I have a little problem with a TN Elite. It used to be mine but I (sadly) sold it a few years ago to a friend as my wife spent years and years hounding me to get rid of it... Anyway, a little while ago, the old lady who bought it checked the water and forgot to tighten the cap properly. Poor engine got cooked... Me being either a sucker or a really nice fella, offered her a spare engine and installed it for her. All was well to start with...

I got about 30K's and then it stalled on me going up a hill (remember, Elite's are auto's). I restarted it and noticed the engine having a little trouble turning over. I thought it was the engine but it turned out to be the transmission. It started playing up then.

When you turn it on, you can hear a strange whirring noise (not the timing chain!). Anyway, from the outside of the car, everything sounds normal when it's in park. As soon as you take it out of park, there is a very loud whirring noise outside the car coming from the auto. Put it in park again, and it goes away. Driving the car, gear changes are erratic. Sometimes perfect, other times, misses gears (eg, changes from 1st to 3rd, then 4th. Or just 1st to 3rd and no 4th). When I check the computer. It consistently says there is a problem with the lockup torque converter. Even when it does go into limp mode (which it's done twice), it says it's the torque converter.

Is it possible that the problem could just be the torque converter or is it more likely to have blown the transmission? I'm not really sure how to tell other than pulling the pan off and having a look for shavings or something... Can anyone suggest anything?

By the way, I have actually gone and bought another Magna. It's a TP Elite which is in pretty good condition and is basically giving me something to play with. A little bit of rust, and a few little bits and pieces here and there to fix. But, jeez I love driving it...

firstly welcome to AMC.
good to hear that you don't mind helping the poor girl out:D
as for the auto tranny the person you want to have a chat with is magna buff. more than likely he could tell you what you want to know.

http://www.mitsubishiclubaustralia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=824

you fitted the engine
undo the inspection plate and check if all 3 drive plate bolts are tight
little galv metal cover at the end of the sump to the auto near the chassis brace in the middle

Is the starter motor disengageing

you say you have reverse and drive thats good

did you fit the torque converter without damaging the oil pump

you say the motor was cooked
if the oil is brown thats bad
remove the pan and undo the filter inspect magnets and filter
while the pan is off check the red wire to see if it has been damaged
also check the connection outside the box that contains the red wire of the tccsv solenoid

pm me with results

better look at the efi system see if the engine is running properly
tps /air flow meter /icu
the temp sender for the auto may now be faulty due to heat

a torque converter stall test is next to check the torque converter
pm me if you would like to do one

if in doubt refit a working torque converter -- box out again

you can disconnect the red wire without a problem if the torque converter is at fault

Thanks for that Magna Buff... Will get the car back and have a bit of a look. I'll do the torque converter check...

I guess as you haven't really mentioned it, I shouldn't worry about the erratic gear changes just yet.

If the torque converter is dead, being a KM177, will the torque converter from a KM175 work with this box? I have a spare one. Alternatively, I also have a spare KM175 tranny. Is there any issue with putting this into a TN Elite (EFI)?

Thanks for your help.

Magnut :cool:

the km175 was the worst box put in a magna
dont fit it .... it is out of a TM magna
it uses a different TCU controller
no the km175 torque converter wont suit your TN either


the wiring plug needs to be the white round ones on the auto to car loom
as in pic any TN auto box has 4 solenoids
http://www.mitsubishiclubaustralia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=824

http://wiki.mitsubishiclubaustralia.net/index.php/TM-TP#Automatics

Hmm, what a bugger. The lady has a TN SE Carby job that she's going to leave with a wrecker when the TN Elite is running again. The SE seems to have a good auto in it but I guess it won't fit either being the wrong one too...

I'll go and get the car on the weekend and bring it back home again. I'll take off the inspection plate and check the bolts to the torque converter and do the stall test as well. If she has to buy another gearbox for it (I gave her the one in it after the other one died) she may decide it's all too hard and give up.

I will try to help her out again as much as possible. She's got all my spare parts now though and while I will most likely fit another gearbox, she will need to pay for it... I bought the car originally back in 1994 with 185,000Km's on the clock. I got 350,000 out of the first engine, but the first gearbox died at exactly 200,000... The second gearbox (a Mitsubishi rebuilt one) died at about 460,000 and now the car has done 475,000. I had always wanted to get it past the 500,000 mark. So, I still work at it even though I sold it a few years ago...

My "new" TP Elite has done 191,000K's and is all original. Still goes well, except for the shudder when the torque converter locks (3rd or 4th gear). Will do a transmission service on it soon to see if that fixes it...

Magnut :doubt:

that tn auto will fit
efi and carby auto the same internally
and uses the same tcu and wiring no problems

also you can use its torque converter / should have the same white round wiring plugs

TP box shudder - try a new filter and mitsubishi tranny oil first
check the wiring connectors for broken wires or bent and corroded pins

Ahh thanks for that! You're a lifesaver! I've got someone here willing to help me do the change over. That should be good... The old girl might see 500K yet :-)