Started the car up last Thursday morning and drove off. 1st gear revved out to 3,000 before a change of gear occurred, which seemed to bypass 2nd gear. Going along a little further still in 3rd traveling around 50 kph when the revs went up to 4,500 and nothing happened except the sound of a revving engine. Turned the overdrive off, and the revs came down but was still in 3rd gear.

Took it over to Auto Transmission place where I have been going for 38 yrs, for them to check it out. Bad news, 2nd and 4th gear gone. They said it was definitely mechanical and not electrical. $1500 + GST for reconditioned tran. Told my mechanic and he said that was a good price.

So since Thursday, I have been driving with only 1st and 3rd gear which is not too bad, except I'm chewing up fuel. The guy at the auto place told me not to drive in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, especially around the Coogee area where the roads are very very hilly.

Started the car up last Thursday morning and drove off. 1st gear revved out to 3,000 before a change of gear occurred, which seemed to bypass 2nd gear. Going along a little further still in 3rd traveling around 50 kph when the revs went up to 4,500 and nothing happened except the sound of a revving engine. Turned the overdrive off, and the revs came down but was still in 3rd gear.

Took it over to Auto Transmission place where I have been going for 38 yrs, for them to check it out. Bad news, 2nd and 4th gear gone. They said it was definitely mechanical and not electrical. $1500 + GST for reconditioned tran. Told my mechanic and he said that was a good price.

So since Thursday, I have been driving with only 1st and 3rd gear which is not too bad, except I'm chewing up fuel. The guy at the auto place told me not to drive in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, especially around the Coogee area where the roads are very very hilly.

If 4cyl, I might have a Trans for you:)

Thanks Yann, but it's a V6 3.0 TS.

Thanks Yann, but it's a V6 3.0 TS.
$1500. Just My view but no way in hell is that worth it.
I sold my auto trans for $100 to some guy I knew who got his mechanic to rip it apart and make 1 good auto GB out of 2 crappy ones.
I would go wreckers and grab a GB, $1500 is no way worth it on these autos

']$1500. Just My view but no way in hell is that worth it.
I sold my auto trans for $100 to some guy I knew who got his mechanic to rip it apart and make 1 good auto GB out of 2 crappy ones.
I would go wreckers and grab a GB, $1500 is no way worth it on these autos


Agreed.

bare in mind thats over half what your cars probably worth

Thanks for the honest comments, which I totally agree. Unfortunately, it's not a situation I want to be in, but it is the only solution for myself of fixing the problem.

What I'm disappointed about is a major failure like this after only 167,000 klms. They told me at the auto place that this failure normally occurs around 150,000. I don't know if that is true or not, but that is ridiculous.

You can get second hand transmissions from a lot of self serve wreckers, I have had a couple so far an never any issue.

It really depends on the service history over the last 167k which will determine if the trans will last out. I have seen them pop at 100k and seen many go 300k+

Our Gen II 2.6 is just short of 400,000klms... same Auto... BUT... Transmission cooler fitted since new.. and fresh MITSUBISHI ATF every 40,000k's... makes all the difference...so over the life of the car tha'ts added about $1,200 in service costs ($75 bucks a year!) BUT... kept the same box happy.
BTW.. $1.5k for a reco 4speed Auto is actually a good price if it comes with 12months warranty and they will be around to fix it of course.. Problem with 2nd hand is if you are paying someone for the labour to remove and replace.. what are the chances of finding one that you know will last long enough to make the cost of labour worth while... ??? If you're doing it yourself of course then that's another issue .. but if you're paying say $450.00 to R&R a box plus say $250.00 for a second hand one.. that may be half the cost quoted but even if the used one comes with a warranty it wont cover the cost of removal or replacement so you're up for another $450.00 to put another 2nd hand one in... is it worth the risk?

Our Gen II 2.6 is just short of 400,000klms... same Auto... BUT... Transmission cooler fitted since new.. and fresh MITSUBISHI ATF every 40,000k's... makes all the difference...so over the life of the car tha'ts added about $1,200 in service costs ($75 bucks a year!) BUT... kept the same box happy.
BTW.. $1.5k for a reco 4speed Auto is actually a good price if it comes with 12months warranty and they will be around to fix it of course.. Problem with 2nd hand is if you are paying someone for the labour to remove and replace.. what are the chances of finding one that you know will last long enough to make the cost of labour worth while... ??? If you're doing it yourself of course then that's another issue .. but if you're paying say $450.00 to R&R a box plus say $250.00 for a second hand one.. that may be half the cost quoted but even if the used one comes with a warranty it wont cover the cost of removal or replacement so you're up for another $450.00 to put another 2nd hand one in... is it worth the risk?

I will be getting it done at Central Automatic Transmission Services (CATS) in Rosebery. As I mentioned earlier, being going to them for the past 38 years, so i know I won't be ripped off, and that they will still be around. Yes, 12 months warranty. Hope to get it done early next week. Just tired of driving around on roads of 60 kph, as I don't want to go any faster in 3rd gear or on long trips.

Got my car back today after putting it in yesterday to get transmission reconditioned. All is very good.

This is what was done as per the Invoice:

R&R Unit in Vehicle (including oil)
Repair Automatic transmission
Supply & Fit New Clutches
S&F New bands
S&F New Set of Seals, Gaskets & O'Rings
S&F Clutch Drum
S&F Clutch Piston
Service ALL Sub Assemblies (Vave Body & Govenor)
Fit Diaphram, Thrust Washers, Rollers & Bushes
Exchange or Overhaul Torque Converter

$1500 + GST + Total $1,650.00 12 Months Warranty or 20,000 kilometres

Thanks for posting back with he outcome!

My advice would be to make sure you service it properly and don't take fast start-offs, also don't leave overdrive or a/t mode on all the time.

The reconditioning makes it feel new but if you treat it wrong it can fall through very quickly.

Thanks for the tips, appeciated. I've been off the air when the computer crashed the night I put the car in (co-incidence I hope). Anyway, the latest version of Firefox crashed and also crashed the computer that required me to reformat the computer on advice from Asus. I'm still re-loading various software and programs.

Anyway, if anyone is using Firefox and it crashes, don't select "Resume previous Session", Click Cancel. I'm not sure if that will help, as I selected the Resume option. Also, make sure you back-up your computer reguarly, so you don't lose as much stuff.

great price for reconditioning the auto. i got my 4cyl auto rebuilt with a reconditioned TCU (which was the main thing that needed to be done, but wanted to do the trans as well cause it was crap). paid just over $2k for the both of them including new rear main seal. i did get cheaper quotes but this mechanic was highly recommended by a friend. hopefully itll last you a few more years still :)

Costly fix

Atleast you know its good for alot more motoring, hope you plan on keeping the car for a while.