I suspect the auto on my 2001 TJ Sports with 97,600km may be on the way out.

The idle when in D stopped at the lights, starts out nicely at about 650rpm, but after a few seconds starts to hunt around, ranging between 400 and 750. Then, when taking off the car shudders a little and the revs hunt up and down for a few seconds before settling back to smooth acceleration. This happens when the car is cold or warmed up.

At about 60,000km it would flare occasionally shifting up from second to third, but of course wouldn’t do it when the Mitsubishi guys drove it, this settled down after a few months.

I've owned it since new and keep the car in tip top condition so it gets serviced according to the book every 15,000km at a local dealer, and I do intermediate oil and filter changes due to relatively low kilometres covered each year. I’m about to sell it (hello Golf R!) but would like it sorted.

Thanks for the assistance, your thoughts? Would a transmission service possibly sort this…?

Full Trans Flush & ECU reset would definitely do it some good..

I've just clicked over 110k and had similar issues as yours.. A proper flush with Genuine Mitsu fluid.. I used Nulon, alot of people said no no no.. But I'm wanting a manual conversion.. So the quicker the better..

SuFz

SuFz

Did you find the Nulon ATF ok? is it just as good as the genuine Mitsubishi fluid? anyone else used both? also is there a band adjustment made on these trasmissions when they are serviced? or is it just a fluid and filter change?cheers


Full Trans Flush & ECU reset would definitely do it some good..

I've just clicked over 110k and had similar issues as yours.. A proper flush with Genuine Mitsu fluid.. I used Nulon, alot of people said no no no.. But I'm wanting a manual conversion.. So the quicker the better..

SuFz

SuFz

You may find some little metallic pieces in your trans after a flush. If you do, the wave spring has busted up. Quite a common problem.

I thought if the wave spring was gone the car wouldn't move?

I've used both.. I must say I found the genuine stuff a little nicer in changes.. Might be a placebo effect not sure..

Only reason I used Nulon was because the local dealer had no retail bottles available..

I didn't find any metal in the fluid outta my box in the 3 flushes so far..

SuFz

I thought if the wave spring was gone the car wouldn't move?

Nope. I flushed my transmission and found 3 bits of the wave spring. The car drove perfectly. Even the guy at the transmission place that fixed it said it drove beautifully.

Sprinter, good to know about the wave spring, thanks for clearing that up.

If the sump can be dropped, can the bands be adjusted? If this is doable so I'd like it done but I'd be out of my comfort zone and would throw it to the pros. Otherwise I'm confident I can do the suggested fluid change and ECU reset and cross my fingers for an improvement.

I knew it... told you so. Yes, the car is drivable if the wave spring has busted up... as long as it hasn't damaged anything in the trans.
Don't stress too much. It could last you 140,000 + ks or completely go anytime soon. If you just drive it normally and service the trans regularly, you may never have a problem again.
It's a common problem, but I've heard and seen one case where the car has gone on to do 190,000 + ks on the same gearbox with a busted wave spring problem at 125,000 ks.