So today I'm making the ~190 mile trip home from college for the first time for the winter. I make it about 20 miles out and my ABS light comes on, but I don't think much of it since my old Camaro did that from time to time when it got really cold like it was today. I also notice a sound that sounds like my fans when they start and it's really cold, but this is the first time I've drove long distance with these tires in the cold, so I brush that off as the tires.

Well I got to about mile 110 of the trip home and the car suddenly loses power to the wheels. The rpm's go up and bounce off the limiter, I hit the brakes and immediately pull over and turn off the car. Jump to look under it and it's smoking like crazy around the pumpkin in the rear axle. So I figure that my rear axle just blew up on the inside cause the ABS light was on, so I should have expected it with the miles on the car. An old man pulls over and we check the motor oil and it's empty . It wasn't empty when I left, I checked and it was good. But he says that it smells like gear oil to him. So I call a towing service and there's a big puddle of oil under the car, and the car moves freely no matter what gear it's in. He says it's probably not the rear axle cause it didn't lock up on me and isn't squealing. He says it's probably the rear main seal. We check the transmission fluid and it's still the right color and doesn't smell burnt.

By the time I get someone from home to bring it home for me it's already dark and about 28 degrees outside, so no checking anything tonight.

Any ideas? If this is too big I'm going to have to trade it off, cause I've got to go back to college in a week and I can't have anyone riding with me stuck beside the road in the middle of winter. I'm not close enough to home to work on it when I want and it's going to be below freezing all week.

Sadly I think this might be the end of the road for f-body's and me until sometime after college, if I can't do something with it I'm going to trade it off, I've got a guy that's wanted the motor for a long time and he'll trade me a V6 4 wheel drive 99 Blazer for it. Don't want to trade but I can't put my gf out in the cold if it does this kind of stuff to us. *I'm feeling like a Budweiser commercial, "Responsibility matters"

 

So let me get this straight, your motor showed no oil from the dipstick, it was smoking from the rear diff, and the revs shot up but lost power to the wheels?

The reving up and losing power to the wheels sounds like a trans issue.

 

It had oil before I left, no oil after the incident, smoking like crazy "from" the axle (possibly oil thrown back from the engine), the revs shot up cause it was on cruise control, no power to the wheels is dead on. Doesn't matter if it's in park or neutral, it all rolls the same right now.

 

Next time your looking at it, check to see if the driveshaft is moving.

 

That's the first thing in the morning, jacking it up to see what all damage has been done. I don't think it snapped though cause it would have destroyed something under the car wouldn't it?

 

He probably didn't snap his driveshaft but if the driveshaft turns and the wheel don't that kind of narrows down where the problem area is.

 

I think thats what he said.

To the op

First put oil in it, obviously.
Check drive shaft


Im guessing that the engine being bone dry on oil, and the rearend acting up is ironic. Who knows, what if your rearend(or something) never went out, your engine might be toasted for good. Did your check gauges light come on? Oil pressure? It seems odd for someone not to notice them things.

 

Both the check gauges light and the oil pressure guage are messed up, have been since I got the car. The only one that came on and was out of the usual was the ABS light. Checked it today and not all of the oil I added yesterday had leaked out. Put in some old oil since it would leak out anyway and it has a pretty constant stream coming out, but runs normal with normal sound. Also checked the driveshaft and it spins when you put the car in gear, but nothing to the wheels. If you rev it up, the speedo jumps up as well.

 

Sounds like a rear to me

 

Sounds like the rear is out, where is the oil leak, your gonna want to fix that.

 

yeah its definetely the rear...at first i would have said it was the clutch but then i re-read it and its and automatic...the oil should be your main concern because replacing a motor is much worse than fixing a leak.

 

Yeah I'm set on the rear being out, but it's freezing rain outside on top of the snow and I probably couldn't get it to jack up so I can get under it. I'm going out today to look for a truck to buy, the car is going to be the fun summer car, I'll fix it over the summer.

 

yeah if the DS is turning and the wheels arent, your rear definitely blew

 

Dude, I know you are young and going to college. I remember there were other priorities when I was that age.

GET THE **** FIXED!