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Mitsubishi Automatic fault

Hi

I am new to automatics and not much of a mechanic so I would appreciate some advice.

I have a Mitsubishi Space Wagon with automatic transition. When I select reverse mainly for the first drive of the day the car judders as though I was letting the clutch out to fast on a manual car. I have noticed a slight judder when the car automatically changes gear now and so the problem would seem to be progressive. I will be sending the car to the garage for the problem but in the mean time I am curious as to the probable fault.

Thanks Steve.

Reply to
Mr Stephen Topp
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Bad news really, sounds like you have a sticking 1st gear (yes 1st gear) one way clutch.

When was the fluid last changed? If it was awhile back and flush and new fluid might get you some more miles, but be prepared for a £1500 rebuild or

2nd hand 'box.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim (Remove NOSPAM. Registry corupted, reformated HD and l

Reply to
Mr Stephen Topp

Automatics have clutches of various types - a three speed will have five if you include the 'one-way' device. But these clutches aren't used for starting off as in a manual - they simply engage the gear quickly, and the torque convertor then 'slips' to start the car from rest. Juddering when engaging gear suggests one of these clutches isn't engaging quickly and cleanly, but slipping.

The bad news is that it's never worth attempting just to repair the one clutch - the labour involved makes it more sense to do a total overhaul, given that if one clutch is slipping the others won't be far behind. Also, when a clutch starts slipping it starts losing its friction material which gets distributed round the box and can cause havoc with the hydraulics.

About the minimum all in price for a re-con box including fitting from a

*good* specialist would be about 750 for a basic three speed. I don't know your box, but it's about 2500 for a BMW ZF 5-Speed, so I'd guess at somewhere between the two.
Reply to
Dave Plowman

It might be very expensive, on the other hand harsh engagement or similar can be caused by faults or wear and tear in the valve body. There are precision springs and little bits and pieces in there. A new valve body would be pricey but just to replace a few pistons and springs, not so bad.

The very worst thing it could be is this: if your car has a transmission oil cooler that shares the normal coolant radiator, these can sometimes spring a leak and water is forced into the transmission fluid. This ruins them completely after a short spell of playing up and then conking out for good, hope it isn't that. Look for very pale fluid as a sign of this having happened.

Reply to
Mark W

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