Good day gentle folk of AMC. I apologise in advance for the novel.

I've had my KL for about 6 months now and I think it's a great car, but there is a couple of things that bug me. One of these is the noise it makes on a cold start.... the other is the way the trans shifts.

Now I've done a search of the forums and the general consensus is to alleviate all harsh shift problems, flush the fluid, reset the ECU and install a trans cooler. Armed with this info, I had Mitsubishi do a full flush of the transmission, and I verified this as the ATF was the correct colour on the dipstick afterwards. Since having that done, I have reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery 3 times in as many months, and whilst the shifts are initially smooth (although very slow) it takes less than a few days of driving for it to go back to thudding between gears. :nuts:

Basically, the N/D to R shift is fine, the 1-2 shift is very slurred/slow, 2-3 can be quite rough, 3-4 is less rough and seems not to be as bad under lighter throttle and 4-5 is like new. As for my driving style, I spend 90% of the time in peak hour traffic on the way to work and back, so I'm never usually gunning it, although the occasional burst is sometimes required (you know how it is). Of course, after I reset the ECU I just go for a slow cruise around the streets (nothing over 70km/h) until the idle seems right then I park it.

I guess what I am asking is - after 115,000km would my transmission possibly need a rebuild??? I've heard bad things about the cost of this (i.e. sell the car and check into rehab) on the 5 speed auto, and coming from an ED Falconio with 230,00km and a trans that shifted like new, I just find it hard to fathom. Am I resetting the ECU incorrectly? Should I drive it harder after I reset it? Should I wear different clothes when I drive!?

Just as a side note, what I have noticed is that when you apply throttle to the point where ignition is retarded between shifts (so 4,000rpm for example) the shifts are nearly perfect.

Your expert advise, philosophies and discussion is most welcome.

P.s. I am relatively new to the club and Melbourne (just over a year here) so g'day and thanks for having me. :beer:

What colour is the Transmission fluid now / currently?

There is really only 1 way to reset the ECU - and thats disconnect the battery at the negative terminal.

At only 115000kms, it shouldnt be time for the transmission to be rebuilt - im at 132xxx km, and mine still shifts perfectly fine.

hmm interesting, wouldnt' expect such a new box to be displaying this even after the work you have done. My non tippy 4sp is 149,000kms old and shifts great, although a battery reset every 6 months does the world of good

Hi guys - thanks for the quick replies. :)

doddski - The transmission fluid is still pink although not the cherry pink it was when it was done, it has a slight tinge of grey and a slight smell. Nothing really serious I wouldn't think but then I'm not up to speed on the tolerances of the box. Also I do reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery - I wish the stereo would remember my stations!

Cybermonkey - I thought it was odd too hence why I posted. I thought I might be being overly cautious, but like I was saying the old car was a lot smoother and let me tell you its trans oil was like BBQ sauce lol (I know it's not apples to apples)

check your engine mounts, they could be causing the thud. (the firewall one, and the one under the starter motor, near the radiator.)
if you havent already, get a mechanic to run a scan on it to see if he can pick up any fault codes.

I have never ever had to reset ECU/disconnect battery ever. I only trained the transmission once, without the reset and it was has been sweet since.

Do you know the gearbox training method? This does not require battery disconnection.

1. Drive normally and let the engine heat up to optimum operating temperature.
2. Find a nice straight and flat road without traffic. A long residential street should do it (as you wont be doing more than 53km/h anyway.
3. Come to a complete stop and leave the gear stick in "D",
4. accelerate to 50km/h and do it in such a way that the transmission has automatically shifted to second gear and not more or less before 50kmh.
5. at 50kmh spot on, lift the accelerator pedal off completely and let it do its thing and brake very gently to a complete stop.
6. repeat 3 times.

This has fixed my flaring and knocking, although, it wasn't as bad as how you describe it.

I have never ever had to reset ECU/disconnect battery ever. I only trained the transmission once, without the reset and it was has been sweet since.

Do you know the gearbox training method? This does not require battery disconnection.

1. Drive normally and let the engine heat up to optimum operating temperature.
2. Find a nice straight and flat road without traffic. A long residential street should do it (as you wont be doing more than 53km/h anyway.
3. Come to a complete stop and leave the gear stick in "D",
4. accelerate to 50km/h and do it in such a way that the transmission has automatically shifted to second gear and not more or less before 50kmh.
5. at 50kmh spot on, lift the accelerator pedal off completely and let it do its thing and brake very gently to a complete stop.
6. repeat 3 times.

This has fixed my flaring and knocking, although, it wasn't as bad as how you describe it.

Hi mate,

I've never tried to reset it like that, I usually just cruise as slowly as possible up to 60 or 70 then slow back down. I might try doing it this way this afternoon.

Mine doesn't thud or knock so much as just shift clunkily. I do sometimes get flaring from 2nd to 3rd at low speed and from 2nd to 3rd at WOT (in between is generally OK) and 3rd to 2nd on the tiptronic gets rough as guts after a while.

I'l let you gents know how it goes, maybe even take a video.

look at mezzi's post on "major problem" in this forum. I think it looks like the real deal.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10

look at mezzi's post on "major problem" in this forum. I think it looks like the real deal.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10

Looks like he has everything under control now. Although the training in there appears to be for 4 speed auto.

VRX257 - I tried the method you posted above, and I have to say I drove it for a while after doing it and it definitely seems a lot better so far. There is still a hint of roughness occasionally, but I didn't do a perfect job of hitting 50 3 times in a row, so I'll have another go at it.

It explains why the speed alert is set to 50km/h after resetting also. Quite convenient; just accelerate and let off on the beep.:happy:

Thanks a lot for posting that mate, I think it has helped a lot.:beer:

glad I could be of assistance andrewts.... hope your car is healthy again.

glad I could be of assistance andrewts.... hope your car is healthy again.

Yep, she's going a lot better now. I'll come back in a weeks time after plenty of stop-start traffic and we'll see how we go.

Cheers mate.

im glad i read this.we have had our tj awd 5 speed tippy for 5 months and it had 90ks on her.since the day i picked it up i was suss on the box as it flares,doughy and sometimes seems to hesitate when prodded.i took it to a mitz dealer and had the service manager drive it for his opinion,he said it was a bit flairy but a service should sort it.i then took it to an auto specialist who told me it was rooted..mind you he also asked me if i was driving an import as he hadnt heard of an awd magna.so off to mechanic for a service using mitzy oil.the oil dropped out looked newish so we thought the dealer had serviced it using non genuine fluid.well the service didnt help,and me too coming from a dirty old ford with nice changes am confussed so i will follow the above steps to see if it helps.
cheers guys.

G'day bigboy, welcome to the club and I hope this thread helps you out with your troubles. :)

I just remembered to update this thread too heh. After having reset the box as per above, I can say that it has pretty much gone back to exactly how it was before I reset it. It's very smooth for the first few days after resetting it, then the roughness and flaring comes back. So I dunno what else to do. It may be that driving in peak hour and being on and off the throttle all the time is mucking up the shift patterns, not too sure on that.

Let us know how you go bigboy, hopefully the reset helps you out a bit. What sort of driving do you do? Mostly urban/peak hour like me?


Cheers guys

hi,i live in a large semi rural type place on the pacific highway so we have traffic,traffic lights roundabouts etc,but in saying that not alot of stop start stuff and generally 60 around town.

well ill be stuffed.the drive to 50ks thing works!the shits are smoother and less flarey!

LOL gotta hate those flaring shits.

If your box is anything like mine, give it a few weeks and see how you go. Hopefully that's the end of your troubles :)

yeah im praying lol it.....hahahaha just realised wot i wrote!!!!!!!anyways yeah hoping it stays good cos ill just rebuild the friggin thing and be done with it.