Autobox made of cheese?

[RugbyPete]

Has anyone got any advice for a new Galant owner with an auto box. I'm heaqring all sort of stories of the autobox lasting only 30k??

I'm going to be getting the autobox oil change every other oil change, and not boot it around at any time.... maybe once a year... but apart from that I can't think of any backup plan other than a spare empty credit card int he glovebox for the inevitable!!!

Did Mitsu never address this problem, or just replace them under warranty until the warranty's ran out?? Mines already had one box by the previous owner, coming upto 100k im guessing hes not keen on keeping it out of warranty!!

[Nick Mann]

Hello and welcome! Firstly, the autobox is not a bad unit. It sounds like you have been given scare stories rather than fact! Yes, boxes fail, but not regularly!! Most failures are due to poor maintenance or incorrect spec oil.

So, the two failures I have heard of most in the V6 can be covered in the following two paragraphs:

It is advisable to flush the oil in the box when it's changed. (We have an articles section in the members area which shows the flush procedure.) Many places only dump the sump and re-fill, which is only half of the oil in the box. Also use an oil that is suitable. I think the only oil that meets Mitsubishis Diamond III spec apart from Mitsy oil is Amsoil. We have a discount with them in the members area, plus you will find a member on these forums with the username Amsoil! Several members including myself have used Amsoil in the gearbox, and would heartily recommend it. Also note that Dexron III whilst close to Diamond III is not quite the same. The friction properties are close enough so it will appear to work for a good while, but far enough out so your clutch packs will slowly munch themselves. You will end up with jerky gearchanges and shudder when the box tries to lock up in high gear.

The torque converter and the input shaft splines can sometimes damage themselves. If this happens both sides need to be renewed. Often only one set of splines is renewed, which leads to a similar failure just down the road.

Hope that info is useful, and also hope that some people finding a 'weak point' on the car don't put you off! Remember that Mitsy's are amongst the most reliable cars around!!

[RugbyPete]

Well out of all the forums, thats the best news so far... I'm liking this forum already

Thanks for the info, I'm in no way put off by the car, just a bit scared by the regular users. I figured someone must have a more accurate answer/solution.

I'm not a mechanic by any means, but do my own oil changes etc., who would you recommend I go see for this work, bearing in mind the previous owner had a Mitsubishi dealer/garage do all previous services, I imagine not with Amsoil, or is it fairly easy to do myself? At what duration?

As for the shaft splines, would a Mitsu garage identify this easily, or just go "You need a new box mate, £1500 please"

I like Amsoil, always have. As I will use their oil in my engine, what would you recommend for a UK user? Its -5 at the moment and pretty much always cold and wet here, they do a European spec 5w/40 and a 10w/40, would these be best?

[Nick Mann]

We have guides for most service items in the members area - all done ourselves, taking photos whilst we do the job.

Alternatively, search the site for WRD (I think you can find them on the mini-sites section) as they are developing quite a reputation for themselves, servicing and fixing members galants. They are based in Stoke, but people travel from Devon and Scotland to pay them for their expertise!! The money saved on the servicing often pays for a lot more than the petrol to go and see them.

The V6 has suggested service intervals of 9000 miles, the VR4 4500. A couple of members are trying Amsoil for longer distances, having the oil independantly checked as they go. Things are looking good so far!! I can't tell you how often the V6 should have it's ATF changed, but I would suggest a full flush with Amsoil and then find out if there is a similar check kit? I'm not sure if this is being done yet or not...

Is your username a hint at where you live or your occupation?

[RugbyPete]

Its where I live, J1 of the M6

Thanks for all the help, I'm gonna enjoy maintaining my Galant Im sure. I'll take a better look around the site, the 108k service will be up soon, at a garage this is £500-700 so I'm ging to need as many contacts as possible!

[Physician]

Its where I live, J1 of the M6

Thanks for all the help, I'm gonna enjoy maintaining my Galant Im sure. I'll take a better look around the site, the 108k service will be up soon, at a garage this is £500-700 so I'm ging to need as many contacts as possible!

Well, you have someone right on your doorstep who owns a Galant VR4 and has a bodyshop in Rugby. He and his wife are extremely knowledgeable about Galants.

As Nick mentioned - find WRD Motorsport advert on the site and give them a ring and they will quote you for a service. They are absolutely brilliant and look after your car as if it was their own.

PS: And I'm just up the road in Leicester

[RugbyPete]

Ah brilliant, sounds like I've stumbled on a great forum, I will definately be giving them a ring, there are too many cowboys in my area, been stung before too many times. Since a great place in Leamington shut down, I don't have any garage in the area I can trust.

[Roadrunner]

I'm going to be getting the autobox oil change every other oil change

That's not required. You'd be changing the ATF every 9k miles! Standard recommendation is to change the ATF every 24k miles or thereabouts, but, with Amsoil synthetic ATF in the box, I think you'd get more mileage than that. Much more important is to keep the ATF at the absolutely correct level - too low and the changes can be notchy, too high and you risk blowing the torque converter seal.

As others have said, regular maintenance is the key to reliability with these cars. I'm on my second VR-4 - first had done around 120k miles when I sold it, current one is on 84k miles. The torque converter seal was done on my previous car at 15k miles(!) before I bought it, never had any problem with the current one. Been using Amsoil ATF for the past 20k miles or so with no issues at all. I would recommend upgrading the ATF cooler though, the standard one really isn't up to the job.

Cheers,
Brian

[I-S]

Just a couple of things to add...

Even though your car is not a VR4, the membership fee is very well worth paying. It's saved me hundreds of pounds (if not thousands by now). If you're intending on using Amsoil, the club member's discount will quickly start to pay your membership fee.

On the autobox... Mitsubishi dealers themselves tend not to use the correct ATF, in addition to their total lack of ability to change the fluid properly. It is these things that cause autobox problems rather than something inherent to the 'box itself. Mine has covered 111600 miles and is just fine.

Welcome.

[Spirit]

Just to add, from someone who abuses his on track, that I have had no problems really either.

My first VR4 had the torque converter seal replaced as soon as I bought it, but since then no issues with either car......and that includes track abuse.

I do, however, replace my ATF every three oil changes or so - so roughly 8k to 10k miles. That's just me being anal more than anything.

[RugbyPete]

What oil rating do should I use on the galant?

Standard 10w/30 or the euro 10w/40? is 5w too thin?

[I-S]

I've found that my plain vanilla 2.0 (4cyl) is happiest on 5W30, certainly in the winter months. 10W doesn't give good cold-start performance, so it's tappy for a couple of minutes until the engine starts to warm up. In this country it never really gets hot enough, certainly if you're not going on track, for the difference between 30 and 40 to be significant, especially with the film-strength performance of class 4 and 5 synthetic oils (eg amsoil) at high temperature.

In summary, I'd look at 5W30 and 5W40 (second choice).

[RugbyPete]

Got the cars service costs today, its autobox change cost a shade over £1k, really keen not to let this happen again. Asked WRD for a quote to flush and drain, I'm a fair weather mechanic!

[I-S]

WRD will do it right with the right fluid at a sensible price.

[White Lightning]

We changed the ATF in mine when we did the engine swap. The stuff that came out was rather black (which I was surprised about as it looked quite red on the dipstick). We put Amsoil ATF in and since then the changes have been very smooth so I am very pleased

I am using the the Amsoil 0w30 in my engine at the moment (link is below). I spent a couple of weeks deciding what oil to use after my original engine expired and decided this was the best option. Mine does a lot of short journeys to and from work and therefore is often running cold therefore I wanted a high quality, thin oil that was up to the job. Some think that this could be too thin and it may be that the engine will be quieter with a thicker oil (its not too bad now) but I was not convinced it would protect the engine as good when cold.

http://www.performanceoilsltd.co.uk/0w-30(2000).html

[RugbyPete]

Where can I buy Mitsubishi Diamond III ATF from?
I figure if I'm not using Dexron I wont run into problems, especially as I'd religiously change it every 24k

[Nick Mann]

And there, my friend, is the problem.

There was some diamond III on ebay a while ago. IIRC it was about the same price as amsoil. If you are unconvinced about using amsoil, the easiest way after that is to use dexron III with a friction modifier. The one you need is Lubeguard Black. Search these forums on it and you should find a bit more info.

[I-S]

Pete - this is exactly what lead us to Amsoil in the first place. SPIII is so hard to get that even mitsubishi dealers tend not to use it. Amsoil is the only ATF that is easily available that EXPLICITY states SPIII compatibility. This is why Amsoil offer us a special deal on ATF (that goes a little beyond the standard club discount).

By the time you've paid the hefty sum for lubeguard friction modifiers then you might as well have bought Amsoil, which will last longer, warm up quicker and run cooler.

Please note that the one person who did run DIII + Lubeguard changed over to Amsoil and would not go back.

If you can't afford to do it right, can you afford to do it again?

[mattpage]

I've recently changed the fluids to Amsoil (auto box and engine).
I can definatly recommend the stuff. The box is much smoother now.
Dom (amsoil distributor) is also a top bloke, his customer service is excellent.

[Nick Mann]

Please note that the one person who did run DIII + Lubeguard changed over to Amsoil and would not go back.

I resemble that remark! But I think you were talking about someone else? So two votes to zero in the amsoil vs lubeguard death-match!!