what are peoples opinions on these?
ive heard they can pack up fairly easily and are a hefty cost to have replaced or fixed.
Any one had the gear box for after 100,000kms with no worries?

I've got one in the TL and it's up to 144,000 km - no problems.

in all honesty i think a gear box should last up to 300,000kms with no worries, (granted it was treated well and maintained) my old box was at 280,000kms and i did push it a bit, but never mistreated it, and it ran fine

i guess it could be down to how the driver treats it too

Funny you should ask this. I just bought a TJ Sports with 140,000 on it, and the gearbox was gone on it. I just had a new one fitted from the local wreckers for $1900 and it seems to be running ok.

Not sure how the old one was treated - car's in great condition tho. But that's not always something to go by.

I do like the box itself though, quite responsive in tiptronic mode also.

My one packed up at about 150k. I replaced it with a Mitsu refurbished one and that one packed up just outside of the warranty period. I'm on my third and it's been good. Fingers crossed and touching wood.

Edit: I drive like a nutcase

The 4spd used to have a mild steel washer that would dissintegrate with no warning. No mechanical knowledge on the 5speeders. The AWD box is meant to be the mitsi 'hard-case'. Sourced from the Evo GT-A Lancer in the US. Jatco make all the boxes I think.

I'm only new to Magnas so don't really know long term. That said the trouble I see is lack of a decent cooler. The fluid in mine was very burnt. I thought it hadn't been serviced. Flushed the system and replaced the fuild with genuine Mitsubishi and it was just as brown and smelly in 25,000km. I've now fitted an external cooler with the in radiator cooler still in line. Transmission changes a lot faster. Don't know what fluid condition is like yet though as I haven't done enough KM. Mine is AWD so may be slightly different from FWD box.

Cheers,
Alan

I'm only new to Magnas so don't really know long term. That said the trouble I see is lack of a decent cooler. The fluid in mine was very burnt. I thought it hadn't been serviced. Flushed the system and replaced the fuild with genuine Mitsubishi and it was just as brown and smelly in 25,000km. I've now fitted an external cooler with the in radiator cooler still in line. Transmission changes a lot faster. Don't know what fluid condition is like yet though as I haven't done enough KM. Mine is AWD so may be slightly different from FWD box.

Cheers,
Alan

Exact same observation here for FWD...also gone the trans cooler route....will see in future KMs how this pans out....

Bill, how much was your trans cooler and where did you get it?

Yeh def go a trans cooler for an auto regardless of make or model of car
But it seems like the 5-spd autos have a higher failure rate than the 4-spd autos from what i've read on these forums

There are 3 keys factors as to not blow up a gearbox.

Always use the tip-tronic shift when planning to be harsh on acceleration and deceleration especially on windy roads or hills, so you hold the gears and play with the rev range a lot logically than the car's computer does.

Never do a burnout by racing the engine in N and shifting to D.

Lastly, use genuine mitsi gearbox oil and change it as per manual or earlier if it gets dirty.

I usually drive hard and I have never broken a gearbox in my life due to these principles and always keep my car till 200,000+ kms before trading in.

Hey Alan, where did u get ur trans cooler and how much did it cost u?

But it seems like the 5-spd autos have a higher failure rate than the 4-spd autos from what i've read on these forums

Funny, my opinion for quite some time has been the complete opposite, that there are more issues with the 4spd autos than the 5 speeds.

my tj sports tippy has had 200+ and is still going strong(and i drive like a ******** alot so if mine lasted this long theres no way anyones should die b4 200 )

Hey Alan, where did u get ur trans cooler and how much did it cost u?

There are lots of options, but some are expensive and not necessarily any better. Personally I think the best is a 2nd Gen cooler from the wreckers. Just be careful to carefully flush it out before use. Even better try to get one from a yard where they let you pull it off the wreck. Should be able to get for $40-60, and you will need some hose and clamps, plus a bit of scrap steel or aluminium strap to make up some mounts.

Cheers,
Alan

not sure what fails in the 5sp but looking at the mits d and a the rear end (reverse section) of the box is the same???
ive just got my 4sp back in after the wave washer/spring failed.... destroyed almost entire reverse gear...
and mine has only done 114,000km and previously owned by salvation army and serviced at mits....

The wave spring has claimed two TJ 4-speeds autos in our family - a Kj at 58K and a Exec at 180K or so. Exec was std (non-tippy), KJ was 4-sp tippy.

Both time the (different) repairers replaced the spiral 3-layer wave spring with a single-layer thicker wave spring.
In both our cases a broken piece of spring jammed the oil-pump and shattered the rotor - and bits went through the box. My KJ needed an exchange torque-convertor neck (whatever that is), not sure what dad's needed besides the bits of oil-pump. Lts of labour cost stripping the box out and making sure no broken pieces were flushed elsewhere in the box.

I really think (sadly) that 4-sp auto's in TJ are a ticking time-bomb. have no idea about 5-sp tippys, nor when the fragile wave-spring was introduced into production. I do know that the part number for the wave spring was changed TWICE between my car being built (200)) and the failure of my gearbox. Sadly, I seem to have lost the scrap of paper with part numbers and date-of-effect, nor do I know if the changing part number was actually a different specification.

the impresion i got from the auto shop was mits was still using a spiral thin wave spring.... ????

the impresion i got from the auto shop was mits was still using a spiral thin wave spring.... ????

What a great idea!! Lots of repeat business for the service dept, then! I took mine to a small family-owned trans business - they were spot-on diagnosing the problem (I lost all drive forward and reverse within a couple of secs, brief clunk only), and had seen it about 6-8 times per year in tamworth NSW - moderate sized rural city.
They routinely replaced the thin spiral wave-spring with a thicker one, single layer. They "thought" (but didn't know) that the thick spring came in older spec gearboxes. However, they deal with specialist trans parts suppliers - not with Mitsi Spares.

5sp tippy must get trans oil cooler fitted

mine has to cope with awd and much more torque than a stock engine.

no problems in more than 40,000km of unkind driving. I usually use the manual shift function and select second for take-off - that way the slurring on the 2-3 shift doesn't happen as the torque converter hasn't had to spin too fast.

a bit of a :bump: since this is a thread that is similar to what i want to ask

i'm wondering how responsive the 5spd (or 4spd) tippy is in both Drive and in manual shift mode. i'm broadening my options in cars since it's hard to find a manual car that i like these days (found some manual sports, vrx's and ralliarts, but they got sold before i could even consider one to look at..)

i've driven a TH with the 4spd auto and honestly, it's sluggish. didn't like it, so i'm wondering how slow the shifting is with the tippy's and how restrictive the gear shifts are

a bit of a :bump: since this is a thread that is similar to what i want to ask

i'm wondering how responsive the 5spd (or 4spd) tippy is in both Drive and in manual shift mode. i'm broadening my options in cars since it's hard to find a manual car that i like these days (found some manual sports, vrx's and ralliarts, but they got sold before i could even consider one to look at..)

i've driven a TH with the 4spd auto and honestly, it's sluggish. didn't like it, so i'm wondering how slow the shifting is with the tippy's and how restrictive the gear shifts are

I rather enjoy my 4spd tippy. I don't drive it in D though. Always in tippy.. It's just nicer. And the only restrictions i dont like is the changing down to 1st. Have to be doing <45KpH. Besides that I like it... Would be nice to have the 5th gear but th 4spd is good for economy.

I rather enjoy my 4spd tippy. I don't drive it in D though. Always in tippy.. It's just nicer. And the only restrictions i dont like is the changing down to 1st. Have to be doing <45KpH. Besides that I like it... Would be nice to have the 5th gear but th 4spd is good for economy.

being less than 45km/h doesn't phase me about shifting down.. i'm more concerned about how quick the gearbox reacts to gear changes than anything in both Drive and manual shift. i've driven a VZ SV6 and the auto tippy in that is too slow for me (although i could probably get the 'box tightened), but the Accord Euro has the best tippy gearbox i've driven.

most probably be looking at the 5spd tippy since i'm seeking around for a sports, vrx or xi verada (TJ/KJ+)

You can go for a ride and maybe a drive in mine if you're around the Hills district - is AWD, but still 5spd tippy.

The 5speed has the same top gear as the 4spd, just a close ratio set below overdrive.

Mine was really harsh when shifting down to 2nd, but after I went from D to N half a dozen times with a 5 second wait between each change, it's improved a fair bit - something I read here about resetting the auto ECU.

Speed of shifts isn't too bad, but all I've got to compare with is my wife's Toyota - it gives enough time to do throttle blips while shifting down with it's auto box (non tippy).

i find the speed of my tippy to be very predictable. its not the fastest box, and certainly not the slowest, however, i know when to change. If i want it to change at 5800, i tip it at 55, and its changing pretty well where i wanted it to.
As for down shifts, they are quite fast, and supply a decent amount of engine braking, although at times can be harsh. I have found that if i downshift with a small amount of acceleration (say 2%) the downshifts are seemless and even faster.

My experiences based on a 5spd tippy in a KJ2 verada

Ok

Basically as long as you look after it and change the tranny oil regularly don't do stupid things it will go for ever.
there is the thing about the wave spring is the common thing to fail on these boxes.

I reckon my would of kept on going past the 300,000 km plus if when it was serviced and they did a proper job on the box and not taking short cuts which resulted me loosing half my oil from the box casing the wave spring to break.

well i took my car to Wakefield couple years back went well with no problems at all.

As for a rebuild i was going to get it done and was quoted like $2500 by drive line which is every thing new in the box.

but look after it don't spin or do burn outs with it and and do the oil regularly it will go for ever.

My auto box had done 266,000kms at the time of my manual change.

I would do like at least 1000kms a week do that's why my car has clocked up the kms.


Hope this helps you.

a bit of a :bump: since this is a thread that is similar to what i want to ask

i'm wondering how responsive the 5spd (or 4spd) tippy is in both Drive and in manual shift mode. i'm broadening my options in cars since it's hard to find a manual car that i like these days (found some manual sports, vrx's and ralliarts, but they got sold before i could even consider one to look at..)

i've driven a TH with the 4spd auto and honestly, it's sluggish. didn't like it, so i'm wondering how slow the shifting is with the tippy's and how restrictive the gear shifts are

I can show you my TJ2 Sports if your around the North Shore or beaches.

I am very happy with my 5sp tippy. Does not slip very much in manual mode. I have driven lots of latest hire cars at work, and i always think how great the my VRX gearbox is.

But having said that, nothing beats a manual as you have the power to choose how rough or smoothly you want it to shift.

I buy my car second-hand with 125km, and now, after 150km ,i replace the transmission. Hope this one she's gonna go longer (second-hand just under 100k)

I rather enjoy my 4spd tippy. I don't drive it in D though. Always in tippy.. It's just nicer. And the only restrictions i dont like is the changing down to 1st. Have to be doing <45KpH. Besides that I like it... Would be nice to have the 5th gear but th 4spd is good for economy.

The auto downshift is the same (except I found it to be 50km/h, not 45) - I am curious as to whether this can be removed by an ECU tuner.

Josh, from what I have heard the 4sp tippy is very close to the auto in term of shifting speed - However the advantage is in tippy mode the gear will be locked (in the auto if the car is in "2" it will still downshift to first if you are <50km/h and put your foot down).

I am converting mostly for wank factor, but also just for something different. So many people on this club say "its too hard, don't bother" - It's time to prove them wrong, after many hours of research it's not hard at all - Just a few minor wiring mods and a new ECU.

another :bump: since this is still a question dealing with the 5-spd tippy and autos in general, but do they always have a rough idle? my mate's TH idle is quite rough while stationary in drive, and today i test drove a 5-spd tippy that was quite rough on idle too.

EDIT: i don't now much about the auto's since the 3rd gen my brother has is a manual so any knowledge about this is really helpful right now since i'm quite close on getting a 5spd tippy :)

My 5spd had a rough idle, yet disciples 4spd has a rather smooth idle. I think it just comes down to the service history of the gearbox and the engine too. If you have new plugs leads and oil, plus fresh tranny fluid, it should idle fine.

Idle in N will not matter if yo have manual, auto or nothing there for that matter, trans will not alter idle in N at all

In D you may get a bad idle if your torque converter is having issues

I have seen the 5 speed auto box go 300k and have also seen them crap them selves at 40k The wave spring is the key issue, if you are getting one reco, make sure you get the revised spring installed

Yeah mines done 213,000klms, has been serviced its whole life by mits and I love the 5spd tippy, for an auto anyway.
Flushed mine and refilled, reset the ECU and it is smooth, responsive in either auto or manual mode.

I have a 5 speed auto in my KL and it's got 113,000km on it, had a full flush and reset at 110,000km. Straight after the box was like magic, but now most of the times shifts are clunky (ie not smooth) and sometimes shifts are slurred (although still rough)... Also, when warm at low speeds (like in a car park) you get the occasional flare...

I'm not convinced that this box is all that strong, but I drive with that in mind and try not to stress it unless I need to. Having said that, at WOT it handles itself perfectly...

I have a 5 speed auto in my KL and it's got 113,000km on it, had a full flush and reset at 110,000km. Straight after the box was like magic, but now most of the times shifts are clunky (ie not smooth) and sometimes shifts are slurred (although still rough)... Also, when warm at low speeds (like in a car park) you get the occasional flare...

I'm not convinced that this box is all that strong, but I drive with that in mind and try not to stress it unless I need to. Having said that, at WOT it handles itself perfectly...

So you drive it with different styles all the time? If that is the case, most of the problems you mentioned could be it trying to learn your way of driving. I use the tippy if I want to drive spiritedly and have my wife drive it in D. This way, our driving styles don't clash.

So you drive it with different styles all the time? If that is the case, most of the problems you mentioned could be it trying to learn your way of driving. I use the tippy if I want to drive spiritedly and have my wife drive it in D. This way, our driving styles don't clash.

That's what I initially thought, but I only mean like when you have to get up it to overtake or pull out, not like a full on thrash session... I do 90% of my driving from home to work in moderate peak hour traffic with light throttle, so it shouldn't be that bad...