Auto box and other woes

Mitsubishi Carisma 1.8GDi Auto, X-reg (2000), with 43,500 miles on the clock.

When cold, the engine revs (to about 2.5 or 3k rpm) in the automatic gear changes between 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th gear - for want of a better description it's like someone in a manual not lifting completely off the accelerator when they depress the clutch. Reading the dipstick the tranny fluid is bang-on the "LOW" mark, so off I go to get some to top it up, hoping that will solve my problem.

According to the owners manual, the fluid needed is "DIA QUEEN ATF SP II" or "DIA QUEEN ATF SP II M" and, to cut the story short, none of the 5 different places I went to (including the local Halfords) could help, all suggesting I go to the Mitsu main dealer because it appeared to be a special fluid, not consistent with any other auto transmission fluid they had in stock.

Gets to main dealer - "1 litre of this ATF please"

"Sorry Sir, we don't sell it in 1 litre bottles. Minimum quantity is 20 litres"

"But I only want an eye-bath full, just to top it up a bit"

"If you book it in at the workshop, they'll top it up for you. It'll be about £25 to £30. Or, you could have it completely drained and renewed for about £85"

As we continue to chat (or rather, he chats while I stand there in gobsmacked awe) he's hitting keys on the computer and asked me the mileage (43,500).

"Ahh", he says. "According to the maintenance schedule the tranny fluid and all the relevant filters should be changed at the 54,000 mile service, along with the spark plugs, the timing belt etc. etc., BUT, it says here on-screen that it should be 54,000 miles *or 5 years*, whichever is sooner. You've not reached the miles but your car is 5 years old and so you really need to book it in to be done any time now." "Yeah, looks like it'll be around the £500 to £550 mark from the info I've got here".

I left the house about 2 hours ago looking for a litre of ATF costing somewhere around 6 or 7 quid and now I'm looking at a bill of potentially half a grand - and maybe even more if the auto box is suffering from something more sinister!!!!!

There's just no way I can afford that right now so can anyone suggest a source of the ATF I need - in a reasonable, topping-up quantity - or an equivalent?

Cheers,

Mogweed.

Reply to
Mogweed
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Go to a different dealer.

Reply to
Tim S Kemp

OK Tim, that's one option. Next nearest dealer to me is about 30 miles away so I must confess that I hadn't thought about that :o) I'll ring them tomorrow.

Cheers,

Mogweed.

Reply to
Mogweed

You have my sympathy, I've just had to replace the auto transmission on my

2Ltr Ford Mondeo (38000 miles). Cost £1750. I still get the shivers thinking about this! Rob
Reply to
Robbie Mayhem

Oh my God... if my eye-bath full of ATF turns into anything like £1750 I'll poo myself.

Mogweed.

Reply to
Mogweed

S'just a synthetic ATF, innit? Perhaps the "DIA QUEEN" bit's confusing people; it's just what Mitsubishi call it, AFAIK.

These people will know, and they sell synthetic ATF too...

Si

Reply to
Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot

Castrol TQM-ST "A semi-synthetic automatic transmission fluid specially formulated to suit the friction requirements of Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Proton automatic transmissions, especially those fitted with damper clutches and calling for either the SP II or SP 2M, or SP III specifications".

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Dia Queen is Mitsubishi's own brand.(This product is not on the Castrol (UK) website. Availability?!
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You may like to make further enquiry from Castrol (UK) and, failing that, from the many Mitsubishi car owners organizations/clubs.

To put that in perspective, a reminder of the different varieties of modern AST is in order.

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Daimler-Chrysler ATF +3 is also suitable for certain Mits butonly for the pre-1995. Or, you may just lump it, go the whole hog, and take a purely synthetic route. It should be good for your car, if it is good enough for the long term zero-serviced buggies used on Mars and on the moon, and for the space shuttles. (E-mail for suitability first.)
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Reply to
Lin Chung

SynLube? Lube-4-Life ® ...Gear Lubes are NOT designed to be used in following applications: bullet DO NOT USE where the use of ATF is specified bullet DO NOT USE in applications where Motor Oil is Required

Doesn't seem it's suitable for ATF specs though.

D
Reply to
David Hearn

Reply to
Mogweed

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