8 months after the last auto trans probs, this time it intermittantly refuses to change gears.
Stopping & restarting will usually bring it back to normal. It seems to be worse as the weather warms up
It's in the w'shop. My mechanic couldn't fault it nor could a local Auto specialist, telling me it's an intermittent solenoid fault and say the only fix is replacing solenoids one by one. I'm being told the auto is going into failsafe mode when the fault occurs, and to be looking at between $300 & 800 depending on how many solenoids get replaced.

Questions.
1/ Does this sound reasonable ?
2/ How many solenoids are involved ?
3/ Are the solenoids expensive ?
4/ Who is a good priced supplier in Melbourne ?
5/ Are the solenoids different ?

6/ Does any member here have a set s/h for sale ? If so please email me with a price.


Cheers, Damien.

ive blown 3 autos and 2 manuals in these cars.. ur solonoids are far from gone.. the problem is your clutch packs have overheated and uve burnt them out. unfortunately this is a fequent occurance when you give ur car to a mechanic.. they might know how to pull **** apart and put it back together but can they make it work properly? my best advice to u is **** ur mechanic off and get another one.. get urself a second hand replacement for 2 - 300 dollars and replace the entire unit. if u are in sydney and require help with this PM me i can arrange a good mechanic and a good price on parts

regards

jaydee

I'll add a bit more info. When the car is working normally there is no problem at all with the auto trans, when it is about to go faulty the change from low to 2nd is quite harsh after this happens the fault becomes evident with no action when shifting the shift lever or turnining off overdrive. Putting shift to park stopping/restarting the car seems to reset and will either be ok or fault the next time a down shift is required.
The oil is clean with no burnt smell.

As stated i'm in Melbourne. I've left details at www.findapart.com.au for solenoids hoping for a reply tomorrow.

Cheers Damien.

I'd go with Fossel. The clutches seem to be stuffed, over the solenoids.

It would be easier, and possibly even cheaper, to source another transmission.

go to few more mechanics for some alternative advice, if its too expensive like $800? i htikn you better off sell it or jsut leave it, coz pouring that much amount of money into that car probably just isnt worth it.

has the trans been replaced before? if so was it from the right model? having clean oil wont proove much if its been serviced before. your solonoid idea is possible yet highly un feasable. the solonoids run of small electical wiring that runs through the gearbox and is emersed in oil. being the **** box our cars are its fair to say that if the solonoid wiring has been heated too much that there will be different resistances on each conection causing the TCU to be ver wtf'd. your mechanic could either be very dumb or very smart. hes either dumb enough to think its the solonoids itself or hes so smart that hes gena replace the last thing first and work backwards in order to do everything needed to rebuild ur trans and make the most out of his loyal customer that he can.

smile it aint that bad :D i done it all too many time. believe me go to the local wrecker and get urself the right year model box and torque converter. its your cheapest and safest bet. ask for warranty and ensure it is the same yearmodel and kind. if the model is wrong you will regret it. dont go by the case number either, go by what it came out of and prey it came out of the car it was meant to. all the different yearmodels have different TCU configurations, plugs and sensors.

goodluck with your gearbox issue.

regards

jaydee

all the different yearmodels have different TCU configurations, plugs and sensors
that is correct, i haven't had much luck... but i was only trying to see if a different TCU would work. the box just ended up in limp mode after the first few stops and starts.

Fossel,
Thanks for your offer of help, my being in Melbourne makes this difficult.
The mechanic picked me up this morning so i could collect the car & i had a good chat with him. First off there was no charge for yesterdays testing & trip to Auto specialist.
His original estimate of $300-$800 was based on replacing solenoids one at a time then testing.
Hes suggests possibly reconditioning the trans because second hand even with waranty if faulty would still incur another labour fee.

I'm only using mechanics as my health & physical disabilities prevent me from doing my own work, this is the first car i've not worked on since getting my licence in 1970, I have nothing but praise for this w/shop owner Jeff Vassallo, Jeff's service centre 3-401 Princes Hwy Noble Park Vic. He was recomended by a neighbour who has used his service for 20+ years also without complaint.

Either way with a repairs budget of $25 a f/n will be sometime in distant future before repairs are done

Thanks for the replies
Cheers Damien.

Damn thing worked perfectly today, I guess i'll drive it until it dies. being a former Electronics technician i know how frustrating and expensive chasing intermittant faults can be. So will start saving toward future trans replacement.
Cheers Damien.

ur mechanic sounds alrite although there are many easier ways to deal with such problems.. ive destroyed 3 automatic transmissions in my car although i am a 19 year old with an ambition to get home before the cops see my number plate.. for this i will suffer many months off road but i guess you only live once.. ill grow out of it one day haha..

i suggest you drive your car into the ground and get rid of it.. for the price of refurbishing your old transmission you could buy a whole other magna! if you were my age and into cars like mine id recomend it to you. i may drive it hard but i maintain it maticulously. unfortunately i have to sell my car because of similar issues to you.. whilst i didnt have much skill in the beggining i kept my habbits to a minimum and my gearbox lasted me plenty. yet when i got into driving more i realised that i was generaly on the road alone and started to give the car more of a hard time. after giving up on auto and converting the car to manual im now on my 3rd manual box.. these are said to be indestructable devices.. that makes it box # 6 in total. so before i get bored again and start really driving my car again ive decided its time to sell it.. i guess thats just the way these things go.

the balls in your court. if it were me id relace the auto when u have the cash. 2nd hand parts will do the job. surely u wont drive nething like i will so ull be fine.

goodluck with it mate

jaydee

See if you can find Halo and ask about swapping it for an auto out of a later model. They are stronger.

Searched parts recyclers on line & found 4 Auto trans ranging $175-$300 in or near Melbourne, i'll sell some stuff on ebay to buy one with warranty. $180 quote to fit sounds ok to me. $hrs labour

looking a little better, now the panic is over.
Cheers

$180 to install it is excellent. 300 would be the maximum you will want to pay for that old gearbox if it is supplied with parts and labour waranty 300 is fine. otherwise no more than 250

jaydee

After 300km of careful driving in fault mode, surprise surprise while on the Monash fwy it came good and hasn't missed a beat in a week now.
Bloody thing has me baffled & the Pro's haven't a clue either, damn glad i haven't saved enough for the repair yet i'll wait & see what happens.
Cheers,
Damien,

Change the Fluid asap!

My mechanic "brunswick Magnas(please PM me if this is removed)" that I ended up taking my TN too all the time said that is most of the problems with Magna Autos.

Thanks Tessa403,
I tried B/wick magna today they suspect it's the computer & quoted $90 for a computer, i also called Dandenong Mitsubishi, the w/shop guy says it's pulse generators on top of the gear box, and if still available possibly cost a couple of hundred dollars.
Ontop of the first suggestion of faulty solenoids i'm starting to get a string of maybe's.

Mitcar in Moorabbin has quoted $44 inc GST for a computer this looks good 15min drive from me.
While driving the car it's looking more like electrical all the time, a good squirt on the freeway will usually bring it out of fault mode, last night on the monash carpark it came sort of ok ie: no overdrive! after playing with the o/d button, o/d was working as well.

My concern is that if it takes trial & errol to fix the fault and it takes the list of possibles to fix it, it will endup costing more than the cars worth to fix.
Cheers Damien

Had the Computer replaced and a service done on the auto on Jan 3rd, sediment in trans showed obvious wear of the clutches.
However the fault appears to be fixed and except for one time it forgot to change and left the engine reving in neutral for 10 seconds it's behaving beautifully with no dumps to fault mode.
Will keep the fingers crossed that it stays working.
Cheers & a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.
Damien.