...transmission fluid as far as i can tell. i think it's getting sick. it caught something from me. slamming in and out of gear with no rhyme or reason is not a good syndrome to have methinks, but there are no puddles beneath my wheels. no smoking gun. i am puzzled, so i just add transmission fluid. problem solved. until it gets low again. i'm wondering how long i can keep the bigger problem at bay by using liquid bandaids. metaphorical.

once, when i had a much nastier car, with a pulsing, rippling, hulking mass of an engine, my linkage pin snapped. this was back in the days of carbureted engines mind you, so none of this injection or throttle-body fuel delivery nonsense. this was the real thing. raw.

the linkage pin holds the linkage onto the carburetor, and the carburetor spits the fuel into the engine. the accelerator went flaccid. the engine still would run, but hit the gas and nothing happened... i was aghast. and in the middle of nowhere. no shift positioning arm, no fuel delivery, nothing.

the spring which made the accelerator snap back and limit the amount of fuel sprayed into the carburetor was still intact, so i though i had a prayer.

i removed the speaker wires which ran from the radio to the rear speakers and stripped the rubber from them and wound them together. i threaded the wire through the linkage and all of the associated arms and sprocketmonkeys. in 1982, the ford crown victoria ltd had a little window that cranked open which was located in front of the primary window. the other end of the wire was run out from under the latched but popped hood and through the window and into my hand. this became my accelerator and facilitated my safe return home.

it was like driving a retarded go-kart, but it sufficed.

how do you rig up a transmission like that, i ask you.