Need help diagnosisng whether I've got clutch or transmission problems. I'm 300 miles from home and don't want to get ripped by the an unkown dealer.
About 275 mi into the drive it started spontaneously slipping out of 4th. Then it wouldn"t go into gear when downshiffting w/o difficulty. Then an intermittent high pitched metallic whine/grin sound occured in 2nd & 3rd. In the next day, it drove fine locally. Does this sound like a clutch, transmission or other issue.

 

When you say it's slipping out of 4th, do you mean it feels like the clutch is slipping? Or is it popping out of gear? It almost sounds like a combination of clutch and transmission symptoms. I'd start by checking the fluid level and see if there's any excessive metallic content in it. I'd also look in the inspection hole and see if you can tell if the TOB/fork looks ok. From there, if you can't narrow it down to something simple your best bet may be to flatbed it home to a mechanic you trust or your own house if you're able to tear into it yourself. I don't think I'd drive 300 miles back on it with the problems you describe though.

 

Thanks for the reply steve. It spontaneously slipped out of gear at 55-60mph. Fluid level is fine. I don't know what the consitency of the fluid should be so difficult to check metalic content. What's the other stuff to look at? new at this.