Can anyone tell me how to keep an auto from burning up the OD all the time. This is the 7th DSM that I have owned and got my second auto. The first one I had burned up the OD 2 times and, the shop said the first time was because of the speedo cable was broken. It broke again in 4000 miles and got it fixed, turbo went out and said F it and sold it.

20 years later, I got one that was mostly stock, just put a big 16g on it with all the upgrades done to it already to support it. It is running 14psi but, never got the car over 4500 rpms and never did a full throttle pull...60% tops according to Link. I took it out today to take my daughter to school and at 30mph with about 15 or so percent throttle, it popped back into 3rd and started smelling.... turned around and went home and jumped in my 5 speed talon and took her to school in it instead. Drove about 1/4 of a mile when it did that. No reason, no warning til after it went out. I checked the fluid and it was full and the fluid is brand new... not even 200 miles on it. I just rebuilt the motor on it less than 200 miles ago.

The laser I had in 95, did the same thing. It was a 91 laser rs fwd. This is a 92 talon awd. Back then, it was 2000 to fix it and not going to pay that much to fix it this time. What is causing this or am I just the only person that gets autos that are about to burn the OD up every time. This is the 4th time, this has happened. I have yet, to own an auto that did not break on any car for that reason except my 69 dart.

Its the very weakest gear of all in a auto and we never do "pulls" in OD but maybe the person who owned it before you did. Really fixing OD is easy and can be done with the trans in the car. IPT sells the OD kit with better clutches and steels and all the orings and such that go in it. Did my son's Spyder in a couple hours and it works great but NEVER worked when we first got the car. They have a good tutorial video also.

I have heard that od is weak in the dsm automatic transmissions. Because of this you should never do pulls in od. Basically you just only use od for cruising. When you need to accelerate you need to turn od off. I don't know if you were doing pulls or accelerating quickly in od, but if you were that is your problem.
Haha,1990 TSI AWD TALON beat me to it!

never did a pull in the car. did have the od on but, never did a pull. Still breaking the engine in actually. If it is that easy to fix, I may give that a shot but, I do not know much about autos. This is why I love manuals. You just replace the wearable parts and keep fluid in it and it runs fine. Never had a manual fail me.

I was going 30 when this happened with very little throttle. It is crazy. The trans is used but, dont know the history on it though. Guess I can turn the od off and drive as is if I have to as it is mainly around town driving where I only go about 40 or so anyway.

Watch IPT's video on YouTube and you will see it is not beyond you to do. I watched it as I did it, but I have auto trans experience and wasn't mortified by the thought of taking an auto trans apart. I have faith that you can do your own though so watch the Video to see what you think. Ask questions if you need to. I think this is the one you will want to see:


Sorry, try this:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/ipt-performance-transmissions-end-clutch-video.378914/

Replacing the OD clutches is like 5 or 6 bolts. Super easy. I would suggest the trans lab shift kit as well. This will increase the line pressure to all the clutches. If that transmission has spent any time in limp mode, look for the direct clutch to fail next.

I'm glad to see it's not just me having posting issues.

I thought it was just the OD. It is in 3rd only now. What all issues could cause this? I thought, I had 1-3 but, is only in 3rd. I have never had any experience with an auto. Thank you for all the info and advice. I guess I just have a bad taste in my mouth as every auto that I have owned has died on me in some shape or fashion except my 69 dodge dart. I keep the fluids good and do not get why they have broke on me so easily.

Is there any way to hook up any kind of computer and the software (where do you get this) to find out what the TCU may be having an issue with?

hotrodssnova said:

Replacing the OD clutches is like 5 or 6 bolts. Super easy. I would suggest the trans lab shift kit as well. This will increase the line pressure to all the clutches. If that transmission has spent any time in limp mode, look for the direct clutch to fail next.

Click to expand...

what is the direct clutch? I know very little about autos. My apologies as I am learning and have a spare, although broke, trans that may have some good parts in it to fix the one in the car so, may attempt to do some of the fixing myself, if I get enough 'learning time' in. It only took me about 4 months to learn enough to rebuild a motor, for the most part with my friend's help and Jafro's videos as well.

Take the pump out and the first clutch pack you see is the direct clutch. That's 3 gear.

hotrodssnova said:

Take the pump out and the first clutch pack you see is the direct clutch. That's 3 gear.

Click to expand...

What about any of the other information. does anyone have any other information about the other issues? I think, the pump is bad on the other trans that is out of the car. Also, the spline drive where the axles go in acts funny. You can turn the output shaft to the transfer case and the main output turns but, if you turn the main shaft, the output to the transfer case does not turn. What would cause this? Sounds more mechanical.

Would a bad TCU cause the trans to go 'out' as well? I see postings on doing away with it completely. Is this more dependable to do this kind of mod?

any information will be much appreciated. Thanks.

If the tcu goes out, transmission goes into limp mode. You would have reverse and 3rd gear. Driving around in 3rd gear for extended time wipes out the direct clutch. If you wipe 3rd gear completely, now you have metal to metal contact sending debris through your transmission, not to mention the heat that it generates. If the end clutch wears out, the apply piston may over travel and cut the o ring and now you have a pressure loss and it might get cooked in its bore and that's really bad. Best to rebuild the transmission before things get bad. Goto atdsm.com and read up. Lots of good information there.