got seals replaced, now something else is wrong...

[fat tyre matt]

Hey just had my torque converter seal 2 case seals replaced as there was a small leak. Work done by a transmission specialist. NZ$1600 (!) later it should be OK but after picking the car up was cruising up the motorway and noticed the box was whining louder than normal, and when I went up the gorge cruising in 5th (low revs) it shuddered a few times quite violently and black smoke came out the rear. Rang mechanic and he has no idea what it could be. Pulled off slowly and tested the engine, no smoke...limped home seemed OK....and ideas anyone? Could it just be the box learning?... but that doesn't explain the smoke.
Wishing i'd taken it to Mitsi now...

[Physician]

It does sound as if it's the fuzzy logic box that is in learning mode.

Personally, I'd check fluid ATF levels are correct and if there are no horrendous noises then let it get on with learning for a 100 miles or so. Watch out for further leaks from the torque seal area in case the job hasn't been done correctly.

The smoke ...... quite possibly a normal 'fart' at low revs burning off a bit of unburnt fuel.

[fat tyre matt]

Thanks dude. Yeah I'll give it a good run tomorrow and see how it goes. It just happened again was in third then it clunked into second gear and blew a whole lot of black smoke, it wasn't doing high revs or anything so that smoke is freaking me out.

[bradc]

What oil did he put into the gearbox? That could explain the shuddering.

[richy rich]

Thanks dude. Yeah I'll give it a good run tomorrow and see how it goes. It just happened again was in third then it clunked into second gear and blew a whole lot of black smoke, it wasn't doing high revs or anything so that smoke is freaking me out.
The smoke is not right at all get it back and get them to sort it out.

As for the gear box as Brad said what atf did they put in? If they put the wrong atf in it will foock it up.

[fat tyre matt]

I'll find out tomorrow what fluid he put in it. It's best to go with Mitsi SPIII? Just went for another test drive and I can't get the car over 4000 revs in tip or D. If I try to push past that the car lurches, there's a noise almost like a blowoff valve like air pressure being released or maybe a belt slipping, and then black smoke pours out the back (not sure if it's from the exhaust or not). Also just checked the atf levels after warming up (did the cycle thing) and it's about 1.5 cm above the top of the 'hot' marker. Could too much atf be causing all this do you think? Maybe there's too much pressure and atf is being released from somewhere and burning up on the engine causing the smoke (just a longshot!). Once again, wish I'd gone to mitsi....

[Robotnik123]

Ouch $1600. Just had my torque converter and main seals replaced last week on my VR4 for $1149 at the local Mitsi dealer. Armstrong, Wellington CBD. And I thought that was expensive.

[fat tyre matt]

Yep looks like I got ripped and a crap job to boot. People, don't go to wellington automatics aka automotive dynamics on Oxford st, newtown. Also in total they had the car for 6 working days and I have to take it back tomorrow cos is still f#$kd. Thinking about taking it back to mitsi instead.

[bradc]

Make them fix the problem, you don't want to be out of pocket any further.

[Robotnik123]

Yep looks like I got ripped and a crap job to boot. People, don't go to wellington automatics aka automotive dynamics on Oxford st, newtown. Also in total they had the car for 6 working days and I have to take it back tomorrow cos is still f#$kd. Thinking about taking it back to mitsi instead.


I should point out that Armstrong Mitsi scratched my car's bumper while it was with them. They did fix it after I pointed it out to them. Also they had the car for two days only.

[Subaru ETA]

yup make sure they put the correct oil in it.

the other stuff sounds like they could have left a hose off in the intake system somewhere?

[Robotnik123]

Hi there, Just remembered that when I had my car's seals done last week, I noticed a lot of smoke coming out the exhaust for about the 1st 15mins or so going down the road. Haven't noticed any smoke since. Also the car is shifting OK. My car typically does not smoke much.

[fat tyre matt]

Cheers. Took it back today and he checked everything he stripped off and put back on to get the box out. Still doing it. He was going to borrow an adapter off his mate so he could check the ECU for errors but his mate didn't turn up (well thats what he said). Told him he may have the wrong fluid in but as he is a tranmission specialist he should know. I took it home and read some more on here and figured it could be running rich so reset the ECU and let it idle to see if it would help. Now engine cuts out as after about 5 seconds unless I rev the crap out of it. Hmmmm, now I may have to get it trucked unless I can get it moving. Should I get it trucked back to welly autos?...or maybe to Mitsi then send that guy the bill.
Sparks are fine as did with platnums 20K ago....

[Roberto]

Sorry no answer for the Auto.

But for the idle, it does take a good while to re-learn, try it with the air-con on.
Start it, let it settle, if it dies, just restart, reving it hard is not going to help.
It's at idle it sets it's self.

Is the smoke coming from the exhaust or just from the back, just thinking if he has spilt something on the exhaust and thats the smoke.

[Nick Mann]

Black smoke is usually overfuelling. If it is only happening at high revs or under load it is almost certainly a badly connected pipe between the turbos and the inlet manifold. He will have removed the pipe by the battery, which goes from the intercooler up to the throttle body, so I'd start looking there.

The shuddering is the wrong friction characteristics which is either worn clutch plates in the box, or the wrong ATF or both. The right oil and a few hundred miles of normal driving will be likely to cure the issue. The only oils that will help the hudder issue are SPIII as you mentioned, or Amsoil ATF. Don't use Dexron III.

[fat tyre matt]

Cheers nick that sounds like what it was to me, that would explain the noise etc. Well I got it trucked back to welly autos and he had it for another 3 days (9 days in total!) until he fixed what was wrong. His explanation was that it was one of the plugs with pins etc that he had reconnected, to what to I don't know. Apparently one of the pins in the plug was not connecting so it needed a slight bend to make it connect properly. I guess it could be true....whatever it was at least he fixed it in the end. But I won't be going back there that's for sure.