Within 2 miles from a cold start the Automatic transmission temp light goes on. Even after cooling the car for ten or more minutes it still does not go off. Although I try to get off the road as soon as the light comes on it is shifting fine A few months ago I changed the fluid with Dextron 3 ATF so the fluid is good but slightly overfilled. I do know that the fluid was changed only once or twice by the previous owner and that was at least 70,000 ago. the car has 210,000. I wonder if the filter is clogged preventing circulation. Any other ideas?

 

hello! if your filter was clogged it wouldnt shift at all. fluid couldnt get to your clutch packs. that is good that you changed the fluid, but its the wrong fluid. you should only use mitsubishi diamond fluid. dextron does not have the needed additives that a mitsubishi trans requires. eventually your going to get torque converter shudder with that dextron. meaning that when the trans warms up, and the lockup applies the whole vehicle will shudder, cant miss it!! its unmistakeable. 2 things do that, dirty fluid, or non mitsubishi fluid. your problem sounds to me like the temp sensor itself is bad. the only way to tell is to get a scanner and monitor the temp as it warms up. if the sensor is bad it will exceed the parameters for the computor and turn on the light. the senor is located on the valve body inside the trans. it will require skill to replace. the valve body will have to come out to access the sensor. my recomendation is to let adealership properly diagnos it for you. then make a decision on who to repair it. good luck!! greg...