i recently made the mistake of going to wal mart lube for an oil change. while there, they accidentally drained my transmission fluid. they replaced it with atf +4. but two days later my engine starting getting stuck in gear. after taking it back they told me that my fluid was almost completely empty.
i have recently went to someone who kones what they are doing. i got a flush and he replace with mitsubishi fluid. however my rpms seem to be running high and i smell a burning smell from my engine.
ehat should i do and could there be more serious transmission damage

 

Eric,

A: I'd be looking at making Walmart pay for any potential damage and cost of repairs that they caused. Review all the paperwork & policies on your risk and liability for using their lube services. Also, if YOU are actually responsible for them doing stuff then YOU should be the one paying for the cost of repair not them. For example if they advised you to do something and you said not to, then you are unfortunately at fault. You know what I mean?

B: For this smell you describe, find out exactly what are you smelling. If you're not sure, find someone who knows what the different burning smells are and have them assess what this smell might be.

C: Yes, there could be tranny damage caused buy excess heat from not having enough fluid in it but it could simply be other things.

If it is indeed a tranny problem make sure you use a REPUTABLE transmission shop to have it looked at since a modern tranny like that in a Mitsu is probably one system in a vehicle that's exceptionally sensitive to the kind of lube it uses and using the wrong fluid can unfortunately DESTROY it's internals.

HTH.

 

Before I flushed my tranny, I pan drained my tranny and replaced with ATF+3. It took approximately 4 quarts and the tranny ran it for 30k miles with no problem. ATF+4 is supposed to be a replacement for ATF+3. There probably is slight viscosity differences but since your total sytem capacity is 11-12 quarts, it would mix into the existing fluid. I doubt that 4 quarts of ATF+4 would have caused driveability issues. Im not 100% sure - just my opinion. I doubt ATF+4 would cause a burning smell etc.

What you need to do right now is fully warm up the car and check the tranny fluid level using the dipstick. Make sure its not overfilled. Did the mechanic who did the flush use Diamond SPIII ATF? Also, maybe the burning smell is oil or ATF that dripped on the exhaust during the oil change and tranny flush...

What do you mean by high RPMs? Does the tranny feel like its shuttering or slipping or not shifting into gear (redlining)?

 

do NOT USE atf +4 in a mitsu trans.


and having said that, it sounds like walmart owes you a transmission overhaul. take it to mitsu (NO WHERE ELSE) for a checkout. all independant trans shops are awful.

 

Can you qualify where you got the jpg image from? If it's some kind of release from Mitsu Motor's what are the document numbers? He will need that to present to Walmart and also to his attorney if Walmart decides they don't want to pay for it.

 

What is to say that SP-IV is ATF+4? Maybe Im missing something? If you are saying that they are equivalent, is it a stretch to assume that ATF+3 is SPIII?

 

by high rpms i mean it seems as though it is not shifting hwne it needs to the rpms seem to be running higher than usual before it shifts.

 

yeah if i could find out were that document came from. it would help a lot. anything that can help prove my case when explaining it to the wal mart people would help.

 

Like TJ said. SPIV has nothing to do with ATF +4.

Did you check your engine oil level? Maybe they drained the AT fluid then put 5 quarts in the engine? Maybe you have 10 quarts in the engine? Simple things first. Check fluid levels and check for visible signs of fluid leakage/spillage.

 

You need to use either DiamondMax ATF fluid or there is an additive that you can place in standard ATF fluid to get the same mixture. I made the same mistake with Jiffy Lube and it cost me $4000 to rebuild the tranny. NOT fun!