My worthless daily diesel beater car is near death. 300,000 miles, it's getting worn out.
On the other hand, it is dirt cheap to drive, super-reliable, and I do enjoy it. If I bought another commuter it would be a high mileage diesel like mine, so better the devil I know. I would like to get two more years out of it, so another 40,000 miles or so. Seems doable.
Last week the original clutch went, so I pulled the transmission and I'm ready to reassemble it all. Here is my issue; Third gear synchro was going, and it will only get worse. I have a spare tranny with a hole in it, I think I can patch it (previous owners mechanic left the CV bolts loose). I could put an aluminum patch, drill tap/JB weld.
So options are:
1. Reinstall the known iffy trans and live with a balky third gear.
2. Patch the known good trans with the hole and hope it holds.
3. Pull the case from the iffy trans and put it on the good trans (does not look easy, and I've done several 915's and G50's)
4. Pay someone to do 3.
5. Buy a used trans and hope it's good
Option 2. appeals to my inner tightwad...if the fluid leaks out and the tranny dies, I can get another one...