i have a 98 eclipse, automatic, 74k miles. it's just started being touchy with the shifting. sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. i'll drive it one day with everything being perfect, next day, turn the car on, check engine light comes on and it won't shift.
one day it did it, i had an appointment i couldn't miss, so i drove the 2 miles (going 40mps at 4krpm..lol), went to go home, and viola, it's shifting again.
it's done that a couple of times now, i took it to auto zone, they did a code check on it, guy said it's a bad shift solenoid.
i question that because if it was bad, it would be bad all the time, not be good one day, then bad, then good again. so i think there is something else..but i have no idea what.
(and i'm 25, a girl, and just now getting into cars, so not to be stereo-typical, can you please dumb-it-down for me a little..lol)
i looked all over the internet, but couldn't find an answer, so i'm hoping you all can help me!
Thanks!
(and if i'm able to do it myself, i plan on doing it myself)

 

stupid question but hows your fluid???

 

the problem is its a MITSUBISHI AUTOMATIC-Heh heh. They dont last as long as they should..

 

all my fluids are fine, that's the first thing i checked. i guess i'm just gonna buy the shift solenoid, replace that, and if it's not that, move on down the line to the speed sensor..

 

Worthless post^

If the check engine light is on take it to autozone and have them scan it. What color was the fluid and does it smell burnt?

 

the trans fluid is a medium-darkish red, from what i've looked up, thats pretty normal, and i didn't think to smell it..lol

 

There are several shift solenoids did he give the the dtc number?

 

no, he looked up the part for me and said it would be about 140$. how is there more than one shift solenoid? i know there is more than one speed sensor, but everywhere in my car manual says nothing about more than one shift solenoid..

 

i dont know if this will help but my fiances accord had this problem and it was the speed sensor. i changed it out and it works great now. its at least worth looking into. also if you can get the exact code they give you at auto zone you can look it up online or post it here and someone will know what it is.

 

well my friends dad is an independent mechanic (an actual honest one! lol) and he looked up all the info on my car, it was manufactured dec/97 and there was a tsb/recall for the computer not letting the car shift until it gets to a certain temp.
which explains why it wouldn't shift in the morning, but after i drove it 2 miles, turned it off, turned it back on, and it would shift again!
all i have to do is get the computer reprogramed and it will be fixed. not sure how much that is going to cost though.
thanks for your help everyone!!