I HAVE A '93 850, 70K MILES...OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS HAS EXHIBITED THE FOLLOWING SYMTOMS...OCCASIONALLY LENGTHY TIME FOR TRANMISSION TO ENGAGE AFTER SHIFTER IS MOVED FROM PARK TO REVERSE...SOMEWHAT SLUGGISH SHIFTING AND BIG DROPS IN RPM BETWEEN GEARS...AND SOMEWHAT ERRATIC DOWNSHIFTS AS CAR APPEARS TO STAY IN HIGHER GEARS TOO LONG -- ENGINE LABORS...NOT AWFUL TRANMISSION BEHAVIOR BUT NOTICEABLE...ALSO TRANSMISSION FLUID RECENTLY FLUSHED BY DEALER...OLD FLUID BRIGHT AND RED.

THIS MORNING...CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT INTO REVERSE...IN FACT, THE REVERSE POSITION EITHER MADE THE CAR GO FORWARD OR NOT AT ALL...AND IN FORWARD GEARS, CAR APPEARS TO START IN THIRD...UP ARROW ALSO ON.

FROM MY RESEARCH THIS DOESN'T APPEAR TO BE THE PNP ISSUE...I'M TOLD THAT REVERSE NORMALLY STILL WORKS EVEN WHEN THE PNP DOESN'T...AND OTHER FOLKS INDICATE IT'S PERHAPS NOT AN ELECTRONIC PROBLEM.

I'M ANTICIPATING THE DEALER TELLING ME I NEED A NEW GEARBOX...ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS I SHOULD ASK BEFORE I GO THAT ROUTE...IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DO I ELIMINATE ALL OTHER POSSIBILITIES BEFORE I SPRING FOR A NEW (REBUILT) TRANSMISSION...AND IF A NEW GEARBOX IS REQ'D WHAT'S THE GOING PRICE...AND FINALLY, ANY VOTES ON THE BENEFITS OF HAVING THE DEALER VERSUS A PRIVATE MECH DO THE WORK?

THANKS,