I will start with my question and follow with the details:
1. Do I pay $2000 to put a new transmission in my 1992 Pathfinder?
2. If I do, is it still reliable (as in, can I go on long trips and over mountains)? Lowest mileage transmission the garages have found are +170k miles
3. Is the transmission the real problem, or a symptom (read some stuff about coolant leaks into transmissions)?
Car:
For reference, it is a 1992 Pathfinder SE with 105k miles on it. I recently replaced all the belts and oil and got new shocks about 2 years ago.
Story:
I was driving over Snoqualmie Pass in Washington over Memorial day and my A/T Oil Temp light came on. It took me ~15 min to pull over, but I slowed the car and kept it under 3k RPM (and didn't feel or hear anything off). I stopped for 5 minutes and then crossed the street to park the car for longer and screeetch...now my transmission is shot and I'm looking at $2,000 to replace (would include radiator replacement as well)