I was the winning bidder at a car auction the other day on a 1997 850 base wagon. I knew that there were transmission problems before I bid, and I hoped that they were easy fixes. My mechanic says that I need to replace the entire transmission. After my experience today I think I concur-- at first it wouldn't shift into reverse. When in Reverse the car wouldn't move when the gas peddle was depressed, and in neutral it would drive forward when the gas was applied. After driving for a while at highway speeds the arrow on the dash started flashing. Following this I wasn't able to accelerate. The car wouldn't go about 25mph, and the engine was revving high.

Currently the car is two hours from home. I'm planning on towing it home tomorrow. I need to know the best way to do this...

Also, I need as much advice as possible for replacing the trasmission myself. I'm used to 240s... What gaskets should I order in advance? Are all 850 transmissions the same? What other things should I replace while swapping the trans? How will I know if my PNP transmission is in working condition?

Thanks for any feedback. Its hard to find info on this topic, and I'm new to 850s.