Timing or tranny

[tsb22]

slip shifting and shuddering torque converters. i think thats what is wrong but here goes,

occasionally i will be stopped at a light or somethin, and ill give it some gas (not too much) and it wont actually...catch, so my engine vibrates a ton, and i am rollin at about 2-3mph, so i usually let off, hit the gas again, and it "catches" and off i go, well about nov. ish i added a tranny additive, like 8oz of stuff thats suppose to help lubricate and clean your transmission, well since then i have had about 2 diff occasions that it "slipped" but last night somethin was def. wrong.

I was at my g/f house a ways from home, and i started my car, backed out of the driveway, put it in drive and started twoard the mall, well at the end of the street it did what i mentioned earlier, so i let off, tryed again, and it still wouldnt catch, tryed it one more time, and it finally seemed to kick into gear, i guess i got enough rpms it shifted, but there werent any tires squeling or anything. so i kept driving, and the car just wouldnt shift right, it seemed like it wanted to be in a lower gear or something, it didnt have hard shifts...just odd ones, like it would shift at the wrong times.

well i got to the mall, parked killed it, went in for an hr or so, came out, and the car drove realtively fine, not nearly as much "bad shifting" but it seemed still unusual.

Whats wrong? Its either the transmission or the timing belt right? how do i fix my baby

Thanks

[JiP]

did you change your trany fluid and not use Mitsu fluid ? LOL

j/k I duno

[tsb22]

nop, i didnt change it, lol, but its def. full

anyone else?

[BEAST]

My tranny does the exact same thing. I want to know why too. My tranny fluid is a little low though, and it isn't mitsu fluid so I am going to refill it up with some Mitsu fluid. Hope that helps it. Did you check your tranny fluid with the car completly warm and the tranny in neutral. I am hoping that it is because your fluid is wrong so maybe we can narrow it down.

[JiP]

My tranny does the exact same thing. I want to know why too. My tranny fluid is a little low though, and it isn't mitsu fluid so I am going to refill it up with some Mitsu fluid. Hope that helps it. Did you check your tranny fluid with the car completly warm and the tranny in neutral. I am hoping that it is because your fluid is wrong so maybe we can narrow it down.

Im really interested to see if mitsu fluid solves your problem please post up when you do it.

[BEAST]

Im really interested to see if mitsu fluid solves your problem please post up when you do it.

I am too. I sure hop it solves it. That would be awesome.

[TJC]

I can't say that other makes of tranny fluid would definitely make the car behave strangely but for sure if you use the recommended Mitsu tranny fluid, you can at least take that out of the equation.

Another fact you should know is that too little or too much tranny fluid can also cause problems. It can cause foaming (where air bubbles get into the fluid and don't come out), and what this does is it keeps the fluid from lubrication all those parts properly so you experience problems. Always keep tranny fluid levels at the proper level.

It's also recommended that you change out the fluid every 30k or even sooner if you drive your car really hard all the time. You can also inspect the fluid for signs of problems.

I change my fluid out every 15k. The way I look at it is fluids and filters is relatively cheap compared to tranny work.

[brandon]

I swear no one really has the answer to this problem... haha

I have a similar situation with my car... but I don't necessarily think it's the tranny. My fluid level is fine ( it was low but I corrected that ), and the car shifts between gears without a problem.

The problem is the whole "catching" issue... I'll hit the gas and it will studder/shudder and then kick in and take off. Usually does it from stops but is mostly fine when driving distances... occasionally it will shudder in the midst of driving and the check engine light will come on and go back off.

I tried cleaning the throttle body too but it didn't seem to help much.

I don't want to resort to bringing it to a shop to find out I have to pay $2987342 for diagnostic work because they can't pinpoint the problem ya know?

I'm gonna keep tryin.

[MidNightRacing]

talkin about trannies. I gotta go get a flush. Its working fine and everything but the tint of the fluid looks dark. Not the usual redish tone.

[tsb22]

bubbly....uh oh, well that might be my problem, i guess its a little high. Its suppose to be red....wow im learnign new things everyday. Crud, well how much is it to get your filter and fluid changed, in general, and how much more is it at a shop than at home, i really just dont feel like f**king up my car to get to the filter. you know

anyway, thanks guys...ill try to get mitsu fluid too, although my Chiltons manual says mitsubishi recommends Mercon.........


yeah Beast, we both have 94' LS too......

[MidNightRacing]

It think its around $100 Im not sure. Ithink it was the tranny flush that costs that much, but I forgot so much shit about car stuff it aint even funny. As for doing it your self I would never do a flush myself, maybe if it was a '70 60' SB chevy yeah, but not my mitsu. I think the filters run for $20 - $35. I Know a Saturn A/T filter cost $20 because I did an oil change on my sisters car. It was the only filter I saw. Who told Saturn to put the oil filter above the passengers side axel all hidden. So I learned it at a cost($20)

[BEAST]

I forgot to check the color of the fluid when I was checking it. Could I just change my fluid and not worry about the filter for now? Just take the plug out of the transmission pan and drain it then fill her back up. I know that this may not be the best approach but I really don't have the money to get a transmission fluid and filter change somewhere and I don't feel like taking the pan off and messing with all of that stuff. Also where can I get Mitsu. fluid?

[Kain]

FYI

Transmission fluid when completely fresh should be "cherry red" Just pour a bit in a clear glass/plastic container and look at it straight from the bottle.

Around mid-life it will be more of a "blood" color, like when you give blood, kind of a reddish brown.

"burnt" fluid. Is almost completely brown, like motor oil. It's a bad, bad thing if your fluid looks like this. Your transmission has probably already been damaged at this point. And once the little paper clutches are damaged, the only correction is rebuilding/replacing the transmission.

Filter was $15 when I bought mine (might be more now) and Mitsu fluid is around $4.50 a quart.

I highly recommend a flush and fill instead of just a filter change. That way you get all of the old fluid out (just changing the filter and refilling will only get 1/2-3/4 of the old fluid out)

Mitsubishi transmissions can use any fluid, they just don't like cheap-o Dextron-Mercon. I have heard that Dextron-Mercon + DuraLube tranny additive can simulate Mitsu fluid close enough that most people won't be able to tell the diffrence, but I avoid addatives like the plague, and wouldn't recommend that route.

Definitely take care of your transmission. It's not that expensive (on average something you'll do maybe 4 times during the life of the car) when compared to the $3k for a new transmission. Also, don't go to AAMCO. I can't count the number of their transmissions I had to fix after they botched the job. And if they can't get Fords and Chevys right, I shudder to imagine what they'd do to a Mitsu tranny.

[JiP]

Am I the only persn who's tranny runs perfect with cheap dexron-mercon fluid?? Why am I always the odd one out on this group!

[MidNightRacing]

Am I the only persn who's tranny runs perfect with cheap dexron-mercon fluid?? Why am I always the odd one out on this group!

Mine runs fine and I got the cheapo stuff in there. I just dont like The color of it. I doesn't look like motor oil yet, but its getting close and thats why I want a flush

[Kain]

Am I the only persn who's tranny runs perfect with cheap dexron-mercon fluid?? Why am I always the odd one out on this group!

Maybe your definition of "perfect" is diffrent from the norm? I have high expectations from my transmissions. I want them to shift like glass, which the Galant transmission will do if treated properly, Mitsu's are some of the few that you can't actually feel them shift under normal operation. If you ignore the extra noise, slight hesitation, more harsh shifts, and slippage than regular Dextron-Mercon will work fine. But, Diamond 3 is better. Kinda like most cars will run "perfect" on 87 octane, they just run soooo much better on 94.

[BEAST]

I'm like you Kain. I want everything to be the best it can be. I don't just want it to be good, I want it to be great. And my tranny isn't really even up to good in my opinion.

[MidNightRacing]

Hey to me the tranny is number one on my list. The list would be called : What scares me most about cars. As long as its running good im happy. the second would have to be a engine fire, then suspension setup.

[JiP]

We defintly know my definition of perfect is far from norm lol. I wouldnt know what if any difference mitsu fluid would make since the owner before me and myself just took it to quaker state places before I started doing it myself and they use whatever trany fluid they support and its defintly not mitsu. All i know is my trany shifts great and drives great. And out of curiosity from Midnight's post I sucked out a lil fluid from the tranny to sample the color, and its the average thick red of used fluid not brown, its been in there about 6months.

I duno whatever works for ya

[BEAST]

Ok well I almost topped off my tranny fluid yesterday, and my tranny hasn't been slipping at all. It will actually chirp the wheels again! I am pretty happy about this. It still shifts kinda hard so I am going to go buy another quart of the stuff and really top it off. I had to put in a whole quart. Can you freakin believe that? Soon I am going to get some tranny fluid in there to replace the Dex III and I'll be set. Hope this is some good news to some of you.