Can people who have had problems with their auto please post back with the following answers:

1. 4 speed/5 speed - 3.0/3.5L?
2. kilometers when problem appeared?
3. How much of a "warning period" was there/what warning signs were there?
4. What did you do (reco, wrecker swap etc) and what was the cost split between parts and labor?
5. Your driving style
6. If you know, what went wrong internally?

Thanks for any help

1 - Four speed, 3.5 - 2000 model TJ series one executive.
2 - Approximately 130,000km
3 - ZERO WARNING. Just lost drive.
4 - Second hand (Sandgate Wreckers). Fitted by the worst mechanics in the world (RACQ approved repairer apparently). Serviced by the best transmission specialist in town. Total Cost $1200 for transmission and $1000 fitting. Servicing of the transmission $210.
5 - Driving style? Bi-polar grand dad driver with bursts of road rage resulting in "flat-the ****-out" style. This transmission gets 100% grand dad driver now though.

1. Four speed Tippy, 3.5 - 2003 TL ES
2. Approx. 95,000 km
3. Changes between 2nd and 3rd play up (slip a bit) when planting the throttle
4. Just gonna let it go then either do manual conversion or use the auto from my 03 TL ES wreck with 123500km
5. Hard to Aggressive

1. Four speed 3.5 - 2002 TJ Advance
2. 155,000kms
3. About 3 days warning. Sometimes it would go nowhere (wheel lock up) just after D/R/N etc was selected until finally it would become almost impossible to "jerk" the car to get it to move (cycle reverse to drive) funny noises randomly, funny gear changes. Wave spring was apparently floating around causing problems and locking up the diff somehow.
4. Manual conversion fixed it!!!! (quoted $1800 recon auto fitted or $2000 man conversion)


1. Four speed 3.5 - 2001 TJ advance
2. around 120,000kms
3. no warning, lost all gears
4. Transmission place did something and it cost $400 ????


Both non tippy

My driving style was easy and both auto's were serviced every 20,000kms

Old car
1. 2000 tj advance wagon, 4 speed
2. Less than 100000km around 80 somewhere
3. Began slipping, for about 3 days, then locked up at 100km, sent me off the road narrowly missing a tree...
4. Second had box from trading post (makes me sound old, I'm only 23) dodgey mechanic down the road put it in, cost just over $1000... lasted about a month and had changing issues under high revs, so sold the car ;)

So it seems that gearboxes don't last long at all.
So when buying a car with about 150,000km, is it to be expected that the gearbox was relatively recently changed or that it is about to break down?

Not necessarily, my old TE went well over 300000klm until it started playing up. regular service will help ! Current Verada over 185000 klm and trouble free ..touch wood.

'this will be a long thread lol

1. 4 speed - 3.5L
2. 180,000
3. Been slipping for the last 70,000kms and still going?
4. Services
5. Harsh

1. 4 speed 3.0L
2. 40,000km rebuilt; 260,000 slipping; 270,000 lost 4th gear & limp mode; 275,000 lost half of third gear
3. 10,000km
4. Rebuilt; Manual Conversion
5. Aggressive

1. 4 speed 3.5
2.done 167,000, started slipping at 161,000 for 700Km till I got the tranny flushed
3. Slowly started to happen, will hold a gear then slam into the next or will just shoot up on rpms and get confused and can't makeup what gear it wants
4. Got a quote to tuffen the box so it could handle more Kw's, $2000 for new clutches and wave spring (be worth it to go manual)
5. Average


Your wave spring can go anytime, I've seen one go at 14,000Km on a TJ 2 and still the original in a 00 TH that's on 679,000KM next week, the "revised" wave spring is actually out of the 4cyl's, in them it was a solid piece and in the 3 gens it was a spring about 3 coils?

1. 4 speed 3.5
2. around 150.000 km
3. high rev. betwen 2-3rd gear for couple of weeks and then she die
4. swap tranny with same 4 sp. $400 for 2nd hand tranny (a year and a half ago) and $1200 labour
5. average

1200 labor sounds like a lot for a tranny swap.

Is it a good idea to do a wave spring change before the transmission has issues?
And, is it safe to assume that the wave spring is the root of most transmission troubles?
Additionally, almost all replies are with the 3.5L. Are there very few 3.0L here, or does the additional torque cause these problems on the gearbox?

I have a 3litre tf with 205,000km with no noticable problems. Sometimes trans gets confused so i just do a reset and that fixes it. :)

[QUOTE=jimbeam_james;1412562]Old car
1. 2000 tj advance wagon, 4 speed
2. Less than 100000km around 80 somewhere
3. Began slipping, for about 3 days, then locked up at 100km, sent me off the road narrowly missing a tree...

Was that cruising at 100 or accelerating in 3rd? (Not good either way).

1. 4 speed 3.5
2. around 150.000 km
3. high rev. betwen 2-3rd gear for couple of weeks and then she die
4. swap tranny with same 4 sp. $400 for 2nd hand tranny (a year and a half ago) and $1200 labour
5. average

Why did they charge you $1200 to fit the auto? sounds very expensive

My TF

1. 4 Speed 3.0L
2. 240xxx till present
3. Slipping when selecting overdrive after harsh acceleration, Harsh shifting into gears when stopped.
4. No action bar a tranny flush.
5. Spiritedly. Harsh on occasions.

Dad's TS

1. 3.0 4 speed w/ overdrive.
2. Around 260-280xxx? till present
3. Seriously harsh gear selection when going from reverse to drive. I.E You have to roll for a few metres or rev the motor before it snatches first gear.
4. No action. Bar a Tranny flush.
5. Grandpa like when driven by Dad, As above when I drive it.

The TJ seems to be the worst model for the wave spring to fail so far on this thread, I have a KH Verada with 209,000 k's the auto seems ok atm besides hanging on to long before it upshifts which is enoying, its a late KH with the filter internal, am I buying time or is this model ok? I'm going on holidays soon and its in the back of my mind the thing will break down going on what I have read so far, I use to have a ultra reliable KR Verada and only thought the later model would even be better, looks as though i might be wrong. :-(

I had a ke Diamante (verada) and it was very reliable, owned it for about 30,000kms no issues. I now have the JDM Diamante with the 5 speed tippy, and it had a recon box put in at about 155,000kms by old owner, due to the previous owner blowing a hole in the diff doing 3rd gear burnouts! its done 194,000 now and ox is faultless. not sure if been 1995, and jdm whether it has the 1 piece or 3 piece spring. im assuming 1 piece.

ok seems this is common on this model, makes me wanna sell mine

1. 3.5/ 5 speed auto
2. 198,500 kms
3. When cold it clunks into drive or reverse, slips between 2nd and 3rd..sometimes no drive like its in neutral and has to be reved to make it go anywhere(only when cold)
4. Got a service done, was better but still happening
5. 20% tiptronic 80% in Drive...moderate

I really am considering selling the car as i don't have that $$$ to get a new auto and i'm considering gettting a cheaper car to run, otherwise a great car i can't complain...or maybe i should get the box rebuilt before it goes?

The problem is i need the car for work daily so its inconvenient, i just don't have the time.

I think reco boxes are done on exchange, so the workshop will already have a rebuilt 5 speed there and will just keep yours, then rebuild it and use it for the next Magna etc.
So your car should only be there for the day (drop it off before work, pick it up after work)

still its $3k for an auto...think i will try sell it as is, otherwise i will drive till it dies..then worry...stupid really they all seem to have this problem..if i had of known before i bought the car then i may not have gone a magna... :( oh well it might last another 100k ..who knows..

My driving style was easy and both auto's were serviced every 20,000kms

1998 TF exec
4 speed auto
200 000k problem started
was getting like an intermittent flare between upshifting (like a slip)
solved the problem by cleaning the plugs on the sensors at the gearbox with electrical contact cleaner and doing a reset
total cost $11.50 :P

Is there much work involved cleaning the plugs Ziek? I'm getting the occasional flare in upshifting too.... goes in for a service tomorrow or Monday, so if it's an easy process, I might get my mechanic to have a crack at it....

dead simple, remove the aircleaner box, and it exposes all the sensors, just unplug them and spray

1. 3.0 4 speed auto
2. 150,000 kms
3. Slight hesitation between gears when cold but otherwise good
4. Got a a manual conversion done :)
5. 70% sedate 30% spirited driving

Saffire, is it really 3K for a recon gearbox? I thought it would be in the 1,000-1,500 range +300-500 for fitting?

The gearbox does seem like an issue, especially for someone who is considering buying a cheap one of these cars as a daily. It looks like in the end a gearbox repair will cost more than the car is worth which is a bit hard to swallow.

Is the auto really a problem unique to Magna's?.....possibly not - Falcons leak coolant into the trans oil cooler which blows the transmission...Commodores also do this. Commodores blow sun shells which destroys the whole box. These problems are not uncommon before 200,000km. The box in the Magna is shared with other Jap makes and (I'm guessing) is probably not made by Mitsubishi.

if your wave spring goes it is cheaper to buy a new box, i was quoted today $1400 to get the wave spring replaced ($30 part), and was quoted $2200 with new clutches, i believe you have to gut the gearbox just to get to the wavespring

(prices inc labour and parts)

Why did they charge you $1200 to fit the auto? sounds very expensive
Even today i can't belive they charge me that much!
I didn't know how the prices are going
And the car was the only way to get to work

Originally Posted by DeanoTS
Why did they charge you $1200 to fit the auto? sounds very expensive
Even today i can't belive they charge me that much!
I didn't know how the prices are going
And the car was the only way to get to work

That's about what I got charged to. Blood suckers. Average mechanic rates are just over $100 an hour here. Which is fine... if I get what I pay for.

What I got was a mysteriously bent steering rack while my car was sitting in their workshop - an extra $800 thanks very much. AND, they didnt do up the drain plug on the transmission, nor did they flush the old oil out of the transmission. And my new steering rack went in without a wheel alignment, so I drove my out of shape and leaking car away with an empty wallet.

That was from an RACQ approved repairer.

Nothing tops the time I had a timing belt changed in a '93 Lantra - took six months to change the belt and lasted a day before it rattled itself off. Cost me $400 to. I was soooo f@#king happy.

Now, one arm or not, I try to do all my own work.

Even today i can't belive they charge me that much!
I didn't know how the prices are going
And the car was the only way to get to work

I had a second hand auto fitted to a KR Verada about 3 years ago and they charged me $400 to fit it, so $1200 is a total rip off.

My God that is so bad, I have had problems with mechanics but nothing that bad, if they bent your steering rack they should have payed for a replacement one, its a wonder you got out of their work shop without breaking down. I had a second hand engine fitted to a KR Verada about 8 years ago and took it for a drive on the F3 freeway to see how it went, the car started shaking very badly, I pulled off the road and found all the nuts on the front wheels were loose, nice if one of the wheels came off at 110 k's an hour. I do a lot of my own work now when I can, free labour and you know its right if you follow directons correctly. Be good to name and shame some of the bad mechanics out there on this site.




That's about what I got charged to. Blood suckers. Average mechanic rates are just over $100 an hour here. Which is fine... if I get what I pay for.

What I got was a mysteriously bent steering rack while my car was sitting in their workshop - an extra $800 thanks very much. AND, they didnt do up the drain plug on the transmission, nor did they flush the old oil out of the transmission. And my new steering rack went in without a wheel alignment, so I drove my out of shape and leaking car away with an empty wallet.

That was from an RACQ approved repairer.

Nothing tops the time I had a timing belt changed in a '93 Lantra - took six months to change the belt and lasted a day before it rattled itself off. Cost me $400 to. I was soooo f@#king happy.

Now, one arm or not, I try to do all my own work.

I'm still puzzled as to how common these auto problems are. There are 37 reviews of the 3.5l Diamante on eopinions.com & not one mentions major transmission problems (apart from one comment on sensors). The reviews are listed by year (1997 to 2003) & the weighed average overall rating is 4.1 out of 5. For reliability it is 4.2 - pretty good!

its because this is a magna site and any problems are aired here, so we hear about them. i believe if you got the total number of cars on the site, and how many actually had probs actually occur, although most people come to the site for help with issues so the ratio may be quite high

here you have a wide range of year models, with a range of problems with the automatics, which, in 1 way or another may have been, possibly still is driven hard for a good 80 percent of their lives, maybe never serviced till something actually happens by which time its too late. most of these magnas start their lives as hire cars. mine did (I'm the 3rd owner of my magna, but i bet there has been over 100 arses in my drivers seat) as for me, i was a commodore man all the way, my last commodore i went through 2 gearboxes in 2 years, bought my TF magna and never been happier, and i would definitely own another. these things have so much power its almost hard not to put the foot down a bit, but something has to suffer at the end of it.

the guy who services my TW magna trans says the 4sp. boxes are fine "look after it and it will last over 200k" he says. He adds that Falcon and commodore boxes are similar, "perhaps they don't last quite as long". He emphasizes the importance of maintenance, but, he would I guess.

IN my case, I had the Wave-Spring failure in a 2000 Verada Ei - 4sp Tippy box. Had only owned the car about a week, and it failed at 57,500 km - I reckon that is VERY early.

Car had been purchased from Mitsi Factory by an employee and used by her parents - so I imagine was "granny driving" (literally). I am fairly sure this car was serviced by distance rather than time-interval, but I really have not been able to fathom what (if anything) causes the spiral 3-layer version of the Wave-Spring to break up and have bits flow thru the box causing damage as they go.

IN my case, was absolutely no warning, box performed flawlessly and then a quick nasty "crunch" sound and no drive in forward or reverse gears. The Neutral indicator lamp in the cluster flashed for no more than a few seconds as the box died.

Car was towed to a well-regarded Auto Trans business in my town (Tamworth NSW). They immediately suspected the problem, said they had a fairly steady stream of Magna's presenting with this problem. Becasue the rest of my box and car was low-mileage, I reasoned that having my box done-up was best option (compared to wrecker box - a lottery until it died - or compared to an exchange transmission).

At no time EVER did I consider the Mitsi Dealer, which may have been a mistake - it stonewalled my attempt to have Mitsi consider a warranty or act-of-grace coverage of the failure. Mitsi Customer Care (don't-care-at-all) absolutely denied that transmission wave-spring failures were a known issue. ****ers!

Family-run repairer offered two reco prices - fix just what is damaged thru-out the box (quoted after box removed and full pull-down looking for damage) $2200-00, or about $3000-00 if all manner of other stuff was also changed-out (solenoids were mentioned, for instance). Again, as the box was low-mileage I reasoned that only damaged items needed replacing - took the $2200-00 remove/reco/refit option.
One thing that was done "out of house" was repair of Torque Convertor Neck (whatever that is) - and this may have been done on 'exchange' basis.

The issue with the wave-spring failure is that box must come out of car to split the transmission case, and lots of stuff comes out to access the wave-spring in the low-reverse pack (if my memory correct), then I accept that safest procedure is to examine whole transmission for bits of wave spring and / or the damage they have caused. Replace damaged parts (will vary case by case to some extent), and then refit box to car. Its labour-intensive at decently-high labour rates.

My repairers had impression that the replacement wave-spring they use (thicker single-layer item) was from an older model Magna.... but when questioned, they did not really know - they buy parts from an Auto Trans wholsale supplier - not from Mitsi. Mitsi Spares guys were basically clueless, tho I did get some info about revised part numbers, date of effect of revision and so on - and I (doofus) have misplaced that info. Parts guys said that part number revision may not mean a diffeernt part, could have just been re-numbered for a random reason.

The same box was used in US models, and an article from Transmission trade over there indicated that the thick wave spring (unlikely to fail) was from basically same transmission fitted to 4-cylinder models in US. So, is better wave-spring from earlier models, or from 4-cylinder models - we don't really know....

Will link the US article in her now.....
http://www.transmissiondigest.com/tech/TD200508/200508ShiftPointers/200508ShiftPointers.htm

.... the article is quite an interesting read, explains what happens quite well, I think.

I have the jammed/shattered transmission oil pump from my car, as a keepsake.

Within a year, my father's TJ Exec (4-sp, non-tippy) had same wave-spring failure. He took it to Auto Trans place in Dubbo - took box out of car at farm, and took box to the repairer. Repairer was a bit suss of our idea about wave-spring in that box, but proved to be correct. Reco of dad's box cost about $1000-00 but that was with us removing/refittting the transmission (no small feat) and then, of course we had to re-fill the box with Mitsi fluid etc. Dad's car had the wave-spring go at over 140,000kms.

That's about what I got charged to. Blood suckers. Average mechanic rates are just over $100 an hour here. Which is fine... if I get what I pay for.

What I got was a mysteriously bent steering rack while my car was sitting in their workshop - an extra $800 thanks very much. AND, they didnt do up the drain plug on the transmission, nor did they flush the old oil out of the transmission. And my new steering rack went in without a wheel alignment, so I drove my out of shape and leaking car away with an empty wallet.

That was from an RACQ approved repairer.

Nothing tops the time I had a timing belt changed in a '93 Lantra - took six months to change the belt and lasted a day before it rattled itself off. Cost me $400 to. I was soooo f@#king happy.

Now, one arm or not, I try to do all my own work.

Welcome to my world!!!
Now the only money what i spend is on parts, the rest is up to me! Can't afford (wrong spelling i think) or trust mechanics in these days!
Ex: my first service after i bought the car was done without replacing the oil filter, and when i askim why? he told me "it should be alright till next service, the oil wasn't that dirty!"
F#@K!!!!!!
Since then everithing on the car is done by me

@sseby34, thats because you live in mackay, everything is done here half a$$ed at top dollar, like you i do all my work, but there is hope for us mackayites when it comes to mechanics, Andrew at Mac1 is really good, and dosent charge you a fortune plus a kidney for a deposit for the work.

my TW has the original 4-sp tippy, going fine, 77k on the clock. Should I take to my trans guy and get him to fit the solid wave spring? And what would that cost?

my TW has the original 4-sp tippy, going fine, 77k on the clock. Should I take to my trans guy and get him to fit the solid wave spring? And what would that cost?

Preventative swap-out of wave-spring is hopelessly uneconomic. Its a "box-out" "split box" procedure - basically similar cost to a trans recondition job.

It (wave-spring failure) may never happen to you. I don't think anyone really knows what can cause the spring to have small pieces break off. Regular servicing of transmission, fluid flush etc can only be good for the transmission but it's doubtful that clean fluid as per service schedule will do anything for longevity of the spiral spring. Same thing with additional transmission fluid cooler, it should be good for transmission and keep fluid in better condition (provided the additional cooler does not leak) - but will cooler fluid save the spring from fracturing? Unlikely.

So when a gearbox is reconditioned it would be a good idea to mention that you want a solid wave spring?
I am thinking of starting "who has NOT had gearbox issues" thread

In saying I have these problems this only happened because when my parents had the car, when my mum was driving, my brother got pissed off with her and jammed it in to park while cruising at 60 km/h. The odo had bout 77k (has bout 135k now) and it has never been the same since. My mate has a TL that has 288k on it, just took the auto for a service not long ago and its auto is still running nicely. No noticeable problems at all yet.

Wow your brother sounds a real smart person putting your Mums car into drive when she was doing 60ks, I hope she does the same to his car.


In saying I have these problems this only happened because when my parents had the car, when my mum was driving, my brother got pissed off with her and jammed it in to park while cruising at 60 km/h. The odo had bout 77k (has bout 135k now) and it has never been the same since. My mate has a TL that has 288k on it, just took the auto for a service not long ago and its auto is still running nicely. No noticeable problems at all yet.

Ha ha yeah. He was a bit of a shit that day. She was pissed off with him and I am too because I loved the car back then and I still do now because it is my car now :D . He's not like that anymore. But yeah dunno when he'll getta a car

Does putting it in park still stop the wheels turning? e.g. hold it on a hill? Or is it all on the handbrake to hold it still when parked?

Well just glad you guys didn't get hurt, I'm not to sure what happens when you put an auto into park at 60 kph, guess its like slamming the brakes on. What model Magna is it? If I was you I'd make your brother pay for the repaires to the transmission even though it was a few years ago it was what he done that stuffed it. LOL...cheers


Ha ha yeah. He was a bit of a shit that day. She was pissed off with him and I am too because I loved the car back then and I still do now because it is my car now :D . He's not like that anymore. But yeah dunno when he'll getta a car

Park locks the output shaft with a pin, but if the car is moving its more likely to just snap it off. I don't know if there is any serious damage, but having bits of parking pin (or is it a pawl?) floating around can't be good.

Usually the pawl will not engage till the vehicle slows and even then it will only shear the pawl which is usually located outside of the actual transmission. Transmission are really pretty tough - many stolen cars have had some very idiotic things done to them before they are ditched.... it's amazing that in many cases they are not destroyed.

Hi Phil, thanks for that information. I guess all I can do is:

(i) continue to maintain the box on a regular basis, as I do now,
(ii) pray, perhaps, although I don't bother to do that now, and
(iii) always drink good quality red wine, because life is too short to drink rubbish.

cheers,

Peter

soo....guys

im over this crap with the trans, in my tj vrx, yesterday i drove my car and when in drive the car would not move at all, i had to rev it and put it in tippy mode to get it to even drive, once it was warm it was ok, im sick of this car, im selling it, it drives like crap, gears are either flaring or shifts weird..car has done 201,000kms on clock! never buying a magna again

Dont blame you, I think second gens are the best Magna/Veradas, i've had 2 KR Verada's, great cars, I have a KH now and its a load of crap compared to the KR's, well maybe not a load of crap but it just doesn't seem to have the quality of the KR, when the drivers window in down abit and you close the door the window rattles and shakes, the rear view mirror on the drivers door vibrates when your driving, its had a lot of rattles but fixed most of them now, i'm sure there are much better KH Verada's out there, i just got one that has a few irratating problems, the auto is ok, only problem it hangs on to long before upshifting.

soo....guys

im over this crap with the trans, in my tj vrx, yesterday i drove my car and when in drive the car would not move at all, i had to rev it and put it in tippy mode to get it to even drive, once it was warm it was ok, im sick of this car, im selling it, it drives like crap, gears are either flaring or shifts weird..car has done 201,000kms on clock! never buying a magna again

I thought it was unanimous that the 3rd gen was a huge improvement over the 2nd gen

to be honest, all things considered, i don't find anything wrong with the magna gearbox, look at the age of these cars with the gearbox problems, 150k-200k plus on the clock, the rare under 100k problem, i owned a VN commodore before this magna, and went through 2 gearboxes, owned a 96 Camry went through 1 gearbox, oh, and the kilometers on the commodore 190k, Camry 220k. nothing is made to last for ever, even though i wish it was, could cost less, ill quote a phrase my father used to say to me "if its got tits or tyres, its going to cost you"

To be honest personally I don't know how other automatic gearboxes are reliability wise. My dad always bought new cars and they were always (with 1 exception) replaced within 3-5 years so I have never witnessed any break down

I think if you are looking at replacing a transmission at 200k you can consider it wear and tear maintenance. Good opportunity to do a manual conversion? Manual Magnas have superb performance (I drive a manual Ralliart).

Getting over 200k on a Falcon or Commodore is a bonus. Camrys tend to do this regularly but they are as boring as hell cars. I owned an early wide body v6 Camry and it was the worst car I've ever owned.

Steve

Steve

What made it the worst car ever?
My car got defected once a few years ago and I bought a temporary 1990 Camry with 330,000km on it. Speedo cable broke and some $2 seal leaked but other than that it was extremely economical and reliable. It was a manual though.

A manual Verada is appealing but I think it depends how you view the car. In my opinion a manual does not suit a Verada but it may be a worthwhile trade for the reliability

ok so its not all that bad, it actually is very reliable and has not let me down in any other way, i had a VS commodore with 350k on clock before this, it shat at engine at 220,000 i whacked a second hand engine in, it was fine when i sold it, the auto had not missed a beat despise getting a beating from me over 5 years, the VRX is very smooth and quiet to drive, i'm just having a winge cos i don't have $3k to replace the auto and its annoying cos once it's warm the car drives fine, either way im just going to drive it till it dies!

[QUOTE=Spetz;1417992]What made it the worst car ever?

It was a 1993 model, first of the wide body camrys. It never broke down but..........

It was not even the base model and was very stingy in equipment levels as were most Toyotas were at the time. The seat had vitually no adjustment so you could never get quite comfortable. The seats had very poor boltering and I would have a sore back after about an hour.

Wind noise from the doors.

Lack of low speed torque.

Lacklustle handling.

This was topped off by an LPG installation that gave so many problems I had get get it removed/ refunded using Fair Trading involvement. These models didn't convert well with the contempory systems. I dont know what they are like now to convert.

Just never "liked" driving it. It was reliable but that was it...... I used to hire the next generation Camrys for work (with the V6) and they were so much better. funny how one bad experience puts you off a brand. I have owned no Toyotas since. Same argument with people that had issues with their TNs having bad opinions of Mitsubishis forever.


steve

Hey guys, don't know if this is the right place to post this... but

I have a 2000 TJ Magna Exec, auto, and I find that it stays in first gear for a bit too long. Like from take off, it stays in first, then at about 2500rpm, it changes, but it sounds like it should change before. I don't know if this is how the magna gearbox is, being a commodore driver for all these years, but it just seems like it should change into second sooner.

Does this sound like a normal gearbox, or one that is possibly on its ways out.

By the way, all other gear changes are fine, seems right, and are very smooth

Hi BlackVY, MY KH Verada is just the same, its stays in first to long before changing plus goes back to first when slowing down too easy, I have tried resetting the ECU but makes no differance at all. Maybe a good service might fix it but not sure, i have changed the ATF but only made the slightest of differance.


Hey guys, don't know if this is the right place to post this... but

I have a 2000 TJ Magna Exec, auto, and I find that it stays in first gear for a bit too long. Like from take off, it stays in first, then at about 2500rpm, it changes, but it sounds like it should change before. I don't know if this is how the magna gearbox is, being a commodore driver for all these years, but it just seems like it should change into second sooner.

Does this sound like a normal gearbox, or one that is possibly on its ways out.

By the way, all other gear changes are fine, seems right, and are very smooth

Hi BlackVY, MY KH Verada is just the same, its stays in first to long before changing plus goes back to first when slowing down too easy, I have tried resetting the ECU but makes no differance at all. Maybe a good service might fix it but not sure, i have changed the ATF but only made the slightest of differance.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I don't know if mine changes to first too quickly when slowing down, I haven't noticed it really, but I will tonight to see if it happens, but I do notice it revving a little high just before I stop, so that could be it.

I guess if the fluid change helped a little, maybe an auto service might help alot. Its worth a try if it gets any worse. I will talk to my mech sometime about it. Good to know I'm not the only one with this issue. Thanks :)

Hi buddy, have you had a chat to your mechanic about your auto? if you workout what is causing a slow upshift please let me know, when slowing down my Verada will go back to first without stopping, its not too bad but rather it only went back to second, it does it when I'm slowing down at a roundabout and put my foot down to go and its in first and revs to 3grand before going into second, its funny if I rev the engine in neutral to 3 grand it sounds smooth as but in gear it sounds rough and makes a chugging kind of sound, so reving to 3 grand wouldn't be so bad if it made less noise. I need to take some other Magnas for drives so I have something to compare my car too, i seen a TJ Solara at a car yard in town the other day, might have to take that for a test drive and see what its like.





Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I don't know if mine changes to first too quickly when slowing down, I haven't noticed it really, but I will tonight to see if it happens, but I do notice it revving a little high just before I stop, so that could be it.

I guess if the fluid change helped a little, maybe an auto service might help alot. Its worth a try if it gets any worse. I will talk to my mech sometime about it. Good to know I'm not the only one with this issue. Thanks :)

1. 4 speed, 3.5L
2. 148500
3. Did a transmission fluid flush and gearbox reset 5-10k ago as it seemed a little unhappy, but it had seemed that way since I bought it. The transmission was fine after that, I had actually been thinking over the past couple of months how well it had been going. Yesterday heading to sydney, in the first 5 minutes the gearbox flared a little bit and struggled engaging first from a standstill. The next 10 minutes it was perfectly fine, then accelerating very gently onto the f3 it went completely.
4. What did you do (reco, wrecker swap etc) and what was the cost split between parts and labor? Still figuring that one out
5. I usually use the low down torque, don't need to go above 4k rpm often, usually stay below 3k if i can.

^to the guys above, I had exactly the same problem. Did an auto transmission flush and gearbox reset and after a week it was gone.

1. 4 speed, 3.5L
2. 148500
3. Did a transmission fluid flush and gearbox reset 5-10k ago as it seemed a little unhappy, but it had seemed that way since I bought it. The transmission was fine after that, I had actually been thinking over the past couple of months how well it had been going. Yesterday heading to sydney, in the first 5 minutes the gearbox flared a little bit and struggled engaging first from a standstill. The next 10 minutes it was perfectly fine, then accelerating very gently onto the f3 it went completely.
4. What did you do (reco, wrecker swap etc) and what was the cost split between parts and labor? Still figuring that one out
5. I usually use the low down torque, don't need to go above 4k rpm often, usually stay below 3k if i can.

time to concider a manual conversion maybe, the price differance would be cheaper, if not the same price as if you had a second hand auto bought, fitted, and serviced, then hope it was a good box.

It is seeming like that, i'm getting quotes for 1500ish from some auto trans people in newcastle but they seem really unfamiliar with what I thought was a really common problem in their field: wave spring failure in auto magnas killing the pump...

It doesn't give me much confidence and I've been *** round before so will be pretty careful.

So when a gearbox is reconditioned it would be a good idea to mention that you want a solid wave spring?
I am thinking of starting "who has NOT had gearbox issues" thread

Maybe start a poll mate lol

I have done both but no real difference, I used the nulon mulit vehicle ATF and disconnected the battery terminal for 10 seconds, does it make a difference if its 10 seconds or 10 minutes? some say 10 seconds and some say 10 minutes, cheers





^to the guys above, I had exactly the same problem. Did an auto transmission flush and gearbox reset and after a week it was gone.

This is what I used

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86194&highlight=transmission+flush

Took a few days to level out but after a week or so it was better, and after a month it was fantastic.

yep i have done all that stuff, no better, as it says its say the relearning isn't compulsory as the auto will sort it self out with how you drive, maybe my auto has other issues



This is what I used

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86194&highlight=transmission+flush

Took a few days to level out but after a week or so it was better, and after a month it was fantastic.

Damn, that's unfortunate. There's a host of things that can go wrong, auto gearboxes are incredibly complicated bits of gear

Hi BlackVY, did you get your auto problem sorted? mines still the same



Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

I don't know if mine changes to first too quickly when slowing down, I haven't noticed it really, but I will tonight to see if it happens, but I do notice it revving a little high just before I stop, so that could be it.

I guess if the fluid change helped a little, maybe an auto service might help alot. Its worth a try if it gets any worse. I will talk to my mech sometime about it. Good to know I'm not the only one with this issue. Thanks :)

Hi BlackVY, did you get your auto problem sorted? mines still the same

Nope, not yet mate, going to get the exhaust done first, then check out the gearbox. Will let u know if I find anything out :)

AN ANALYSIS. I should say a partial analysis because I am only focussing on the 10 autos that failed completely.

Of the 8 where any warning period was specified, for 3 it was nil & for another 3 no more than 2 weeks. (The 2 with longer warning periods given were the sole 3.0l & the sole 5-speed.)
This suggests that if an auto has been giving trouble for some time, it might continue operating nevertheless - perhaps slowly getting worse but not suddenly failing completely.

10 cases is a small number to draw definite conclusions from, on top of which:
- in only 6 cases is the driving style given (these varied widely).
- in only 2 cases is the servicing history mentioned.
- in only 1 case does the respondent indicate whether he/she was the 1st owner.
- no-one indicated whether their car was used for towing (I'm guessing none were used for heavy towing or it would have been mentioned).

With those qualifications in mind, read on.
I set aside 2 cars as being "outlliers": the auto that failed earliest (post 9) was also the only 3.0l. The one that failed at the highest kms was also the only 5-speed (post 52). These were also mentioned above as oddities.

That leaves 8, all 3.5l/4-sp. They happen also to all be TJ/KJs.
At least 3 are 2000 models, 1 2001 & 2 2002 - the other 2 aren't specified.

Of the 8, 6 form something of a cluster between 120000 & 155000kms. These are: 120k -post 4(b), 130k - p2, 140k - p38(b), 148k - p65, 150k - p11 & 155k - p4(a). The 2 outside of the cluster were 57k - p38(a) & "around 80k" - p5.

Interesting.

I still think the pole: "3rd gen autos, failure or not" would give a better indication of the failure rate than 2 separate threads about failing and not failing.

As an owner of a 3.5L 4 speed TJ, coming up to the danger period, all I can say is to echo the thoughts of many - WE IS DOOMED! DOOMED I TELLS YA!

Only joking, but just in case - how much does a 4 speed rebuild cost, if the oil pump "eats" bits of the wave spring?

AN ANALYSIS. I should say a partial analysis because I am only focussing on the 10 autos that failed completely.

Of the 8 where any warning period was specified, for 3 it was nil & for another 3 no more than 2 weeks. (The 2 with longer warning periods given were the sole 3.0l & the sole 5-speed.)
This suggests that if an auto has been giving trouble for some time, it might continue operating nevertheless - perhaps slowly getting worse but not suddenly failing completely.

10 cases is a small number to draw definite conclusions from, on top of which:
- in only 6 cases is the driving style given (these varied widely).
- in only 2 cases is the servicing history mentioned.
- in only 1 case does the respondent indicate whether he/she was the 1st owner.
- no-one indicated whether their car was used for towing (I'm guessing none were used for heavy towing or it would have been mentioned).

With those qualifications in mind, read on.
I set aside 2 cars as being "outlliers": the auto that failed earliest (post 9) was also the only 3.0l. The one that failed at the highest kms was also the only 5-speed (post 52). These were also mentioned above as oddities.

That leaves 8, all 3.5l/4-sp. They happen also to all be TJ/KJs.
At least 3 are 2000 models, 1 2001 & 2 2002 - the other 2 aren't specified.

Of the 8, 6 form something of a cluster between 120000 & 155000kms. These are: 120k -post 4(b), 130k - p2, 140k - p38(b), 148k - p65, 150k - p11 & 155k - p4(a). The 2 outside of the cluster were 57k - p38(a) & "around 80k" - p5.

THIS is why people smarter than me are fun!

Awesome work mate. Keep it up, maybe we can predict failure rates before they happen.

I'd like to know how many 4 speed autos were sold versus 5 speed autos - from what I've seen there are not a lot of 5 speeds out there........my worry with the auto failing is not the cost of repair, it's the cost of recovery if it fails 2000km from home.

1. 4 speed non tippy 3.5
2. around 210 ish 000 km
3. flaring badly between 2nd and 3rd to the point that if i let it redline during the slip when gearbox finally grabbed one wheel would chirp....at 80km/h !! eventually died from pump failure due to wave spring failure while driving normally around a corner leaving work ironically.
4. swap with second hand box for $750 and $450 labour in march '11. still going good, no slipping or flaring.
5. thrash it, manually shift it, the odd neutral dump....but on average fairly normal driving if a bit aggressive.

HI guys

new to this site - hoping to learn a bit about the TJ - i have only owned it for 6 months but it is a great car.

On the above subject - i had an auto guru open up my gearbox recently to replace the dreaded wave spring ( on third gear i think?) i will attach a scan of the part location soon .

the gearbox didn't fail so perhaps i shouldn't post on this thread but the auto guru said he has done dozens of them anywhere from 100k to 130k. he thought the later models seemed to be better ( MY 02 etc). the replacement part is a much thicker washer than the original unit but still a Mitsubishi part!

cost to replace it in car - around $800
cost to do auto when spring bits make it up into the oil pump - $2500- 3500 depending on damage!
i did it now to save the bigger bill - it seems like it will happen sooner or later .

sorry about the wordy first post .

HI guys

new to this site - hoping to learn a bit about the TJ - i have only owned it for 6 months but it is a great car.

On the above subject - i had an auto guru open up my gearbox recently to replace the dreaded wave spring ( on third gear i think?) i will attach a scan of the part location soon .

the gearbox didn't fail so perhaps i shouldn't post on this thread but the auto guru said he has done dozens of them anywhere from 100k to 130k. he thought the later models seemed to be better ( MY 02 etc). the replacement part is a much thicker washer than the original unit but still a Mitsubishi part!

cost to replace it in car - around $800
cost to do auto when spring bits make it up into the oil pump - $2500- 3500 depending on damage!
i did it now to save the bigger bill - it seems like it will happen sooner or later .

sorry about the wordy first post .

That's a good post by my judgement - my '04 TL has 134k on it and I'd willingly pay $800 to be assured it will be OK for the next 100K...would you mind telling whereabouts in QLD is the place that did yours?

Guys, as I have stated before there is a lot more than just a wave spring that can go wrong.

While the wave spring is a big issue within the Magna community, there are other parts such as the large nuts that hold the planetary gears in place which come loose as well as a host of other issues

IMO, doing a wave spring on its own would be a waste of money

Guys, as I have stated before there is a lot more than just a wave spring that can go wrong.

While the wave spring is a big issue within the Magna community, there are other parts such as the large nuts that hold the planetary gears in place which come loose as well as a host of other issues

IMO, doing a wave spring on its own would be a waste of money

Not to mention servicing, driving style etc. If you drive always on edge, hard take offs, that will wear down the gears and clutches etc. Plus missing services and the oil getting dirty is not good either. If you regularly service it you should be right.

1. 4 speed tippy-3.5L?
2. kilometers when problem appeared? 153,000
3. How much of a "warning period" was there/what warning signs were there? no problems prior to 153,000. gear box started clunking into gear after 1300 km 'day trip'.
4. What did you do (reco, wrecker swap etc) and what was the cost split between parts and labor? transmission flush by mitsi and new fluid.
5. Your driving style - I use the cars power as required, no burnouts etc and use tippy for downchanges pretty consistently. Occasional bit of high revving when I forget I have changed down manually and am waiting for it change up and the odd occasion when I think I am in tippy mode and throw it into neutral. I use 2nd gear to its advantage and travel short trips around town (<30km/day) with 4-5 600km day trips per year.

Bought car at 50,000kms and three yrs old in OCt '05, car was an ex-leae that got from Pickles. I serviced it myself except for the major service at 100,000kms. I hadn't changed the transmission fluid prior to clunking. CLunking occurred after driving from Brisbane to Canberra in 15hr drive (took the coast road last year, everyone said it was much quicker! NOT), a couple of long stops for lunch and dinner but I don't think the car ever got to cool down on that day. Driving on the M7 in Sydney the gearbox started clunking into gear. Took car to mitsi for a flush and refill, the car still clunked a bit for a week then after that has been fine ever since. Car now has 173,000kms and still going good, touch wood!

That's a good post by my judgement - my '04 TL has 134k on it and I'd willingly pay $800 to be assured it will be OK for the next 100K...would you mind telling whereabouts in QLD is the place that did yours?

I took mine to Northside Autocar in everton hills - they pull all the working parts out of the box without removing it . the checked all the clutches etc.

acknowledged it will be subject to damage found - mine was pretty clean - still had the writing on the clutchplates. - i am assuming they checked the other items mentioned above - i guess i will find out one way or the other?

sorry about delayed response - lost this thread ! still learning this site.

I took mine to Northside Autocar in everton hills - they pull all the working parts out of the box without removing it . the checked all the clutches etc.

acknowledged it will be subject to damage found - mine was pretty clean - still had the writing on the clutchplates. - i am assuming they checked the other items mentioned above - i guess i will find out one way or the other?

sorry about delayed response - lost this thread ! still learning this site.

Thanks for the reply - I guess that as Madmagna says, it's not just the wave spring to worry about, so you'd like to think they do a 'soft' overhaul on all wear parts. I might ask the local auto place in Toowoomba - Gilroys - what they know about it. Thanks.

I'd like to know how many 4 speed autos were sold versus 5 speed autos - from what I've seen there are not a lot of 5 speeds out there........my worry with the auto failing is not the cost of repair, it's the cost of recovery if it fails 2000km from home.

I don't know the answer to that question, but I checked the number of Magnas & Veradas from 2000 on that are for sale on Carsales & found 505 4-sp autos & 150 5-sp. Thats a ratio of 3.4 to 1.

For those who find statistics almost as interesting as cars, here's some more detail.

Firstly I checked cars from 2003 on. There were 41 Veradas - all 5-sp auto. Out of 327 Magnas, 13 were manual. Of the autos, 245 were 4-sp & 69 5-sp, a ratio of 3.55 to 1. Combining Magnas & Veradas the ratio comes down to 2.2 to 1.

Turning to cars from 2000 to 2002, there were 49 Veradas, 41 4-sp & 8 KJ Series 2 (5-sp).
Of the 268 Magnas, aside from 17 manuals, 219 were 4-sp auto & 32 5-sp auto, a ratio of 6.8 to 1.
Adding the Magnas & Veradas for these years only brings the ratio down to 6.5 to 1.

Iam suprised iam the first to mention this on this thread but... What atf were people putting in the boxes? I know with any mitsi box you really need to use the mitsi stuff or you are asking for trouble. you see the same comment on all the galant/legnum forums as well. Iam hopefull picking up a TH Diamante advance (nz) and 1 of the 1st things ill be doing is a full fluid flush (on a machine) unless i can find proof this was done. I currently have a 99 galant and the difference a proper flush made to the gearbox was amazing (gearbox had been shuddering for 10,000k) did the flush and never had a shudder since

1: 4-Sp (non-tippy) 3.5 00' TJ Advance
2: 2 year ago @ 145k - 150k (currently has 168k)
3: Maybe a week of increasingly frequent flaring between shifts.
4: Was an input shaft sensor that failed. $300 total (including 30km tow to transmission shop). Drove home with it stuck in 3rd after it flared on a 3-2 kickdown. It actually hit the limit when it flared as I had the throttle pinned.
5: Easy and frugal when cruising, hard and hard when having a punt. Its a 50/50 split most of the time.

Old TJ II
1, 4 speed tippy, 98000km - 1 week after service sun gears exited out the bottom (my fault)
2, second box fitted and supplied by Dj Mitsubishi $1850 then had torque converter issues for 3 years
3, Manual conversion.
5, sold car.

New Car 03 TL VR
1, 5 spd tippy - not sure if it needs a service just clicked to 150000 tonight never had a 5 spd auto seems like it slips from 3rd to 4th but i do have a sticky throttle will clean it and report back.

1. 4 speed 3.5l (2005 TW ES)
2. 121,000
3. not selecting (displays N + D at same time) sometimes, driving at about 3kph in first sometimes, thumping into gears sometimes, not going into gear sometimes
4. replaced with a box from a rear end wreck that had apparently only done approx 50,000 for approx $2000 remove and replace. was given the option of that or a reconditioned box that could have done any number of km's
5. driving style? now cautious, but really disliking low gears and slow traffic, much preferring top gear and no changes!

6. immediate issues with new box (flaring between gears) told it is no big deal and would settle in. requested warranty replacement, was told that would mean it getting replaced with a non reconditioned box that had done any number of km's and that what i was mistaken previously, that original option was a 50,000 box or a unknown box both unreconditioned (like that was ever a logical choice)
the original box was replaced in august 2012, it is now february 2013 and the replacement box has recently started developing severe issues that suggest failure is imminent (not selecting (displays N + D at same time), not going into gear, delays going into gear, 3kph in first until it 'picks up' fully, flares, hard gear changes) this is worse when it is cold, i can back out of the driveway fine first thing in the morning (still slow/delayed picking up reverse) put it into drive and it does nothing besides roll down the hill. I stop, move between selections, maybe switch over to the semi manual selection etc until it works

2000 TJ 4 speed 3.5
195,000k
No warning, lost all gears, forward and reverse.
Never slipped, clunked into gear or anything to indicate a problem. Recently serviced but did not have external filter.
Daughter was driving at the time and said she took off a little quick and then lost the gears (didn't hear anything over the stereo).
Quoted 2-2.5k for reco fitted...not sure what we're going to do...

2000 TJ 4 speed 3.5
195,000k
No warning, lost all gears, forward and reverse.
Never slipped, clunked into gear or anything to indicate a problem. Recently serviced but did not have external filter.
Daughter was driving at the time and said she took off a little quick and then lost the gears (didn't hear anything over the stereo).
Quoted 2-2.5k for reco fitted...not sure what we're going to do...

Maybe get a good second hand box fitted, close to 200k isn't too bad out of a transmission

2000 TJ 4 speed 3.5
195,000k
No warning, lost all gears, forward and reverse.
Never slipped, clunked into gear or anything to indicate a problem. Recently serviced but did not have external filter.
Daughter was driving at the time and said she took off a little quick and then lost the gears (didn't hear anything over the stereo).
Quoted 2-2.5k for reco fitted...not sure what we're going to do...

Get a 2nd hand box, swap it out.

I went down the rebuild route...cost me $2000.
Oh, and it was the wave spring apparently. The technician told me the new part he installed is a lot more heavy duty.

1 - Four speed, 3.5 - 2000 model TJ series one executive.
2 - 314,000km
3 - ZERO WARNING. Just lost drive.
4 - Second hand Gearbox from my wreckers. Swapped it myself. All up a little over $400 with genuine ATF.
5 - Pretty relaxed driver. The occasional burst. ;)

1. 4 speed - 3.5L - TW Tippy
2. 180,000 roughly
3. couple of weeks - gear changes slow and sloppy, now non existent gear change
4. quoted $2500 - $4000 SA Race Transmission for changeover recon trans, 2nd opinion - emailed eddy wreckers just now, hope for response tomorrow
5. slow/medium - medium/hard depending on mood

1. 4 speed TL LS
2. 255km
3. Random limp mode every now and then, eventually lost 1st and 4th.
4. 2nd hand transaxle which I'm fitting this weekend.
5. City driving.

1. Kf verada 4 speed
2. 200km bang on
3. Was always shit. Clutch packs worn from thrashing. Still worked.
4. Manual conversion.
5. Thrashed to within an inch of its life.

1. 99 TH 4-speed. 3.5
2. 248,000
3. Reverse lottery for the last 20,000. Forward gears about a month. It still does drive, and will eventually change gears. Won't change direction without assistance, nor reverse on any incline. Great fun to park.
4. Nothing yet. I got defected when an officer noticed my strange driving and bad exhaust. It may be a secondhand, manual conversion or dispose of car.
5. It's an ex rental. Use your damn imagination.

TH 4 speed. Went into limp mode on two occasions. Took it to a guy in Tuggeranong while working in Canberra. He found that a previous coolant leak from the heater core (replaced by Mal at Mitsfix) had corroded a relay. He replaced the relay, did a full transmission flush and filter change. So far all good. The car does sometimes have a little thud going in to top gear but at 437,000 Kms I can't complain. This car has been awesome and drives better than my wife's KW AWD GTVI which has 98,000 on the clock.

Just posted a thread about my problems...
1. 3.5L don't know if 4 or 5 speed. If important able to check in the garage.
2. App. 130 000 km.
3. No warning at all.
4. Towed car to my house. It's sitting in the garage. Will try to fix it myself.
5. Kids-transport-driving-style (otherwise at least one of them is likely to puke).
Cheers

!999 TH Executive 3.5 Auto - bought at 40,000Km, the gearbox CRASHED into gear at certain loads - It took me months to replicate it for the Zupps Mechanic - finally worked out a reproducible circuit and he was alarmed as it made a HUGE! crash into gear (I thought the dashboard went through the windscreen).. He ordered a factory replacement ASAP - the official response was that a "contaminated" batch of oil was used at the factory and it damaged the clutches - 320,000Km later - still smooth with regular gearbox oil changes.

Just last Sunday! (doh)

1. 4 speed auto 3.5L - TJ Magna 2002 Executive
2. 130k
3. Zero warning - arriving back from the shops. Stopped at a traffic light. When light turned green, no power from accelerator. Put in park, turned engine off, turned engine on, put in drive, still no power. Turned engine off. Went outside to look - a pool of transmission oil below car, looking back around 25m of trailing oil drips. Did a recent transmission flush back in Jan 13.
4. Awaiting a quote for a replacement transmission via mechanic through reco/wrecker.
5. Relaxed, usually keep below 2.5k to 3k rpms

Annoyed as converted to LPG 6 months ago. Only had the car for 18 months.

Luck of the draw. Depending on quote, considering to send the car to the wreckers and put the money towards a new car. The issue also happened in regional victoria which is 180km from our house. RACV towed it to a local RACV approved mechanic in the area.

On the otherhand:

TH Magna 1998 Altera LS - 230k, converted to LPG 4 years ago and still going strong - touch wood. Regularly serviced.

Where did the leak occur?
Maybe fix the leak + new ATF and it'll be ok?

Just last Sunday! (doh)

1. 4 speed auto 3.5L - TJ Magna 2002 Executive
2. 130k
3. Zero warning - arriving back from the shops. Stopped at a traffic light. When light turned green, no power from accelerator. Put in park, turned engine off, turned engine on, put in drive, still no power. Turned engine off. Went outside to look - a pool of transmission oil below car, looking back around 25m of trailing oil drips. Did a recent transmission flush back in Jan 13.
4. Awaiting a quote for a replacement transmission via mechanic through reco/wrecker.
5. Relaxed, usually keep below 2.5k to 3k rpms

Annoyed as converted to LPG 6 months ago. Only had the car for 18 months.

Luck of the draw. Depending on quote, considering to send the car to the wreckers and put the money towards a new car. The issue also happened in regional victoria which is 180km from our house. RACV towed it to a local RACV approved mechanic in the area.

On the otherhand:

TH Magna 1998 Altera LS - 230k, converted to LPG 4 years ago and still going strong - touch wood. Regularly serviced.

You are looking at $1100 fitted for a used transmission, have plenty of them here and depending on where the car is may be able to arrange transport here at fairly cheap rates

Have you looked to see where the fluid came from, may be a cooler line split. Check this out, fix it and refill and you will most likely find the trans is fine

Unlikely the leak was from the transmission - probably a hose (maybe radiator cooler?) - fix the leak - flush the trannie and back in action - if you didn't have problems with the transmission don't take $1000 quotes

I've owned my 2001 tj sports for about 12 months , brought with 173000km, 3.5 with 5 speed tippy. Had service done by good transmission guy who said it would need to be rebuilt after finding pieces of metal in bottom of pan. Told me if a piece found its way through the filter and into pump it would be f%#ked. Every thing else seamed to no in good order. Car has 185000 Kms on it now and does not have any problems in changing gears. Doesn't get driven hard by me. Every time I drive a couple of hundred kms I think it could stop , but knock on wood still going well. Sometimes I think maybe he showed me a piece of metal to get a rebuilt out of me , was quoted $1500.

TJ Series 2 Advance
164k's 4 speed auto
had a quite life until about 150K's then the occasional hard run
towed a car trailer with a stripped VRX on it for about 250k's at night, about 2 weeks later i flushed it then i got a about a month out of it
started to have issues could often here a slight whine in the auto < had also at this point thought of finding some old wino down the park to try to suck the wine out of it :P > would not go into drive and when cold it would show drive and the neutral light on the cluster at the same time and was hard to get into gear, until it was warm it would slam it self in what felt like reverse, then eventually got to the point where i could only drive it in sport mode and make it change gears, this lasted about a month when i returned home from the shops after i turned into my street the car stalled once restarted it never picked up a gear again. Was going to do a manual conversion but at the time couldn't outlay that much cash, so a second hand auto went into to it for $150 from [URL="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unique-Mits-Bits/138898876223391"] Mits Bits with thanks to Tony

hey guys, im new to the forum, and i too am experiencing transmission problems, i had issues for about a month where the gears wouldn't change properly, just rev in neutral for a second or two before it grabbed,, also when the car was moving (whether in drive or just rolling) i could hear a certain "metallic noise" almost as if two peices of metal were rubbing together, this would happen every so often and would not be a constant thing... then all of a sudden one day i lost all drive, when i got out i realized i left a trail of transmission oil behind, all the oil was dumped from the transmission, and since its under some pressure when the oil came out it splashed all over the place so i cannot really trace it back to a single spot. I haven't really worked on front wheel drive cars before, was just wondering is there anything obvious i should be checking before i swap it over for a 2nd hand tranny? the more i read this thread the more i am thinking that it might be a replacement job, although on all the other transmission faults in this thread no-one had mentioned that their fluid was dumped when they lost all drive, so just throwing the question out there to see if there is any other possible things i should be looking over..

I might add i have followed the hoses, (2 of them anyway) and they seem to be intact and not the cause of the leak.. other then that i am not sure where to begin...

thanks again!

Laz.

A member had the same problem as you, he ended up fixing the leak (can't remember where this was from) and worked fine after filling it

Check both ends of the hoses, tightness of clamps. Possibly remove hoses off the car and look for splits along the length (flex the hoses so any splits become obvious), old hoses can get cut by the clamps and leak there.
If nothing is wrong there, put the hoses back on, degrease the oil spill, fill up and start the car, then look for the source of the leak. Look at hose ends, sump, where drive shafts enter the gearbox.
Could just be the seal on the sump, possibly. Check for loose bolts and dents/damage.
If the trans case has had a thump and you find a spit or crack in the case, it's time for another trans.

Just covering the most obvious possibilities. Others who have had leaks may want to add more.

thanks guys, yeah maybe a more thorough inspection of the hoses is a good place to start, i was thinking along the same lines as what you recommended madmax with filling it after a degrease and having another look, i havent smashed the transmission into anything so there shouldnt be damage due to that unless it has cracked from wear and tear... anyways thanks for the tips, i shall get started and let you know the outcome.

ok guys so this is where i stand at the moment..

I degreased the whole area contaminated with oil, refilled some fluid into the transmission and started her up. after a few seconds i had a constant stream of fluid leaking out the bottom end of the rear main seal, it was a constant stream of oil and it seemed to be coming out of a little opening right on the bottom of the transmission, this hole, the best i can describe it is a little half cut out circle right on the join where the engine and transmission meets, however it doesnt look like a crack as such, it looks almost as if its supposed to be there.. just wanted some confirmation on that from anyone who is familiar with these parts.. also in the case it is the rear main seal, does anybody know price wise what i would be looking at for it to be redone? or if its a possible "backyard job fix"

1. 5 speed 3.5L
2. Last service was 181K, where a single piece of broken wave spring was found in the sump.
3. No symptoms as such...gear changes were decent and nothing felt out of the ordinary. I'd hoped that the issue got picked up early enough and no other pieces broke off and made progress, so to speak.
4. Total rebuild, cost $2.4K with 2 year warranty.
5. Moderate driving style, sometimes using the manual shift but usually in full auto. My parents were full auto and never floored it (at least when I was in the car with them).
6. Wave spring damage

1. 5 speed 3.5L
2. Last service was 181K, where a single piece of broken wave spring was found in the sump.
3. No symptoms as such...gear changes have been decent and nothing has felt out of the ordinary. So hopefully the issue got picked up early enough and no other pieces broke off and made progress, so to speak.
4. I've just dropped it off for a more thorough assessment so I will know what my options are in the next day or so.

Here's just some food for thought and my own take on it having just recently replaced my failed wty box with a used 2004 TL box pre-update to the new spring.(F4A51)

This is what I found when i inspected the box prior to install which I did purely on needing to know whether it had the suspect ones or the single piece.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NEqUZ8n2nu-tRGQuJsOgmoCG8oWNHRGpqt5XJb1yH9y4OSYe8PwpTQ9PnDzGb LyhFHECJBIBo_9p0UFF9F8xjiykerHRFnihUrzRjKf4eOF17JV MHFqAST8fXQAY2xqS_A_35f6fWal5HnLpHjF8XLsPFH0SEb3LI DgDDALzApe_ZW2uN37PMGc3gtzwjDw-_kIwZkEnhFSA51Bi4CJ7EoWUR1HNhQqwbfjIKUfbZsrd1WdsWL zHviwhcqRFm1TAL9qkB2YJx4IrgzfCDlaM_8W8LD3cOxbtkkkN 2G2jL-KiDTp1__j8c_G6A5UHnCwM5Fwrux_6vvqutu0DowlwCcQU6h1T OHOMtqSNzwIMcuTPzEmMNQKQM34WIEG4R5EwIMYQnpSvMcangb PtQeYSUxjG7ok4JZX76yYq3jVtUxb7RsI2mCXACIxRfW-MeH5j1GjAWKyofh2JXQFFuDpIZp4qF2pX2TzxY5CDaU7O36nXG 8-IuHfDNklGfC3ixkQlpX6ToomdK0tv8-mHGtHHQZcCaMi_tFJ5VpMIjis8O8=w625-h599-no

No pieces had left the area but were trying, the brake spring retainer had been gouged, and this wave spring was metal fatigued in a lot of places. Some portions i could snap into pieces with my fingers like chalk and I'm not a strong guy, other sections were still springy and i could not.

And here's an example of some damage, a little out of focus. I was in a spot so left that retainer as is and installed a single spring, not the most correct thing to do but it's been operating perfectly as is.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2VYz57g9bo_E4xLRAEDMvZhMaFqv2A2nJQd9PuWQOhjnUklk2q gurEFPvBKgDPbBjYwfPJSJPz4C6AESu50ejVrqolNXuf5xO3Hs f8v6md9q7jgN7cI4674TxkjBpmBU4fc9UB3XYO2gS-YKtLDXV1W1sTKqvFv9F8SvdqigmYGJOyM0FtgW76fVumLGCoT9 zj1-PswioD0Hsywb74Zyh8qxnXOEcdu9S3g8i6Bq8ia-t3P7nUqI9yn2rdBzSFTrA45tEG5_TrnhKNImD3OgrV8SFtfRWT 5Wx18dfVjuXhgvLhXczVhVNgWyuGzGfxKC2jZZtwuJ1vHZpC_Z dQoM6R4BInbHtuN4VXsd9wPR8vjU9Nt95ITjHlQNVncEKhoIzb d1ZMZ41NTnqDU9hVp359Mv-_fdGTwQ4Dvjmd4PG-HWEDf3dxSgnGAPBeP8bLAU9BthkMq8wK2Gk8ilfE3qb9Vs4P9Q-VgKwZUDADiAeQSHmiJIgPtvTCoItiyuTWle43GvASeIgW5oa_W lp_Cw6g_HRZVsScHAHHrKvSdzrhE=w1217-h599-no