Stupid question here. Still learning about working on cars so bear with me. I have a 1.8 liter auto transmission in a 93 eclipse 2 wd.
The owners manual says to use diamond transmission fluid or compatible.
What type of fluid can i use in my transmission other than this?
Thanks
Future
Any type of autotransmission fluid that is for automatic gearbox's, tho it would pay to read the manual for your car to get a better idea, or ask at your local Mitsubishi dealer for advice.
Peter
He should use ATF +3. I think that is the current version. May be ATF+4 by now. The bottle will say something to the effect of " for Chrysler and certain Mitsubishi vehicles". I went around in circles on this same question regarding my daughter's Mirage. Confirmed it here and with Castrol. I buy it at KMart. Actually I did ask at the local Mitsu dealer and the parts guy tried to sell me Mercron. Told me that's what they use for trans overhauls. Then again he bore a striking resemblance to the guy in "Deliverance" who took a liking to Ned Beatty. Further investigation told me Mercron is not an acceptable substitute for ATF+3. FWIW YMMV DFB
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This is bad advice and could lead to an expensive repair down the road...
ATF +3 is the same as the diamond star whatever they call it.
ATF +4 can ONLY be purchased from the dealership, its formula has not been released to the aftermarket. However, Valvoline's Max-Life Dexron III/Mercon claims to be 100% compatible with ATF +4.
"Eric F" wrote in news:L68Wd.11524$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com:
But it isn't and if you use it instead of atf+4 (or even atf+3)you will be lucky to get another 500 miles before catastrophic failure.Oil change person told my mom it was interchangable, she listened to him instead of me and ended up buying a new transmission.
I agree. Chrysler transmissions are VERY PICKY about what fluid they get. If ANYONE tries to tell you that anything not clearly marked ATF+3 or ATF+4 is the same thing (e.g. many generic transmission places will try to get you to use Dexron plus some special additive since they purchase this by the
55-gallon drum) then make sure you RUN AWAY from that place as fast as you can.Also, in my opinion, dropping the trans pan, inspecting the residue, cleaning the gunk out of the pan, removing the metal from the magnet pickup, and replacing the filter is also a critical part of this service so avoid the places that claim they will "power flush" the system but never drop the trans pan.
Properly maintained, these transmissions can give a long service life and you can avoid a very expensive rebuild.
Bob
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