03 Sport, tranny help please
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03 Sport, tranny help please - 11/26/2006 10:39:21 PM
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Deerpark
Posts: 4
Joined: 11/26/2006
Status: offline
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Hello all,
First time poster here. Need some assistance as I'm finding it hard here in Southern MD...
03 Montero Sport bought in May06, with shop inspection prior to the finalizing the sale. During a cross country move, noticed an audible sound with shifting between 1-2-3 gears (with no RPM increase). Fluids and lights all check fine throughout. Continued to drive vehicle 2000miles w/o incident but still with transmission symptoms. Immediately had car serviced at AAMCO at arrival. Fluid almost black. Power-purged twice with 'equivalent' of SP3 fluid. Presumable Diamond ATF, but I don't know III or IV (paperwork didn't indicate). Car ran fine....for one month, at which time sounds and a slight vibration have been occuring on the floorboard.
Sought another opinion at the Mitsu dealership. Tech hinted I may have cooked the tranny given high summer temps running the a thick fluid. Was told AAMCO may have further damaged the trans with the ATF fluid. Advised that he could flush with SP3, but it was likely that my problem would still exist. Replacement cost? $7000....
Can I salvage this situation? Currently, I've tallied 9000 miles given these characteristics. Car in perfect condition, but I do not have a history of maintenance performed.
DP
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 11/27/2006 1:49:44 PM
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Winshawn
Posts: 269
Joined: 1/31/2005
Status: offline
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Try the dealer flush with SPIII. AAMCO uses dex III fluid with a "Lubeguard" additive. Your AT might be trash, but you wont know until you try SPIII in it.
_____________________________
'90 Montero (sold-sadly)
'95 Montero LS (166k) - my car
'03 Montero Limited (36k) - wife's car
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 11/27/2006 5:18:36 PM
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off roader
Posts: 419
Joined: 10/20/2005
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Deerpark
Hello all,
First time poster here. Need some assistance as I'm finding it hard here in Southern MD...
03 Montero Sport bought in May06, with shop inspection prior to the finalizing the sale. During a cross country move, noticed an audible sound with shifting between 1-2-3 gears (with no RPM increase). Fluids and lights all check fine throughout. Continued to drive vehicle 2000miles w/o incident but still with transmission symptoms. Immediately had car serviced at AAMCO at arrival. Fluid almost black. Power-purged twice with 'equivalent' of SP3 fluid. Presumable Diamond ATF, but I don't know III or IV (paperwork didn't indicate). Car ran fine....for one month, at which time sounds and a slight vibration have been occuring on the floorboard.
Sought another opinion at the Mitsu dealership. Tech hinted I may have cooked the tranny given high summer temps running the a thick fluid. Was told AAMCO may have further damaged the trans with the ATF fluid. Advised that he could flush with SP3, but it was likely that my problem would still exist. Replacement cost? $7000....
Can I salvage this situation? Currently, I've tallied 9000 miles given these characteristics. Car in perfect condition, but I do not have a history of maintenance performed.
DP
Definitely try a reflush using Mitsu fluid or one that you can get a guarantee that it's equivalent. As has been noted, it may already be toast but you won't know for sure until you check it. Before dumping the old fluid have some of it analyzed at a reputable fluid analysis company. They can give you a good idea what failed in your tranny.
Also you may want to verify if the fluid they used it Mitsu compatible with your specific tranny. If it is and the cause is the fluid then the fluid maker may owe you a tranny rebuild. If it isn't and the tranny shop used it anyway, then they owe you a rebuild.
Unless I have a very common tranny like those found in Chevy's, Ford's, or Jeep's, etc, I avoid AAMCO like the plague. They're where tranny tech's go to get their education before they can qualify for a job at a "real" tranny shop IMHO.
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 11/28/2006 6:10:22 PM
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Manybrews
Posts: 732
Joined: 5/23/2003
From: United States
Status: offline
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AAMCO is not a place to EVER go.
the chances are great they have destroyed your trans by using the incorrect fluid, not enough of it, or some other reason.
the trannies in the monteros are normally almost indestructable.
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 12/3/2006 1:00:15 PM
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Deerpark
Posts: 4
Joined: 11/26/2006
Status: offline
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All,
Thanks for the notes. I will be having a dealership flush this week and go from there. AAMCO is officially on the black list.
More news. This last week, the truck started a loud clanking noise when the car is in gear. It's audible in both reverse and drive (goes away only at speeds >55mph). Could this me all she wrote? Is this what a failing transmission does? Is $7000 really what I can expect to pay for a new box? This seems grossly inflated....
DP
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 12/4/2006 5:11:13 PM
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Manybrews
Posts: 732
Joined: 5/23/2003
From: United States
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Deerpark
All,
Thanks for the notes. I will be having a dealership flush this week and go from there. AAMCO is officially on the black list.
More news. This last week, the truck started a loud clanking noise when the car is in gear. It's audible in both reverse and drive (goes away only at speeds >55mph). Could this me all she wrote? Is this what a failing transmission does? Is $7000 really what I can expect to pay for a new box? This seems grossly inflated....
DP
a NEW tranny through mitsu is probably around 4500 bucks. then about 7-8 hours to install it. Mitsu doesnt offer too many factory rebuilt trannies (only a few select cars). As far as I know, the rear drive trucks are not available through mitsu in any form but for brand new.
Its usually much more cost effective to let a mitsu tech rebuild it (labor is about 15 hours, but the parts cost should be much, much less). Once again, dont go to AAMCO, or any other crappy independant trans shop.... 90 percent of the time they screw it up, using vastly inferior aftermarket parts, etc.
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RE: 03 Sport, tranny help please - 12/11/2006 12:48:35 PM
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Deerpark
Posts: 4
Joined: 11/26/2006
Status: offline
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Manybrews (et all),
Transmission flush with SPIII did the trick. Smooth accelerations both on the flats and hills. The rattle was due to front Y pipe bracket bolts being MIA, which was an easy fix. Very happy to have the truck running the way it did when I bought it.
Thanks to Sheehy Mitsu (Waldolf, MD) for the help. Technician named 'J' does good work and makes sure the customer understands the problem.
DP
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