Service Engine Soon Light makes me a sad panda...

**acitydweller** · 11-15-2008, 11:03 AM

if you dont have a friend with a scanner, go to autozone and have them scan your car for free.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-15-2008, 11:41 AM

Alright, I wish I woulda known it sucked so much, but I had none and that's the first place I thought of getting some... Not the smartest idea apparantly. I'm super noobish so I really appreciate you guys helping me... as much as I appreciate you not making fun of me too much for not knowing shit about cars XD :)

Where might I found this specialized fluid? Walmart, or would I have to go to a dealer?

**airborneparainf82** · 11-15-2008, 11:42 AM

Dealer

**HungarianHunter** · 11-15-2008, 11:43 AM

And how would I flush the fluid? Then when I flush it how many quarts will it take to refill it fully?

Sooo:

4 new spark plugs
2 new wires
2 coil packs
get Mitsu fluid from a dealer
flush tranny and replace with good fluid

Doing that should fix all my woes right? :D

**RAZ_76** · 11-15-2008, 12:38 PM

You don't need the transmission fluid from the dealer because it will cost way too much and there's an alternative that you can buy from like Autozone, made by Castrol and reads IMPORT MULTI-VEHICLE ATF for automatic transmission fluid. This will work just fine. It will take about 5 quarts to replace after a good flush. The plug for the flush is lcated behind front driver side tire on teh transmission itself.

Here is a picture fom when I drained my transmission and i used that oil that I just told you and had no issues, a friend of mine at the dealer recommended that to save me some money.

This is where you drain it, it will drain a little bit at first, that's ok, put the plug back and drain some more later that day but don't drive it in between drains.

Here is a picture of the transmission oil you need.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-15-2008, 02:56 PM

Thanks a lot Ray. Now I know how to fix the fluid problem :)

I went to Brake Masters for an advance diag...

turns out one of my gaskets where the spark plugs go broke, and now there is oil leaking into my valves... yay...
300$ for them to fix that.

Any way I could do it myself?

**RAZ_76** · 11-15-2008, 04:09 PM

Of course there is, I can save you 270 bucks.

You buy the valve cover gasket and tube seals as a kit for 30 bucks, remove the valve cover and pull off the spark plug tube seals and voila. It easy.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-15-2008, 04:20 PM

but what about the oil and stuff that got in there?

**RAZ_76** · 11-15-2008, 04:27 PM

Well what you do is this. You borrow some cash from your parents and tell them that this is called maintenance so you have a vehicle to drive because if you don't fix these issues, it will only get more damaged. So with that said, you will need the following:

- Valve cover & spark plug tube seals that will come as a kit, you can get them from Autozone.
- 4 OEM spark plugs and spark plug wires
- you might need coil packs too but do those other things first and then go from there.
- Get some engine degreeser and clean the valve cover good after you remove it.
- Let the car run and get warmed up and then remove the valve cover, that way it's easy for you to remove the old valve cover gasket.

If a shop does this for you, it will cost a lot. You can do this dude.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-16-2008, 12:22 AM

:D thanks Ray, we had a rough start but you're a cool guy :) I got the new plugs and the gasket kit, I'm about to replace them because I just got off work. The guy at autozone said changing tranny fluid can be risky and should be left to pro's. But if it's as simple as following your picture, letting the old stuff drip out and pouring in higher quality fluid then I should be fine...

Should I do the fluid change as well, or let someone else with a shop do it?

Thanks :)

**RAZ_76** · 11-16-2008, 01:17 AM

To do a complete flush, then yes a shop will have to do it because they have to use a special tool to get all the transmission fluid out. The way I showed you will drain most of it but not all of it.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-16-2008, 01:19 AM

Well I poured a quart of the crappy circle K fluid in there, you think just draining it and replacing all that I drained with better fluid will be OK, or should I do a complete flush?

**RAZ_76** · 11-16-2008, 01:36 AM

I say just drain it from that plug I showed you, let it drain until it stops, then put the screw back in and the next day remove it and let it drain some more, you should drain at least 3 quarts or more. Then put the screw back and add about 4 quarts back, start the car and get it really warm, place your foot on the brake and go thru the gears but don't move the car, just go from P to R to N to D and so on and stay in each gear for a few seconds. After you do that a few times, put it in park and check the level. Don't overfill it.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-16-2008, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by RAZ_76

I say just drain it from that plug I showed you, let it drain until it stops, then put the screw back in and the next day remove it and let it drain some more, you should drain at least 3 quarts or more. Then put the screw back and add about 4 quarts back, start the car and get it really warm, place your foot on the brake and go thru the gears but don't move the car, just go from P to R to N to D and so on and stay in each gear f a few seconds. After you do that a few times, put it in park and check the level. Don't overfill it.

Alright, will do first chance I get. Gotta wait til tomorrow to do the gasket swap, the valve cover is very hot, can't mess with it for now, gotta wait til it cools.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-16-2008, 11:35 AM

Hey Ray, what's your advice for removing the valve cover? I got everything apart and off of it, and almost had a hernia trying to put it off... You said let it warm up for a bit, but wouldn't that make the engine too hot to work with? Thanks man

**RAZ_76** · 11-16-2008, 02:21 PM

Let it warm up really good, and then check it by hand, not too cold but good enough to not get burned.

**HungarianHunter** · 11-17-2008, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by RAZ_76

Let it warm up really good, and then check it by hand, not too cold but good enough to not get burned.

Thanks, I'm doing it tomorrow since I finally have a day off work.

So I went to Pro Transmission, and apparently it slips in 3rd gear. When it slips it revs up really high but the engine doesn't "catch up" right? Well that's only happened ONCE, and that's it. He says its a huge problem I should get solved immediately...

they want 400$ to just take off the tranny and look inside, then whatever the cost of the actual fix is.

IDK how crucial it actually is, I have never noticed anything but that one time. And of course they get a bunch of money if I need to get it fixed immediately... I really don't have 1000$ or more to spend, AT ALL, so I'd do anything I can to not have to have em do that. The freakin guy I bought it from seriously didn't do like any maintenance it seems, so I have to do 8 years worth of maintenance at once... Life lesson I guess, have the car checked before buying it. I love the car though, so I'm tryin my best to get it running well and save myself some money, might even learn something :D

SO anyway:

My stepdad's friend works as a clerk or w/e secretary at an autoshop and she said they do tranny fluid flush/new fluid for 80$, I think I'll do that and do the whole spark plug/gasket replacement (I know they aren't really related) and see how it runs after that. But of course I'm asking your wiser people what you think :)

Thanks a lot everyone :)

EDIT: OH! and he says I have a bad leak from the tranny... but I park in my driveway and have never seen a spot on the ground near my car since the 2 weeks I've owned it... what's up with that?

**RAZ_76** · 11-18-2008, 09:39 AM

They are probably feeding you a bunch of crap because you don't know what they are saying. If you say that there's no leak, why didn't you tell them that when they said it was leaking, ask them to show you where? I love it when I take my car to the shop , simply because I don't have a tool to do the job but I know what needs to be done, and they send some white collar dude to explain to me a bunch a crap I don't need and then I have to tell them what I want done and not what they want.

Anyway, my advice is to go get the transmission flushed and get the other stuff done and go from there dude. If it still slips after that then get ready for a more expensive fix down the road. It's cheaper to buy a transmission and have a friend help you install it then paying 1000 or more. You can get a transmission fo like 300 to 400 bucks dude.