I was trying to get the reverse = lights to work on my '90 Carat, 4-spd manual. I checked the bulbs and the fuse, = and they were ok. I removed the reverse switch to check it with my meter, = and sure enough, it was intermittent. I used the trusty can of electrical = contact cleaner and got it working reliable again -- on the meter. It = still doesn't work on the van. Could whatever that is in the = transmission that hits the plunger switch be broken? That sounds = expensive.

Anway, while I had the reverse light = switch removed, I noticed that it looked like an oil plug. I had been = considering adding some gear oil because it always grinds into all of the gears when = cold, sometimes 2nd doesn't engage even when you pull it into the gate -- you = have to give it an extra tug to get into 2nd, the area where the linkage goes = into the case is soaked and dripping with oil. (All of this on a = remanufactured transmission that isn't even 2 years old!). Anyway, the book said = this thing holds 3 quarts. I bought 2 quarts of Mobil 1 75-90 synthetic = gear oil -- and put them both in!! I assumed that I would top it off = with a little bit, but not 2 quarts! Therefore my questions = are:

2: Was I supposed to drain the = old and measure the new? On my other cars, I just top it off until I can't = get any more in. No measuring required.

3: How bad is it supposed to = leak around the linkage gasket? Could I have really been more than 2/3 of the = way empty? I assume that if I overfilled it, the excess will come out = of this leak. I just hope it doesn't come out into the = clutch!