Got a call from the panicy girlfriend today, her neutral lights flashing and she says the car is jolting into gear. She seems to think its taking off in or stuck in third gear, so I convinced her she was imagining it.

Tonight i took the car for a drive and it seems she may be right. It is definitely "jolting" into gear although neutral light was no longer flashing. Just going from neutral to drive the car jumps forward, there is no smoothness. Checked tranny oil which is fine. Is there anything I can do or should I just find a second hand transmission to put in?

Cheers Guys.

The flashing neutral light is telling you the tranny is overheating, you need to get it sorted fast or you will end up with a tranny going BANG!!
What colour is the oil and when was it last serviced and how many kays has the car done?

Did she say how quickly the light was flashing?

If it flashes once per second, then it's indicating a mechanical fault with the transmission. If it flashes twice per second, then it's indicating a transmisssion fluid temperature problem (too hot).

Finding the source of the problem can be difficult. The jolt as the transmission engages could be a valve body (the valve body chooses the gearing by directing transmission fluid to varous places) problem, which in itself could be a blockage or mechanical fault.

When you checked the transmission fluid, what colour was it? Clean fluid should be red.

It might be worthwhile having the transmission flushed, to clear out any crap that's built up. That may or may not solve the problem. It could also cost you a couple of hundred dollars, depending on where it's done.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Don't know whether it was fast or slow flash however was just after starting to drive so can't imagine would be a heat issue. she's taken my car out tonight but will ask her if it was fast or slow flash when she gets home. Car had tranny service about 18 months ago i think. probly done 10-15K km's since then. Think fluid looked fairly dark red, will check next add break..

Whats involved with flushing transmission? just draining and refilling?

if its not something easily identifiable and fixable i'd probly lean towards just getting a second hand box and putting that in as the car will be going in a few months and i don't want to waste time messin' around with it.

Is there a list of transmission fault codes somewhere?

Thanks guys.

Whats involved with flushing transmission? just draining and refilling?


You can drain and refill the transmission if you want to save a bit of cash. Ironically, transmission fluid is one of the cheaper things that Mitsubishi sell.

If you wanted to flush it, you could take it to a shop and have them do it, but it'll be expensive.

You could also do it at home, but it's messy and fairly involved, and you'll need an assistant. Put the car up on ramps/stands, find the rubber hoses that run from the transmission to the main engine radiator's bottom-most tank, pull them off and hang them inside a fairly large bucket. Run the engine, which will run the transmission's oil pump, and watch the fluid that's pumped out, while constantly pouring new fluid into the transmission's filler tube. When the fluid that's pumped out is the same colour as what's going in, then it's flushed.

Second or Third gen

If it is stuck in third then the TCU is generally gone. Not too bad to change in a second gen, in a third is the whole ecu

You will also find it shunts into third and also reverse

MadMagna: It's a TF.

It's not stuck in third. It may have been earlier today. It's just jolting between gears now.

I noticed your selling a TF transmission. Whats the condition and how much do you want? I'm not far away in Bayswater.

MadMagna: It's a TF.

It's not stuck in third. It may have been earlier today. It's just jolting between gears now.

I noticed your selling a TF transmission. Whats the condition and how much do you want? I'm not far away in Bayswater.

I would be looking for a another Transmission.

Mine had same symptoms and was dead in 3 weeks.

Mate, I have a very good spare trans out of my car here. There are a few AMC members who have been in the car who can vouch how smooth this one was.

If you are after a trans I can look after you on this one and can also arrange fitting if needed.

PM me if you are interested. This one btw did only 137k's before my manual conversion.

neutral lights flashing and she says the car is jolting into gear. She seems to think its taking off in or stuck in third gear, so I convinced her she was imagining it.

Tonight i took the car for a drive and it seems she may be right. It is definitely "jolting" into gear although neutral light was no longer flashing. Just going from neutral to drive the car jumps forward, there is no smoothness. Checked tranny oil which is fine. Is there anything I can do or should I just find a second hand transmission to put in.


Exactly same thing happened to me ,coz 1 pin was broken ("solenoid valve harness")and train was locked on third.
Always if computer detect fault or something wrong with trani, AT-ECU will automatically lock transmission on third. BUT don’t change transition yet!
First thing what you should do, check transmission solenoid valve harness “big grey” wire plug, which is coming out of transition (under air intake duct/filter box) for broken pins. If all pins are OK, then one solenoid valve is gone- inside transmission. Solenoid valve cost about $50 and solenoid valve harness $70.

http://i43.tinypic.com/200***c.jpg

rev, that is a gearbox-out job right? Considering how costly it would be for labour for a mechanics to drop the box and replace the valve, it would be wiser to fit a re-conditioned box anyway. . .

Problem sovered, turned out coolant was running onto the ECU, plugs were wet

ALl good now I believe

rev, that is a gearbox-out job right? Considering how costly it would be for labour for a mechanics to drop the box and replace the valve, it would be wiser to fit a re-conditioned box anyway. . .

NO, it's 1 Hr job.
All what you must remove ,is only front solenoid cover with 10-12 bolts (under batery).

oh right! On another note, a plug that seems to plug into the transmission casing is caked in oil and grime thanks to stuffed spark plug tube gaskets. I wonder if this is to blame?