Uh oh....

[MBowen574]

So i'm adding oil to the Galant today and i realize i haven't checked the tranny fluid in a couple of weeks. it's always been fine, and i've had it flushed and refilled twice in the last 10k miles. regardless, it's pretty brown now. say, maybe 3 or 4 shades browner than the half quart of new Mitsu fluid i keep in my spare tire well for emergencies. here's the kicker... it doesn't smell burnt at all. it smells just like the new stuff. but its definitely brown. the trans doesn't slip AT ALL, i've never had a problem with it whatsoever in almost 20k miles. the shifts are nice and crisp, and only occasionally rough (like when it kicks down two gears at lower speeds). i do shift it manually fairly often, especially now that it's getting warmer, due to A/C power robbing. the only thing I can think of is those GODFORSAKEN trans cooler lines. i suppose it needs flushed and cleaned again and those need opened and cleaned, right? i doubt they ever have been in 101k miles. the only other option (this might not be one) has to do with the Mitsu dealer giving me the run-around on the trans oil filter. they said you can't and never should have to replace it, even though i found out shortly after that it should've been replaced. it's probably original. help guys!! esp. manybrews!

[manybrews]

trans fluid darkens with age. thats normal. it should smell slightly acidic. thats also normal. It by no means indicates anything is wrong with anything.

if its due by milage, just drain and fill it. Your trans DOES have a drain plug on it (two, actually. you should pull them both). Pulling it will get about 50 percent of the fluid, or in your case about 3-4 quarts. swapping the filter is nice, but its a pain on the older cars, and not something that I think needs to be done very often, if ever. Most trannies these days are permanently sealed units, or have nothing but screens for filters, as the manufacturers have figured out that filter changing is a thing of the past.
if you do your own oil changes, I often recommend a once-a-year drain and fill. It will keep your trans fluid nice and pink, and it will probably outlast the car.
do you do your own oil changes?

[MBowen574]

trans fluid darkens with age. thats normal. it should smell slightly acidic. thats also normal. It by no means indicates anything is wrong with anything.

if its due by milage, just drain and fill it. Your trans DOES have a drain plug on it (two, actually. you should pull them both). Pulling it will get about 50 percent of the fluid, or in your case about 3-4 quarts. swapping the filter is nice, but its a pain on the older cars, and not something that I think needs to be done very often, if ever. Most trannies these days are permanently sealed units, or have nothing but screens for filters, as the manufacturers have figured out that filter changing is a thing of the past.
if you do your own oil changes, I often recommend a once-a-year drain and fill. It will keep your trans fluid nice and pink, and it will probably outlast the car.
do you do your own oil changes?

i do oil changes, yes. i also did one of the trans fluid changes. it was actually an accident... i had just had it done at the dealer two weeks earlier for $70 and was about to do an oil change. my dad hadn't been around the other times i'd changed the oil in the Galant and thought he'd get it started draining. well, he drained the trans fluid... didn't realize anything was wrong until after it was all out and i asked why there were droplets of pink fluid on the garage floor. heh. emergency visit to the dealer and around $40 in trans fluid followed. we got it right eventually.

so it should be a few shades darker? i'd never compared new to used trans fluid on a napkin before and this looks so much darker than i feel it should... then again, ive never actually dealt with burnt trans fluid. perhaps it's normal. either way, i'll drive it until it goes dead (knock on wood, hopefully it wont!!!) and then nab a 5-speed to throw in. I'm not about to pay $3000+ for Mitsu to put a new auto in when the car is worth only slightly more per Blue Book...

[bronxbombr]

Makes me happy i did the swap.

[manybrews]

next time you do an oil change, just drain and fill the trans, too.. it takes less time than even the oil change!

[MBowen574]

next time you do an oil change, just drain and fill the trans, too.. it takes less time than even the oil change!

But does it really need it? I mean, two changes in the past 10,000 miles... The book only calls for 30,000 or 60,000 (I can't remember which).

[manybrews]

probably not, but on my own cars I do it anyway. cant have too much maintenence.

I do a "tranny drain and fill" once a year on all my cars. thats about once every 15000 miles or so.

And Ive never had a trans failure on 38 cars.

[galant_got_speed]

probably not, but on my own cars I do it anyway. cant have too much maintenence.

I do a "tranny drain and fill" once a year on all my cars. thats about once every 15000 miles or so.

And Ive never had a trans failure on 38 cars.

38 cars :shock:

how old r u 80????!!!

[manybrews]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galant_got_speed)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(manybrews)</div><div class='quotemain'>probably not, but on my own cars I do it anyway. Â*cant have too much maintenence.

I do a "tranny drain and fill" once a year on all my cars. Â*thats about once every 15000 miles or so.

And Ive never had a trans failure on 38 cars.</div>

38 cars :shock:

how old r u 80????!!!</div>
i go through a lot of cars. The longest Ive ever owned one was 2 and a half years, but during that time I had 2 others as well.

[MBowen574]

Just thought I'd use the same thread. I've been just driving the G recently without paying too much attention to it. Well, school ended for the summer and I have alot of time on my hands, so I washed it real well, took all of the seats out and cleaned the carpets and seat cushions (more later in another thread, with pics! Looks like a new G!), waxed, etc. I checked all of the fluids, and the trans fluid looks the same, so I'm just going to do a flush and fill in a few weeks when I do my oil and rotate my tires. Anyway, now I've got a new problem.

Just this morning (and everytime I've driven it after that), the car started shaking pretty violently when going up a steep hill in a higher gear. If the car shifts down (or I shift it down), it stops. But it vibrates horribly unless that happens. Has never done it before. I immediately thought transmission, but the tranny's been acting fine (I've never had any operational trouble with it, no slipping, minimal jerking, etc.). So, could this be my bad engine mount(s)? I know I've got at least one bad mount, which I still need to buy from Bronx. But, do you think this is a worse problem? Ugh. Damn car looks brand new right now, too... Wish it drove like new. Any input? :?

[manybrews]

sounds like a shuddering torque converter..
DEFINATLY do a flush on that trans, and be sure to use only mitsu fluid.



of course, it could be something else, too...

[PowderHoundCD]

Could it be a misfiring cylinder? I know that my distributor went bad on me about 6 months ago and it started off causing a shuddering when I would put any load on the engine. It slowly got worse until I took it in.

Might be worth checking.

Carson

[MBowen574]

Update: The car has stopped shuddering. Only thing I can guess at is that the distributor got a little wet or something. I don't see how it could have (just drove it normally), but it was raining that day and has been dry ever since, and the problem hasn't returned. Truth be told it should get a new cap and rotor this summer, as it probably is still on the original parts. But that's for later. I'll let you guys know if it returns and how i solve it (granted i do so). Thanks for the replies!