ok guys, need some help. bought a 96 te altera with a stuffed engine, replaced the engine, started it up no problems. The guy i bought it from assured me the trans was fine and had been reconditioned not long ago. i took it for a drive, and it seemed fine, but after about 2 min of driving the N Neutral light on the dash started to flash, once per second. stopped the car, restarted it, light went off and after 20 seconds went back on flashing. i checked the trans fluid ( i did a complete flush when i changed the engine) and it was a little low, so i topped it up, took it for another drive and same thing. The only thing i can think of is that i put a trans cooler in from a second gen, is there a way i could have connected it wrong? i did not bypass the radiator when i connected it.

Is there anything else or anyway to find out what it could be? before the light flashes, the car drives fine, (but it does clunk a bit into gear) Cheers!!

Last time i checked which was a fair while ago. That was a trans pressure warning :S

Sorry, am at work so resources limited. Either the "Glovebox" Operators manual, or the Mitsi Workshop manual will explain the flashing Neutral light and what it implies.
Sadly, the Workshop Manuals linked from these Forums and stored at lisho.net do not include a specific Workshop Manual for the TE or TF. However, I'd be having a good look and concentrate on what it says about the TH transmission.

The rate of flashing N light might differentiate possible causes, and as well whether its a "steady" flash or a series of flashes which repeats. Overheating of transmission is one thing that springs to mind - and seems unlikely in your situation as described. I did get a brief/instantaneous flash of the N light when my KJ transmission self-destructed due to wave-spring failure - so the remark by another member about fluid pressure may be right as well.

Read , or download the manuals for the best info. Its at << lisho.net >> and only one or two links from the front page to get teh download links for PDF files of the genuine manuals as used by dealerships for servicing. Absolute gold info.

happened to my dads tj, cost him a gearbox rebuild, only for him to total it 3 months later!

is there a way to get the fault code from the trans without using a scan tool? from looking at the manual, looks like its likely to be input speed sensor, output speed sensor, or the vehicle speed sensor. any other suggetions? can the sensors be cleaned? or must they be replaced?

If you can locate those sensors on the gearbox clean the contact sockets and plugs, might just be a crappy connection. Worth a try.

sensors looked all ok, but i was still a bit unsure, so i went to pick a part and got an output and input speed sensor for a few bucks, changed them over and now works like a charm! changes gear so much smoother especially from drive to reverse, and there is no N light flashing anymore! for people with a similar problem you should give this a try. It only takes 15 min to take both sensors out and change them over. they have one screw holding them, one is right on top of the gearbox, and the other is ontop but under the gearbox selector cable.

Thanks guys for all your help, hope this helps someone else out too!!

Well, that was a bloody good result! Thanks to OP for posting up the outcome, I expect this will be very useful info for other members in future.

PS: Call me a cynic, but I fully believe that some workshops would diagnose a gearbox swap/rebuild in these circumstances, and charge accordingly whether they swapped a box or replaced the sensors in the 20mins or so mentioned by Dave101. It is for this reason that I reckon it pays to understand at least the basics of your car, and why I recommend those PDF Workshop Manuals to anyone who will listen. Even if you never plan to pick-up a spanner, a bit of knowledge or reading may go a long way to saving yourself being ripped-off.

Does anyone know where can i buy these sensors from and where exactly are they located under the bonnet ?

http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac19/rons105/gearbox2.jpg

Hit up your local wreckers and pick them off a 4sp automatic transmission magna, ideally the same model as what you have.
You might be able to buy them brand new from Mitsubishi but don't expect it to be cheap.

Sensors are located on the top part of the gearbox (looking down from the engine) towards the back of it. You'll need to take off the air intake to get good access.

thanks dave 101 for this info , it surely will help save others some money in the fututre

Hit up your local wreckers and pick them off a 4sp automatic transmission magna, ideally the same model as what you have.


If you do and get the choice, get one off a low km car or a later model with the same gearbox model number if you can't read the speedo. These sensors are similar (maybe the same design) as the cam angle sensor on a Lancer which crap out at times. No point picking sensors that are crapped out already or ready to do so. lol

If you ever wanted to pull one apart: The sensor is a cylindrical piece of metal with a strong magnet attached and a tiny circuit board encased in plastic, no moving parts.

i would like to thank the OP for posting up his solution for fixing his "limp home mode". a friend of mine had this problem for a couple of months now, and knowing not everyone has the exact same problem with their cars, this solution did fix his problem as well....once again thank you dave101, and all others here that responded

Thank You all for Your response :happy: