Originally Posted by trocar

my mechanic told me that the weak link in the transmission was the bit that attaches the drivers seat to the transmission.

Said these things are pretty rock solid, however it is his belief that previous owner was hard on it (bad shifting and over stressing bearings with downshifts at too high a rpm) was the beginning. My sometimes zealous running thru the gears didn't help matters, and finally one thing lead to another and kaboom.

clutch is oem replacement, $1500 plus labour