Hi all magna people!
I´m a Swedish guy just moved to Adelaide 3 months ago.
Last week I bought a 2000 magna 3.5 with about 300k kms on it, despite the high kms the car (was) running really good, shifting very smooth and never no doubt, no jerking or anything, I was really pleased with it, but then tonight I was out driving and at around a 100 kmh (wich is actually the highest i reached with this car so far) it starts to "skip" between 3rd and 4 th for a few seconds before going in to neutral and I loose all power, when i pull over on the side of the road I see behind me a long trail of oil and under the car the oil is just dripping out. I check the oil stick for trans and its dead dry. (to note I checked trans oil earlier today and it was just fine with red light brown transparent oil) but the engine is still running good and oil level good.

So what the heck has happen to my auto transmission? did the drain plug come undone or something? please help me!!

Any ideas?

at the moment the car is sitting out along a country road out of adelaide.

Thanks// Oskar

Could be the drain plug, could of blown a hole in the gearbox, could of blown the ATF filler tube out.

Can you get under the car and look? Make sure the car is off, otherwise the automatic transmission oil pump is running and will probably run dry.

Either way, if there's no oil in the gearbox you're going to need to call a tow truck.

Driveshaft seal gone completely? Get under it with a torch and a camera and see if you can look for a trail to where the oil has come out from. If you need to fill it up again, use mitsubishi ATF or the correct rating, _not_ dextron III

ok at the moment I cant get to the car, just after it happen and I looked under I couldnt really locate the exact location for the oil leak, and with the engine running I couldnt engage any gear (was only running it for a few seconds) so yes I definately need a tower.

Its so strange it just happend so quickly, can a seal or gasket just give up like that? and can the drainplug just undo itself? Blown a hole in the thing? I was driving so gentle, no kickdowns and no high speeds.

I ve noticed the occasional oil drop under the car when parked overnight but I assumed that was the engine, but maybe it was the trans having a minor leak before this happen?

// Oskar

Could have been leaking from the driveshaft for a while and it just finally split in a big way and spewed oil everywhere. Too hard to tell from the description.

Get it home, jack it up and have a good look underneath in the morning.

Drive shaft seal generally will not drop so much that the car wont move

I would start with the trans cooler lines, see if one is loose or has a hole in it, then go from there. Had a car in yesterday, the cooler line which screws into the bottom of the radiator was damaged and leaking, in the end replaced the radiator as the thread was completely stripped, is not the first time I have seen this either

Hey guys
the car has been towed to a mechanic and they think its the pump seal or input seal has blown wich would cost more to repair than what I actually bouught the car for. So does anyone know where I can get a rebuilt gearbox put in without costing me a leg and arm?
Its in the Adelaide area, any help appreciated!!!!

Thanks

You will not get a rebuilt transmission for a low price, these are very expensive transmissions to rebuild

There may be some about at wreckers, going rate for a used transmission is around the $650 mark, some members may sell them for less but you then need to weigh up if the cheaper price is worth having no warranty on them

Ok so I spent this afternoon calling around wreckers and mechanics, and i found one wrecker that would put in a secondhand gearbox with 3 months warranty for 1200 incl labour, so getting the car to him this week.

Does it seems like a good deal?

I'd grab it - you are very lucky to get someone to fit it this close to Xmas. Good Luck.

ok so i got the gearbox replaced with a newer seconhand one, what the mechanic said happen to the other one is that pieces metal or something came into the oilpump and blew it up including the seal.
hope the new one will last me a while.

Ok cool, is the second hand box shifting ok? did the mechanic tell you how many k's it had done? I was just wondering if you take off with normal acceleration what speed are you doing when it shifts from first to second gear? and how many revs is it doing? mine hangs on to the gears too long which bugs me and nothing seems to fix it, done the relearning made no difference. Hope the new box lasts you a long time, cheers




ok so i got the gearbox replaced with a newer seconhand one, what the mechanic said happen to the other one is that pieces metal or something came into the oilpump and blew it up including the seal.
hope the new one will last me a while.

yes the box is working fine so far, i think it came out of a 2001 with 170k on it but not.
dont know the speed but normaly it revs up to 2400 rpm when going in second. How much does your rev?

Hi thanks for the reply, mine revs to about 3,000 before going into second unless I use a very light foot and it will change at 2,500, mine will go back to first also too easy, like slowing down at a roundabout it goes back to first where second would be much better, my old KR verada use to stay in 3rd at roundabouts unless I hit the throttle hard.
Hope your enjoying Australia, cheers



yes the box is working fine so far, i think it came out of a 2001 with 170k on it but not.
dont know the speed but normaly it revs up to 2400 rpm when going in second. How much does your rev?

Hi thanks for the reply, mine revs to about 3,000 before going into second unless I use a very light foot and it will change at 2,500, mine will go back to first also too easy, like slowing down at a roundabout it goes back to first where second would be much better, my old KR verada use to stay in 3rd at roundabouts unless I hit the throttle hard.
Hope your enjoying Australia, cheers

My TJ does exactly the same, can get quite annoying, however if I slow down for corners generally it has to be down to 15km/h or sometimes less for it to kick back into 1st with light throttle which is good. My old TF always had to be above 20km/h before it clicked into 2nd or as soon as i slowed down it would go back to first at 20km/h if any throttle was applied.

The problem with shifting at too high a rev may be due to poor adjustment of the throttle position sensor (TPS). It's simple to check - just loosen (don't completely undo) the 2 screws that hold the TPS in place (see red arrows in the photo) - it has slots (see green arrow in the photo) to enable the TPS to be rotated slightly - this changes the signal to the ECU (the ECU shifts gears based on the throttle position, vehicle speed and engine revs). Rotate the TPS a few mm clockwise and tighten the screws, then take it for a drive - you should find it shifts at lower revs. I moved mine as far as possible clockwise and it shifts nicely at around 2000 revs. If it doesn't help, it's easy to change it back - literally a 2 minute job.
http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z447/peteroptions/TPS-KFVerada.png

The problem with shifting at too high a rev may be due to poor adjustment of the throttle position sensor (TPS). It's simple to check - just loosen (don't completely undo) the 2 screws that hold the TPS in place (see red arrows in the photo) - it has slots (see green arrow in the photo) to enable the TPS to be rotated slightly - this changes the signal to the ECU (the ECU shifts gears based on the throttle position, vehicle speed and engine revs). Rotate the TPS a few mm clockwise and tighten the screws, then take it for a drive - you should find it shifts at lower revs. I moved mine as far as possible clockwise and it shifts nicely at around 2000 revs. If it doesn't help, it's easy to change it back - literally a 2 minute job.


I'll definitely be interested to see if this works! Will give it a try on my next day off. Cheers!

I'll definitely be interested to see if this works! Will give it a try on my next day off. Cheers!

looks easy, please update when you re done so we know how you went, thanks

The problem with shifting at too high a rev may be due to poor adjustment of the throttle position sensor (TPS). It's simple to check - just loosen (don't completely undo) the 2 screws that hold the TPS in place (see red arrows in the photo) - it has slots (see green arrow in the photo) to enable the TPS to be rotated slightly - this changes the signal to the ECU (the ECU shifts gears based on the throttle position, vehicle speed and engine revs). Rotate the TPS a few mm clockwise and tighten the screws, then take it for a drive - you should find it shifts at lower revs. I moved mine as far as possible clockwise and it shifts nicely at around 2000 revs. If it doesn't help, it's easy to change it back - literally a 2 minute job.
http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z447/peteroptions/TPS-KFVerada.png

Or............just adjust the bloody thing properly

Or............just adjust the bloody thing properly

:yeahthat:

With the money you saved NOT going to a mechanic - buy a gregories/max ellery etc Manual and learn how to adjust it using a $10 multimeter. Makes a world of difference - trust me.

My TPS was completely out of wack and thanks to the manual I was able to adjust it properly. Car now shifts smoothly at the right rev's and fuel economy is back to normal around 10.5L/100km.

If you ask nicely - I must just scan in/rewrite what my manual does on how to adjust it properly :P It isn't hard but if you want to be 100% assured that it is rightly adjusted then give it to the pro's. They use a computer (MUTII) which is far more accurate than using a multimeter.

Or............just adjust the bloody thing properly

+1

SuFz

If you ask nicely - I must just scan in/rewrite what my manual does on how to adjust it properly :P It isn't hard but if you want to be 100% assured that it is rightly adjusted then give it to the pro's. They use a computer (MUTII) which is far more accurate than using a multimeter.

Pretty please? lol