Expert: Mike Evans - 9/19/2009

Question
I have a plymouth Neon Highline Manual 95 and i dont know what to replace but it has to do something with the transmission. one night when i was drunk i rev engine all the way to the 7000rpm and tried to do a burn out and once i let go of the clutch at 7000rpm all i heard was a clunk and my car didnt move.The car starts but doesn't move, when i let go of the clutch i hear like a noise under me like grinding and doesnt matter if in gear or not it does the noise, only stops when i hold the clutch down.Also what i noticed is that if I put it in a gear and let go of the clutch the MPH gauge goes up to 10mph 2nd gear to more and so on....what do i need to replace....


Answer
   I don't think it is the transmission.  I think you broke a cv axle.  On this car you can probably reach down from under the hood and grab the axles.  Give each one a twist and a shake and I'll bet one will move and the other one won't.  The one that moves is broken; new ones (rebuilt) are very cheap.  The other possibility would be the differential being broken.  It is inside the trans case and would be a lot more difficult and expensive to fix.  Either way, if it's an axle just replace it.  If it's anything inside the trans then you will want to buy a used one and change it out.  Fixing a manual trans is always much more expensive than doing an automatic, don't even think about it.  I'm sure there are plenty of wrecked Chryslers out there that can supply a used transmission, just call a salvage yard.