So it time to get my TC SST fluid changed. I've called 3 dealers and they all quoted me no where near the same from 215-430 and all of them said there is no filter that needs to be replaced? All they do is change the fluid. Now I've seen on the forums people who changed their trans fluid also changed a filter because it was so dirty so there must be a filter. Can anyone help me out?

 

You are right, the filter needs to be changed with the fluid. I don't know why the dealerships didn't tell you this, it's right in the service manual. So in short, it's not you.

By the way, $215 for an SST fluid change seems really cheap. It costs at least that much just for the fluid itself (Diaqueen SSTF-1 is nearly $50/quart in Canada, and you'll need 8 quarts). I'm not sure how much SSTF-1 costs in the US, but at $215, they'd be charging about $27/quart and no labor. Sounds like a REALLY good deal to me. Even $430 is a good deal, for that matter.

 

The ones saying $215 are probably thinking of a CVT or Manual (GSR) tranny. If it were my car I wouldn't trust it to a dealership who doesn't know that a filter needs to be changed as well (oh wait, I don't trust the dealership anyway ). Especially since there isn't a dip stick to let you know how much fluid you have put in there. It's way too easy for them to overfill it, which is a whole 'nother nightmare...
Honestly if you can change your engine oil, you can change your tranny oil, it's that easy

 

Ive had the same argument with my dealership in australia. I gave up and let em dig there own grave. They just changed the fluid, failed to remove all the drain plugs. Ive got all this on paper and if **** happens to my sst. They will be the ones footing the bill as Mitsa wont say yes to the warranty on the basis the dealership failed to do the correct servicing

 

Here's the deal, from when I changed my fluid at 30k. You don't HAVE to change the filter but it's recommended. Just like, if you're using a good quality oil filter rated to 15k miles (pulling number out of ***) and you have a lot of stuff your oil has to neutralize but not very many particulates, you can pretty much change the oil at say 3k intervals w/o changing the oil filter.

That said, when I went to call, the guy thought I was crazy for wanting to change my filter. I thought he just didn't know about the tc-sst but then he quoted me the right price and part # and said that at 30k, I shouldn't have to touch it (and according to the manual at least, that's true). So I brought in my own filter and they charged me for labor + $147 for fluid. I have it on record too, $147 for 1 thing of SSTF-1 (which is only 4L!). I think the car requires 6-7L once u take the filter out too and everything. But whatevs cause, if they really only put in 4L while it required 7L, I would've have been able to drive it 8000 miles since my last service. Plus I have 10yr/100,000mi bumper to bumper from a pretty good warranty company.

But even if they did use 7L, it's not even the right procedure. According to the manual, you're supposed to change the fluid, turn the car on, cycle thru the gears, turn it off, drain the fluid you just put in, then put in fluid again. So technically you need TWICE the amount of oil. Whatever they quoted you is probably the lazy way. Since it was my first SST change and I only do highway, I didn't care but next time, I'm just gonna do that sh*t myself. 3 bolts on the bottom (2 for the 2010+) to drain, change filter, fill hole on top under the air filter housing and I'm done. Easy as changing the oil.

BTW: Yes some of these dealerships are idiots. Half the service advisers I talked to and half the mechanics quoted me ATF fluid instead of SSTF-1.

 

Frank, you've got a PM...

 

You need to talk to this guy:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/me...hi-town0z.html
He's a Moderator on these forums, a Mitsubishi dealership mechanic, and he lives in Chicago just like you do. Problem solved, you're welcome... LOL, he already beat me to it....

 

If you were to follow mitsu to the letter, you rinse and repeat until there is no fouling in the oil. You could end up using 12L or more if your trans is really dirty...

 

Actually, Mitsu somewhat-recently revised their service procedure to eliminate the "mineral oil rinse" and changed the service to strictly a "spill and fill" procedure which uses about 5.5L so you have to buy two cans which hold 4L each.

Some customers, to save money, will request to just do 1 can worth of fluid exchange but make sure to spend the extra money on the filter instead of the 2nd can of SSTF. Saves them a few bucks and, since many are doing the service more frequently than the recommended interval anyways, it hasn't proven to be a problem as of yet.

Mitsu still doesn't officially recommend changing the filter as a regular maintenance item, but we always recommend it here anyway.

 

Interesting. I haven't come across the new procedure, but I'll do some investigations. I do know that MMSCAN's revised (2011) service schedule does recommend a filter change. This probably only applies to Canadian Ralliart/Evo X MR models, most likely as a preventative measure due to the climate difference. Speaking of which, we're under a frost warning where I live. Gonna have to pull the winter tires from the basement soon

 

It's not really a "new" procedure, there was just an online update to the MEDIC software TIR section and a notification to omit the "rinse" procedure for those using paper reference manuals.

 

Do you know why they charged me for only 1.4L of fluid? Also, is it even possible to correctly only drain 4L when it actually needs 5.5L? Or are you saying they either let my car go with 1.5L short or recycled 1.5L?

 

Couldn't tell you why they charged you what they did, you'd have to ask. It could have been a typo or something completely different altogether.



When we do a 4L service, we actually just open 1 drain plug at a time and use an empty SSTF container to literally catch the 4L of fluid we will be replacing.

A very slight variance in final transmission fluid level may occur due to spillage or estimation of the "fullness" of the catch-can, but really no moreso than can be attributed to inaccurate measurement methods or practices when doing a full exchange and calculating the 5.5l out of two 4L cans.

Again, I realize it's not technically the right way to do it, and it certainly isn't perfect, but it is an option for someone on a tight budget.

 

That's really odd then because I literally told him, I want everything changed out and I'm willing to pay a little more for peace of mind now.