So I was looking at some of these threads and I see/hear how people have SST issues. Anywhere for Bouncing Revs, Not Shifting, Slipping.... ETC...

My Question is: When people run into these Issues, What are solutions AVAILABLE? Yes, I know it usually ends up in getting a new Trans. However, is getting a NEW trans the ONLY situation to these issues?

What's the REAL issue? Are the Clutches done? If the clutches are done, would it be best to just upgrade SSP Clutch Disks to fix these issues??? Yes obviously slippin clutches due to TQ the answer would be to upgrade... but what about your stockish, stock turbo RA and it slips....?

How often is the TCU at fault? If it's not the clutches, is it the gears?

Has anyone change out the fluids for something better?? Is heat REALLY the major killer to the trans?

The SST issues is what makes me want to get rid of the car or be crazy and figure out a GSR 5 speed swap. So yeah, Please Techs and those who have had these troubles please input in here.

*** For the record haha NO I'm not having issues just have questions concerning the SST ***

 

If it ain't broke....

You have to remember, the general forum population only accounts for a small percentage of actual RA owners. That, coupled with the fact that forums are generally a commonplace to gather and ***** about your car, you're going to see a lot of talk about SST troubles. When, in actuality, they're somewhat rare occasions (IMO).

I do believe preventative maintenance can only help and extend the SST's health. Running some quality fluid, and changing it (along with the POS paper filter) at regular intervals can't hurt anything but your wallet.

I am running a different fluid in my SST, there are a couple options out there for you to choose from. It's sort of taboo to talk about this around here, but a quick google search should yield you some interesting results .

Heat is, and can be, a detrimental factor to the SST. The cooler is a dinky little thing. If you ever do any high performance driving (AX, road courses, etc), be prepared to experience some limp mode. There are, however, a couple options for better cooling ranging from a second cooler positioned in the nose of the car, or a bigger and beefier cooler to replace the stock cooler.

I have had very little issues with my SST. It rattles, makes noise, clunks, and is overall a cranky *****. But it's never failed to deliver a smooth and crisp shift for me. I even ran the factory fluid until around 63~64k miles (do as I say, not as I do) .

Also keep in mind that Bryan and Richard are doing AMAZING things with the basemaps and SST tuning .

 

I echo the OP's sentiment.

Tuning and replacing clutch packs are fun and all but has anyone been able to actually FIX a tc-sst? Not upgrade a working one, but fix one that was skipping gears, couldn't go into gear, clutch slipping (which i think accounts for like half the cases) due to seals wearing out and not holding pressure, etc?

 

Literally 2 Threads below the current one:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/09...sst-issue.html
Problem solved by changing the fluid.

 

I tried the SSP Gold, wasn't a fan and went back to SSTF. But that was about 18 months ago, prior to tuning the SST; who's to say that with tuning it might or might not help??

The way to "FIX" this problem is to preemptively deal with it (at your power level Ralphy, I would say it's a requirement). Once the face of the clutches are ground away, there is no more grip to be obtained. Just like a manual clutch "how can I prevent my clutch from slipping", it's all about technique (with maintenance thrown in to boot).
The SST was not designed to be in Auto Mode, that was an after thought from Mitsu (probably to market to a larger audience). Think of it like any other high performance flappy paddle gear box, only better (than most, but not all)

 

Regular maintenance corrects a number of problems that people experience with this transmission. People have gone from thinking the transmission is about to crap out to it feeling brand new after a fluid flush and filter change.

It's not taboo to talk about alternative SST fluids. There is a thread discussing all of the alternative fluids that we can use in the dedicated TC-SST section... https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/mi...ed-models-307/

Specific thread discussing all of the fluids that will work:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/mi...sst-fluid.html

 

Well, that just shows how often I poke around in the SST/RA forums lately. Good to see that other options are being openly discussed now.

 

For me, the dealer tried flashing over and over my ecu/tcu to try to fix it.
It worked for a little bit, but then it would skip gears again. They had to replace the entire trans.
I've also read (SSP reported) that a lot of failures were due to a sensor (pressure/temperature) failing.

I believe there are no replacement parts for those that you can just order. When they become available I believe you can repair it.

 

Awesome these are all perfect feedback answers. And you got to be honest, this isn't the most posted about topic either.... RA guys either are posting about Coilovers, Rims, Tires and Can I flash this tune with such and such.

I got my 30K coming up... I'll test out these fluids and go from there. If anyone else has experience or info please post here. =)

 

Keeping it cool seems to be a major factor. I bought my RA new in '09 and waited a thousand miles before driving it hard. I took it for a cruise on Lime Creek Road and it got pretty hot, never hit limp mode.

Aside from that it used to heat up every now and then with just a couple minutes of hard driving in sport mode.

At 18K miles I began having trouble with the car shifting, revs bouncing, limp mode, etc.

I took it to the dealer right away and they held it for a day or two until the Mitsubishi Rep. could come out and take a look at it, no doubt looking for a reason to void my warranty. I was not modded in any way.

The dealer called and said the repair would be covered under warranty, they also told me the clutches were burned out "much more than they should have been" whatever that's supposed to mean. At 18K miles I would think they shouldn't be burned up at all.

Bottom line, at the end of the day the bill would have been $10K as Mitsubishi informed me that they could not rebuild the transmission and they had to order a whole new one from Japan.

The work went well and it drove like a champ when I got it back, never had over heating issues again, so I suspect there was a real mfg. defect with the original transmission.

 

^ Very interesting..

My car has only been STOCK for the Driving Distance from Huntington Beach to the Inland Empire which was a 45 min Drive.....

The car immediately got modded, at 250 Miles. I didn't do the "proper" break-in. I Even drag raced my RA against my friends Evo X modded (They took us to the Dealership when I bought the car which I didn't even go to buy, I went to the dealership for them to order their window visors and get their free oil change... in the end I walked out with a car I had NO intention on buying hahaha) Then the car got Flashed with the GST Basemap 2.5. Did my oil change at 1000 and then the parts started to pour in. At 2300 The car was used by Dsport for the 2012 Buyers Guide. The car was Drag raced 4-5 times at AAA Club Speedway, Tracked at Streets of willow 3-4 Times... I then personally raced it few times after.

So yeah my car has been a nothing but a fun toy since Day 1. I have yet had any SST issues. Ive and yes, my car now is FARRRR from stock lol.

Point is, I see posts like the above post and I get confused on why **** like this happens?? I'm now sitting at 23K and car is running strong. Unfortunately, I'm back on stockish for some testing fitting and editting on parts for the RA. *Grin*

I'm not here to brag but share my lovely experience with my RA. I drive my RA like a Manual... I let go between shifts and people have no idea that it's really an "Auto" I even rev/tap the throttle before leaving from a dead stop (Raising the revs like you would in a Manual). LOL Forced habit I can stand the rapid gear change when part throttle. It makes me feel like I'm in a SLOW car. Therefore a reason why I don't care for the GTR and wish they went back to the 6 Speed. Just my person opinion.

I got the timing on the SST down pack and I'm sure people around me would beileve my car was a manual if I took off the Ralliart Badge or do a Evo X conversion. LOL YES i have got the " WTF it's an AUTO!?!? I thought it was Manual! "


-Sorry for going of topic... my fingers didn't want to stop typing.....

 

I don't let go between shifts, but I feather/tap the throttle from a dead stop just like you do .

I wouldn't go as far to say that I abuse my SST, but I do drive a bit "spirited" from time to time. From what I've read, and heard, is that the SST was meant to be driven hard every now and then. It's possible that some of the SSTs that are having problems, are the ones that are being overly babied.

I have yet to see someone come on a forum, or speak to someone in person, who has said, "Yeah I was beating the **** out of my car the other day and my SST took a huge **** and now needs to be replaced. What a ****ty and flawed transmission!"

 

Yep, you're not the first to draw that conclusion!


So true... I can't recall reading any dead-SST instances that were on-track or dyno-queen pull failures.

Rich

 

I was an early adopter, I bought my RA in March 2009. It's possible Mitsubishi just had some early quality control problems. I do know that, those of us that had issues early on got transmission swaps and the old transmissions were sent back to Mitsubishi, my dealer told me as much.

I suspect they did some investigating, but I never heard anything one way or another.

Like I said the first one got hot quick when I first took it out, sport mode, auto hitting the corners pretty hard. I wasn't surprised it got hot. That was really the first time I pushed the car. After that it seemed like every time I pushed it for more than a couple minutes it got pretty hot.

By contrast, my second transmission NEVER got that hot. I'd push it now and then just for fun, but it never got anywhere near as hot as the first one did.

Personally, I love the transmission, that's why I got the MR when I traded in the RA.

 

Really?

I've read a number of threads, mostly early on (2009-10) when guys started modding the crap out of their RA's and MR's and hit that magical limit. They flocked here in droves describing everything from clutches opening, to limp mode, etc.

AMS also posted a bunch of stuff during early R&D when they took the car to the track and the transmission started over heating like crazy, that's why they developed their transmission cooler.

Most of the R&D for transmission coolers, upgraded clutch packs, etc. came from pushing the TC-SST as hard as they could.

I can't even remember how long it took to determine the TCU was the major issue with holding torque, or that the problem had more to do with torque than HP.