420A AT problems..

[Morel]

Just got my 1996 Eagle Talon N/T.. And having a few problems..

it has 120k on it, and im getting horrible gas mileage (about 250 miles to a tank full, when in my 97 Eclipse RS I was getting damn near 400 miles to the tank).

I'm also worried about the tranny. It's an Auto and it has a huge lag between gear changes.. I accelerate and when it shifts, it has that little gap between the 2 gears. Well it's longer then I think it should be..

But I doubt the tranny Fluid has ever been flushed our or replaced. I wanted to just go thru and change all the filters, fluids, flush everything, and basically do all those nice housekeeping things that I like to do.

Then I did a search on how to change the tranny fluid (i've always owned Manuals) and I can't seem to find a Vfaq on it (Well I did, but the link is broken).

And then I read where if the tranny fluid was NEVER changed it wouldn't be the best idea for me to do a flush. So. now I donno what to do.. heh..


Basically just wanna get the car to a good base..

Dang I miss my Eclipse. Only owner, all maint done like clockwork.. Ran and looked like the day I bought it Stupid tree..

 

[chitalon]

if your engine is flaring between shifts then it is possible that it is time to adjust the kick down band, but seeing that the car has 120k miles then it is also possible that it has faulty front clutches or end clutches

 

[Morel]

Either way, im looking at taking it to a tranny shop?

Oh.. Wonderful..

 

[transdude]

It sounds like you may have an internal problem that needs to be addressed.

In any case, I wanted to give my opinion on fluid changes. This was posted before, but I feel it is relevant here considering the question:

The idea of not changing high mileage trans fluid because it's "holding the trans together" falls under the category of urban legend.

Although I'm sure that there are some that can site examples of transmission problems after a fluid change, the problems usually occur because the service was done improperly.

Also, keep in mind, many people will only change trans fluid if they feel that there is a trans problem- if the problem gets worse, they blame the fluid change.

A transmission service will usually not fix a trans problem, just like changing engine oil wont fix an engine problem. These services are maintenance- nothing more (for the most part).

In the old days (60's and 70's), the trans fluid that was available really wasn't very good. In addition to this, the older units would generate a lot of metal- even when they were working properly. When the fluid was changed, sometimes metal would come out of the places where it was accumulating and go into suspension in the new ATF. I suppose that there were times where it would stick a valve in the valve body and cause a problem.

I honestly have to say that in my 18 years in the transmission business, I can count on one hand the amount of times that I've seen a correctly performed fluid change legitimately cause a problem.

Just my .02

-John