it now shifts thru all the gears.. but i had forgotten how smooth and Buick-like the powerband of the engine is and i was going 75 without even really being aware of it and not really trying.. but that's one of the charms of the car... so i did a few part throttle stop and go things, and everything works, except the front seal of the trans started leaking after i shut the car off- it will probably suck all the atf out of the pan over a couple of days until it gets to the bottom of the filter and take about 4.5 quarts to get it working again... wtf causes that?

but, yeah, i now have my TR parked next to my supercharged GTP and my POS 305 powered Camaro.. might have to park the rusty/trusty GMC 3.4 ton next to them and get a group pic of all my vehicles...

 

[need boost]

Sounds normal man, when they sit up the seals dry out and shrink.

 

[novaderrik]

the seal has leaked for at least 4 years... it just started doing it one day- never leaks when running, only when the car is parked... and the car can sit for weeks at a time without leaking, then one day there is a huge red slick under the car and you need to put in 3 quarts just to get the car to move. and it just keeps leaking until there is no fluid in the pan. replaced the seal, no change.