Jumps in and out of gear. N is lighting when in D

[Frank`e]

Hello.

I have a EC5A automatic from 96.

Today I heard a schreeking sound coming from the gearbox.
After 2-3 miles it startet to jump in and out of gear.
N was lighting and D was gloowing and the shifter was i D.
P, R and N were working fine, but in D it took about 3-4 sekunds before it startet driving, taking long clutch shifts and some times not shifting at all.
I tried to use the tiptronic, but it only worked sometimes.
When i stoped the car and started again, I could drive 0.4 miles before it was jumping in and out of gear again.
I had to stop at every buss stop to "restart" :embarasse

Anyone who can help ?

Regards Frank

[foxdie]

Welcome Frank,

Sounds like the gearbox has gone into limp-home mode because of a fault, as a first guess it could be solenoid failure, can you describe the noises you hear more? Is it just a screeching or is there a scraping / grinding sound as well?

[Frank`e]

Hey.

I would say scraping / grinding sound as well, sounds like 2 pieses of metal rubbing against eachother, like rusti breakes.


Frank

[miller]

Just sounds like overheating if theres no noise? when was oil last flushed? or what type of oil is in there now~?

[Frank`e]

Noise is only there i 1 and 2 gear, when i drive 30 m/h the sound disapears.

I don`t know when last oil flush was or what kind it is. sorry
it is importet to England 8/2008 ebony & ivory and they only changed cambelt. so i gues last flush was in japan or never.

Frank

[aboo]

Have you checked fluid level?

[Frank`e]

no i havn`t. i don`t have af car lift, and i have too get underneath right ?
where can i find the hole to tjek the oil level ?

Thinking of buing a manual EC5A also from 96, is okay with manual gear shifter or are there any problems ?

maybe the car have been here before ?
Ian from Doncaster

regard frank

[Ghost_2008]

If you look between the engine and the battery housing you should find a dip stick, thats the Autobox fluid. You also fill it by the same hole. If you buy the membership it will give a great guid as how to change the fluid properly and what to use..... no the easiest job as even mitsubishi uk used to get it wrong and only change half the fluid.....

the fluid in the box should be ruby red, if it's brown or dirty it will need changing..... if you dont use the correct fluid it will damage the box, Amsoil ATF is the preferred option and will out last the mitsubishi recommended stuff......

[chris g]

Yep, flashing lights -N/D indicate overheating usually...

[Frank`e]

okay, the oil i almost black, smells like transmission olie, not burned.
When the oil i old like this, overheats it then fast ?

The lights in N & D are not flashing just turned on.

[Ryan]

The transmission fluid and filter will need changing immediately. The fluid should be a clear, bright red colour. Black is bad!!! You will need approximately 15L of SPIII transmission fluid from Mitsubishi (or Amsoil ATF if available in your area) to flush the system and torque converter in addition to a new spin-on transmission filter that sits on top of your AT.

[Ghost_2008]

Oh dear.... Black is bad, dont drive it, until it's changed..... If you were/are able to drive 1/2 a mile or so before the N starts to flash I would assume it's just over heating and changing the fluid and filter should sort it......

Good luck

[Frank`e]

okay it stays in the garage.

is there some where i can buy oil an filter in england and get it shipped to Denmark ?
have checked and no one in DK has AMSOIL.
The filter is it the same as on a normal 2,5 v6 160 hp ?

[GalantOnly]

If "D" AND "N" is just light up at the same time and N is not flashing, it can be electrical problem. Take the inhibitor switch connector off and check how the pins look like inside the connector. Pins can be damaged by moist...
The filter is the same as N/A V6

[Ghost_2008]

Given the description of the colour of the fluid that will need changing anyway...... I'm sure Opie oils could ship to Denmark, might cost a bit though..... The inhibitor switch could be faulty but it does seem that the car was drivable for a short distance before the gearbox died, which would indicate over heating.......

[Frank`e]

And where is the the inhibitor switch connector lokatet ?

[Gly]

Hey.

I would say scraping / grinding sound as well, sounds like 2 pieses of metal rubbing against eachother, like rusti breakes.


Frank

ill be the first to say that the lack of servicing has ruined the gearbox, and it will need a rebuild or replacment

[chris g]

And likely that AMSOIL could easily ship to your address in Denmark...

[GalantOnly]

And where is the the inhibitor switch connector lokatet ?

Under the air intake snorkel, beside the battery tray. The white "plate" with big grey connector on it. I don't think that internal box failure will cause both LED's to light up. I did have a car once with autobox, that did the things like that and it was faulty switch.

But the noise... That's not good

[Atik]

The sound is what mine did when my gearbox broke two years ago. It sounds almost like the whole underside of the car is dragging on the ground as you move. Cant remember what mine did with lights though, and my ATF was murky pink.

I'm with Gly on this, and think it could be a broken gearbox.

[Frank`e]

I changed the fluid and filter yester day, i had 10 liters of mitsubishi SP-3, it seems that it was not enought, it didn`t change color when i drained the cooler before i ran out of new oil.

I too it for a spin and it was working fine, until it got hot (after 7 km), then a whirring sound accourd and it began to jump out of gear again and this time N was flashing.
i then stop the car and turn of ignition, start again and it works again for 700 meters.

If the gearbox is broken will it still drive it as long as it is cold ? or will it not drive at all ?

could it be that i shoud change the fluid again and use a bit ekstra (15 liters) to be sure that i get as much as possible of the old oil out ?

[chris g]

Maybe you did not have enough oil...

[amsoil]

You have a problem here, the SPIII you have just put in will be in index but with the problems you have had it will be likely that you have varnishes and other crap dispersed throughout the gearbox. SPIII will be unlikely to shift this; you will unlikely to get things back to how they were.
But you still have a chance as the car still goes , albeit for only a short distance. You need a detergent ATF right now. It will strip the rubbish out as a function of its make up. I would also go for the Transmision flush here http://www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk/amsoil_engine_transmission_flush.html it will do what it says on the can and nobody else make this to my knowledge. The Amsoil ATF so that the gerbox will continue to be cleaned in operation.
All ATF's are not equal; if you search on Amsoil discounts you will find that we offer a 15% discount to club members so email me, I ship throughout Europe. We also supply main dealers when they get these problems and really wish they would use our ATF when they didn't but its all down to money.
All may not be lost ..........yet.

[Frank`e]

hey guys.

I checked the car/ecu for fault codes and found 3.

22 input shaft speed sensor system
44 4th gear ratio does not meet the specifikation. referrence to 22
45 5th gear ratio does not meet the specifikation. referrence to 22

Any with this problem before ?
Did you change:
A/T-ECU ?
input shaft speed sensor ?
underdrive clutch retainer ?


Regards Frank

[elnevio]

As far as you know, are the A/T ECU and gearbox original to the car, i.e. haven't been changed? The reason I ask is because if it HAS had a replacement gearbox, the ECU may be mismatched with the gearbox, especially if the replacement box came from a different year vehicle, and the matching ECU wasn't used.

Otherwise, given those codes, it looks like you have a faulty input shaft speed sensor. I don't know what's involved with fixed/replacing one of those. Hopefully someone with the knowledge will post up some details.

As already said though, a flush and change is a great starting point anyway. And listen to Don (Amsoil), he is the most impartial salesman I know!