Hey guys,

my g/f 94 TR V6 auto gearbox fluid is starting to turn black, Ive done a search and i coun't find nothing to relate to my question. i know that people around hear say that you are supposed to use the mitsubishi gear box fluid or the castrol equivlent, but i went to Mitsubishi and they said they don't sell the fluid anymore and they said to use dextron III (and i have done a search on dextron 3 and i don't want to use it lol). So i can't get the castrol equivlent anywhere so a mate of mine said to use Valvoline MaxLife Automatic Transmission Fluid. its says on the back that it can be used in a Mitsubishi gearbox but also it says under the specifications :Dextron III and Ford M. so my question is can i use this in the box and do no damage.

Mitsubishi still make it AFAIK.
for what fluid you need, go to the castrol website or go into supercheap and look at the catalog in the aisle

']Mitsubishi still make it AFAIK.

No, they don't. (At least the fluid for the ELC-4, when I went looking earlier this year.) They do make SPIII, which is pretty much dexron III.

so will this stuff i got be any good or not its worth $58 for 5L but i got it for $30

Castrol TQM -ST is designed for Mitsubishi and is what I used in my KS XI Verada about $42.00 4L.

Castrol TQM -ST is designed for Mitsubishi and is what I used in my KS XI Verada about $42.00 4L.

thats the stuuf i got today i took the other stuff back it was $38

Castrol TQM-ST is pretty damn good.

I don't even know what's in my transmission these days... Fuchs I think, with a Lucas Transmission Fix additive. (Could be concrete in there for all I care, getting swapped out soon anyway :P)

For those in Vic that need fluid, I purchase it in buld and can do 5l for $42.

I use a fluid that is made for Mits cars have been using it for years including in all my own cars.

penrite MHP seems to go pretty damn good too,

any type M trans fluid will do the job, just make sure you chuck enough in. as far as i know my 4cyl transmission takes ~7L, not sure on the 6cyl

Is there really a big difference between brands ?

i put the dextron 3 in mine and about 2 days later i got slipage

so I got the gen sp3 from mits and never had a problem again,

but all cars are going to act differently I guess

i put the dextron 3 in mine and about 2 days later i got slipage

Good thing you got that stuff out of there ASAP, mine had that crap in for about a year prior to working on the car, destroyed some of the clutch plates (particularly overdrive). Not a cheap or simple fix, I tell ya. :cry:

Worst part is a well known auto trans specialist put Dexron III in to it. It can be used in the power steering, so some mechanics may confuse it and use it in the gearbox instead. Now every time I either go to a Magna specialist, or specify the exact brand and type of fluid for the service, sometimes even buying the fluid myself and taking it in. (Castrol TQM-ST every time.)

a lot of mechs will put dex3 into it and chuck an additive in to bring it up to spec. i just specify that i want M in it. the current mech i take my car to is awesome about it and knows what to use and not to use, he just chucks the M into it regardless of me asking

Good thing you got that stuff out of there ASAP, mine had that crap in for about a year prior to working on the car, destroyed some of the clutch plates (particularly overdrive). Not a cheap or simple fix, I tell ya. :cry:

Worst part is a well known auto trans specialist put Dexron III in to it. It can be used in the power steering, so some mechanics may confuse it and use it in the gearbox instead. Now every time I either go to a Magna specialist, or specify the exact brand and type of fluid for the service, sometimes even buying the fluid myself and taking it in. (Castrol TQM-ST every time.)

i was talking to my dads friend who is a transmishion speicalst and he was sayng the same thing about dextron III. I've booked the car in tommrow to a change of fluid, flush, new filter (internal one).

When the car gets hot it holds the gears for longer, jerks whe going up a slight hill (dosen't do it when its cold) and when you either put it into drive or reverse it takes a bit of time to engage (thats seem to have gone away from re-setting the computer). The fluid is started to turn black but dosen't smell like is burning.

went in for the service this morning and i picked it up a while ago. i had a look at the fluid that came out of it and it was black (only a little bit of redness). He changed the screen filter (internal thingy). Flushed it out, fixed up one of the cooler hoses that was leaking. It drives nice, you can't feal it change gears and it doesn't jolt when you put it into reverse or drive now

went in for the service this morning and i picked it up a while ago. i had a look at the fluid that came out of it and it was black (only a little bit of redness). He changed the screen filter (internal thingy). Flushed it out, fixed up one of the cooler hoses that was leaking. It drives nice, you can't feal it change gears and it doesn't jolt when you put it into reverse or drive now
How much does a typical auto trans service like that cost, folks?
Since the last few days, in D, she'll often take off in 2nd, change to 3rd, but refuse to change to overdrive, despite testing both economy and power programs, and o/d on/off positions. I can make her go to first via the t-bar, though. The gear changes have also become more jerky. The fluid level and colour appear fine - full and pink.

Sounds like it's gone into limp mode, probably a busted sensor or something.

Sounds like it's gone into limp mode, probably a busted sensor or something.
And now an update - the starter refused to crank for a`couple of minutes. Could both of these issues be due to wiring located in the front-left passenger footwell? I have heard odd clicking noises on occasion.

Clicking is normal, there are some relays under there.

he usually charges $115 for a full flush + new filter and new fluid

Clicking is normal, there are some relays under there.
Value-add - while the car was on the host at the aircon joint, the technician noticed sparks at the location I heard clicking. Turns out to be a loose earth. Fixing this immediately restored my fully functional 4-speed auto, as well as the starter issue. Cool, huh!

Awesome!

What a good outcome!! Kudos to you for noticing the "clicking" sound, and making it known.

That's the kind of "basic-but-a-bit-out-there" problem which could have cost lots of dollars while mechanics and service folk search and spend YOUR dollars under the bonnet, possibly replacing serviceable items in search for root of problem.

Be grateful that your air-con guy was able to help - did he fix, or did you get onto it? I guess if sparks were going-on, there may also have been risk of fire down-the-track.

Perhaps you'd better buy a lottery ticket, I reckon its been your lucky day!!

Might be worth checking your other earths if one was faulty, I guess these cars are aproaching end of life :(

Oh, got any pics?

Use any decent brand - just make sure its Dexron II. NOT, i repeat, NOT Dexron III.

The ignorant orangatangs at your local autobarn or whatever (and even a lot of trannie specialists...) will try to tell you D3 is a replacement/upgrade fro D2. Simple fact is that its viscosity and friction characteristics are different, and a trans designed for one fluid will die with the other.

This came up in the euro car scene, where we were all wondering why our cars were killing their trans while our mates in europe with the exact same cars were getting mega miles. Seems the european boys didnt have our idiots trying to put cheap D3 in everything!!

Once they starting gettign fed the proper stuff, all is well.

The Mags is the same situation - a box designed for D2 should have D2 in it. I use Mobil ATF220 my both gf's automatic Renault and Mums TS Mags - its the older D2 spec, and its good quality and not horribly expensive.