Tom

Tom,

Q The other day I street raced my Honda Accord. When I launched off the

line from neutral, I heard what sounded like nuts and bolts in a blender. Now
it doesn’t move at all. The car is an automatic. What did I do to my car?

Carlos—Los  Angeles,    California

Carlos,

A You probably destroyed the transmission when you “launched” off the

line. What happens is when you do a neutral drop into gear while revving the
engine at high speed, the transmission gets shocked beyond belief. Hard parts
inside the transmission get fractured or break. In your case, it sounds like you
broke some hard parts like a drum, planetary gear set, ring and pinion,
carrier, or something along those lines. Get it into a shop to drop the pan and
see what kind of metal is in the pan. You will probably end up replacing the
transmission because of extensive internal damage. Sorry.