I have an 07' outlander with 74k miles....I started to experience some hesitation between 2nd and 3rd gears...I made an a ppt to have it checked out at dealer.....testing showed trans malfunction and they told me I was covered under warranty...next day they called and said my fluid was wrong color and that my warranty may be voided. They said it should be green and mine was dark red and not see through. They said it would take one week to get results back to test the fluid for contamination.

After two days the service mgr called and said that they pretty sure warranty would be voided and they could try a flush to get bad fluid out and see what happens.

I bought the car new and have never changed the fluid. (I now realize I should have changed at 24k and 48k miles)...

They think that during my oil changes, the oil change place topped off my fluid with the wrong kind (not DQ J2)...

I am at fault for not changing trans fluid....but I never changed what was in it to anything else...

Not sure what to tell the service manager. Was thinking of telling them to still test for contamination and flush system...

Thoughts?

 

green transmission fluid? DiaQueen ATF-J2, when fresh, is rosy pink/red...pretty much like all ATF fluids. When it goes dark, that's when the oil is done for.

Honestly, I'd have them run a test for contamination. Also request them to save a sample in a sterile bottle. This way, if the dealership will not help you out, you have an oil sample that they say was in your vehicle. If the dealership says it was contaminated, request for their results in writing. If it looks like a good full report, take that to your oil change place and grill them if they occasionally top off. If the guy looks nervous and says no, then I'd contact their customer service and start grilling them.

There is no way in hell would ATF ever turn green. Your coolant is a very bright green color...perhaps you have coolant in your transmission...which I would think should prompt them to investigate further (drain tranny...do pressure test on coolant system) to ensure you do not have any internal cross-contamination.

Keep us updated, this one is a bit far out.

 

Some CVT transmission fluids are green, for example Motorcraft XT7QCFT for Ford Freestyle.

DiaQueen ATF-J1, the fluid for Mitsubishi's CVT, is pink though...
Anyway the problem is with 6 speed transmission, not CVT one, right?

 

Thank you both...
You know... I thought when the Mitsubishi dealer showed me the green fluid and what it should be and then showed me my blood red that it was strange...I called other Mitsubishi dealers and they told me mine should be red and I told the place I took it and they swore up and down it should be green...

I got out my manual...it is a 3.0 L V6 Sportronic 6-speed and the manual says to use DQ-J2

They told me one time it was unsafe to drive my car...then the next let's just flush and run with it....I am afraid I need to take car somewhere else....this is unbelievable.....

 

Just talked to the technician and they said that the cvt and the 6-speed both use green DQ-J2......that the 5- speeds use rosy pink......??

 

Vadimus...that's interesting.

Wolf, are you saying that they showed you green fluid, showed you what new looks like, and then showed you another sample of your fluid that was red??

Have you ever checked your fluid before? noticed the color then?

 

Yes, sorry if I was confusing:
they showed me a tube of "new" fresh fluid that is suppose to be in my car. It was a tube of green fluid. Then they showed me what looked like a vial of blood and they said that is what came out of my car. They say...pretty much I have the wrong stuff in my car or that someone topped off with red stuff not knowing it was suppose to be the green stuff.

Sadly, I have never checked the fluid myself. I always take my car to be serviced every 3K miles and trusted that all was checked properly, so I have no way of knowing what it was like. (My mistake)

This is a huge lesson learned that I hope others reading the post will consider. I will never buy another new car without checking the fluids and having an understanding of what is suppose to be in it, and will never take it to be serviced without making sure they understand what is suppose to go in the car. I would have never thought about something like this before. How do I even know that when I bought the car "new" that the wrong fluid wasn't in it to begin with?

I could have prevented this all probably by getting the recommended services that I neglected to do.

Status now: my sample of fluid has been sent to Mitsubishi and my car is sitting at the service center and we have to wait one week for the results. They are still suggesting I flush the system out, but I am concerned with this green versus red DQ-J2......

 

I wonder if the stealership is getting confused with their own product.

Like you said, the owner's manual says to use DiaQueen ATF-J2, which is red. If you look at the service manual, it references DiaQueen ATF-J1 to be used. Doing some googling, a CVT transmission uses DiaQueen CVTF-J1, which is green in color.

The 2007 Outlander was not equipped with a CVT, all models used a traditional automatic transmission. From what I looked at, the CVT was introduced (in the states) for the Outlander in the 2008 year for the ES and SE trims which also had the 2.4L engine. From what I can see, the 3.0 was not married to the CVT in the Outlander. I think you should ask them to see their documentation that specifies which fluid goes into your automatic transmission.

I wonder if you'll get a free flush for your troubles.

 

"I wonder if you'll get a free flush for your troubles."

Thanks for the laugh!....I have asked them twice now about J1 versus J2 and I basically don't know what I am talking about and they say they have done all the research they need and know what is what.....

I didn't have much luck researching the different types in the web...

good advice and thanks so much for the info....I will ask for theirs....

 

what stealership is this???