I drive a 2003 eclipse GS (4g64 4cyl I believe... [it's the 2.4L "world engine"]) coupled to the 4spd auto with "shiftronic"

I'm experiencing a host of transmission problems that have come on sort of suddenly, and I was wondering if the kind members of this form would be willing to give me some advice on what the problem is or, perhaps, how to go about fixing or dealing with said problems.

There are 3 problems ... so I'll list them in turn.

1 Since day one, the car has always had an incredibly rough and jerky upshift going from 2 to 3, in either auto or "shiftronic," and it only occurs in this specific combo of gears and no others. No matter the throttle input, it's always rough and jerky. However, recently the transmission has started to act up especially odd during this rough upshift. It feels like it hesitates mid-shift; so much so that the engine seems to "spike" around 500 RPM in between the shift (the tach needle will jump up and then back down again).

2 Whenever I'm coasting to a stop, as if I'm coming to a red light in the distance that doesn't exactly require braking effort, the computer-controlled downshifts from 4-3 and 3-2 have started to do funky things. Keep in mind that these downshifts are using zero user-controlled throttle input, and this may or may not have something to do with this problem, as I cannot get the transmission to exhibit this behavior in any other setting. For example, the trans will be holding 4th, and as i'm slowing down, the RPM will fall too low to maintain 4th, so the computer will want to downshift to 3rd. As it downshifts, the RPM needle will drop from 4th's resting idle speed, down to neutral idle, up again to around 3500 or 4000 RPM, and then "slam" in to 3rd, causing a pretty jerky downshift. This applies for 3-2 downshifts as well, but, oddly, NOT 2-1. That transition seems to maintain itself quite well at this point, but who knows, right?? I may have just jinxed it.

3 On a recent drive, I was caught in rush hour traffic (aren't we all at some point?) ... anyway, traffic was crawling around 15mph on the interstate, and I was just coasting along. All of the sudden, traffic starts to break up and get moving, so I, already moving 15 or so mph and with the transmission in "D" setting, give the car around 1/2 throttle ... a pretty substantial throttle application. For some weird reason, the transmission seemed to not grab whatever gear it wanted to grab to sustain this throttle increase. Instead, the car, seemingly in "D," allowed the engine to rev all the way up to 3500 RPM while going 15mph, and all of the sudden BANG into whatever gear it wanted to grab (i'm going to assume it was 2nd???). The tires squealed, the check engine started blinking and then remained on, and the "N" light on the dashboard started blinking. I'm thoroughly freaked out at this point, so I just drive the car home as slowly as I possibly can. It was at this point that problem #2 started occurring. At any rate, I drive the car home, throw it in the garage, and wait until the weekend was over so I could drive it to a shop. To my surprise, the check engine light was NOT on anymore when I went to start the car that Monday morning (a day and a half later, mind you.)

So I have basically no idea what happened on that rush hour drive, and the trans is acting up worse than ever...

I was just curious to see if anybody out there with some known-how about mitsu's or perhaps transmissions in general was willing to share their advice.

Thanks.

 

I didnt read the entire post. But by problem number one, I can almost surely tell you that its due to the original owner (or yourself) using the sportronic option. Mitsu themselves have admitted it was flawed, and in the books it says not to use it "excessively" or often, or at all lol. A lot of them have that issue.

 

wow really?? thanks for the heads-up, I had no idea.

I don't really use the sportronic that often though... I have been known to mess around every once in a while, but mostly it's in D. ...guess it was the previous owner...

any idea on what an appropriate fix would be?

 

Not really... Sorry... I replaced the tranny when mine went...

 

wow.. that's a shame, sorry to hear that ... I guess I will be selling this car ASAP...

Thanks again for your help, it was truly invaluable. Best of luck.