Just finalizing the purchase of a 85 735 with a bad transmission. PO says that it was driven without fluid and got cooked. Any ideas how I can best check out the damage without actually pulling the tranny? Have not checked the fluid level, but will top with fluid and then see what happens.

Any other course of action that you experienced guys know of to check for damage?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

David

First get the car up on a hoist and drop the oil pan and remove the filter. Check the oil (which will probably be black from overheating) for bits of metal. If you have significant metal, you have a trans rebuild at best, or a throwaway and replace.

If there is no shiny stuff floating around in there, you may be lucky. It depends a lot on how long the PO pushed the trans with low fluid, and what caused the fluid loss in the first place. Check to see if you can tell where the fluid went - pan seal, rear oil seal or wherever. The torque converter needs to be full to operate, so below a certain level, all that happens is the TC makes a lot of froth and not much drive. Having identified and recitifed the reason for the oil leak, put in a new filter, fill up with trans fluid and hope for the best!