This picture was taken 4000 miles on the odometer. Like many others were (are) reporting, my transmission had been very "notchy" from the moment I drove it off the lot, especially during 1-2, 2-3 gear shifts. After hearing some good things about AMSOIL MTG I decided to drain the stock fluid. So, I pull the drain plug and here's what I find:



And here's a close-up:




The next day I gave my dealer a call first thing to schedule an appointment. In the meantime I had the chance to see what I thought of the MTG. WOW! Very impressed--shifts are buttery smooth compared to the stock fluid. The difference between the MTG and the stock DiaQueen fluid is night and day.

A day later I was at the dealer to drop the car off. As I was giving my info to the manager the head mechanic walked and I had the chance to ask him a few questions. He said that he'd seen a X in recently for a clutch but hadn't had any reports/complaints of any notchiness in the transmissions.

So, we went for a ride, with the mechanic at the wheel. Of course the first half-mile down the road happened without incident, prompting the "it's a performance car..." speech . I kept mum about the MTG, and was somewhat regretting the fact that he wasn't experiencing the car at it's worst. Then, after taking off from a stop the tech crunched both the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts and needed no further convincing. We returned to the dealership and I left with the car and a promise that they would look into it.

A day or so later I received a call from the Service Manager, to follow up on the situation. He reported that he had contacted Mitsu tech line and that they said they were aware of the "problem" and were working on a fix; specifically, he said they had been experimenting with different fluids. This is the last I've heard.

Since changing fluids I've put ~2800 miles on the car. While the new fluid cleaned up the shifts a considerable amount, for the first 2000 of the 2800 miles there was little change in the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. Thankfully, from about 6000 miles until now, a lot of the notichess has subsided and shifts during "normal" driving can be made without the "crunch" and without having to alter your driving style.

I plan to change the fluid again in a couple hundred miles to see what the plug looks like after 3000 miles with the MTG.

Feedback welcome!

 

Mitsu will never do anything about this. The car has been out for about a year now, and this problem has been documented since day 1. To this day, the comment is still, "we are aware of the problem and are looking for a solution." Yeahhh, right. If after a year they don't know what's causing the issue, they are either retarded or they aren't really looking into it at all. Seeing those metal shavings makes me cringe, but with every crunch of the gearbox I would expect that to occur. Mitsu, get your **** together.

 

looks kind of normal wear and tear. If the particals is very fine, then you should be ok, but if there is some larger chunkyer particals then you may have a problem. I work for Volvo as a heavy duty mechanic, and i see that all the time.

 

Where could I buy that stuff from?
I'm going to have give this a try to see if I could start enjoying this car like I did with my IX.

 

Completely normal. That magnet is just doing its job.

 

I'm hoping that some if not all of what was on there is something I should expect to see during the break-in period. This was the FIRST time the fluid was changed for what it's worth. Whatever the case, time will tell.

PM "OilDoc," he can help you out. You have to buy it through a dealer or pay $20 for a preferred customer account at AMSOIL.com (this is what I did.)

Since these pictures were taken I also installed WORKS Under-hood and Console Bushings, and a WORKS Short Shifter Kit and together these pieces really make a world of difference (especially the SS). It's really how the car should feel from the factory--my favorite mod to date.

 

I'm hoping so. 1200 of the 4000 miles were from a road trip (i.e very few gear changes) and a majority of the rest from my 50 mile round trips to work five days a week. The only that worried me, other than it seemed like a lot of metal on there, was that there were a few "fingernail clipping" size pieces in the mix. But things have improved, so you could be exactly right. Thanks.

 

I miss my X sometimes, but when I think of the notchy transmission, I don't miss it at all.

 

I'm starting to wonder if the notchiness or grind a lot of people feel are these particles? I'd imagine that flushing the old fluid and putting new in would clean out most of the little shavings and make things feel smoother. So is it really the MTG? Or is it just new, clean fluid?

Has anyone just flushed their transmission with new Dia-Queen GL-3 fluid, as speced? I wonder if that makes a difference?

 

You're more than welcome to see if a flush with the DiaQueen will help, but I suspect it won't. Once those particles reach that magnet, they'll be there until you pull that plug out and wipe them off. It's a strong magnet and it takes some effort to clean any metal debris off.

 

the metal shavings on the plug are normal signs of wear and tear. Ive owned 3 other Evos and everytime i changed the fluids, it appeared just like that. Nothing to worry about

Speaking of notchiness, 5600k miles and tranny has gotten better and better over time. I rarely get that 1st-2nd gear crunch anymore

 

If it were just clean fluid, the notchy shift would return in a short time..

If you are a daily driver, no spirited driving, no tracking, just granny driving, you can go with the D-Queen GL-3 (even though there really is no such spec anymore) or AMSOIL MTF... I recommend the MTG for other than granny driving and don't tell the dealer it is in there..

Some metal shavings are going to be normal. Those look pretty fine. These are not the best trannies for what the car was built for.

Doc

 

Doc, Could you be specific when you say, "These are not the best trannies for what the car was built for." Internals or whole unit?

Later, Ken

 

Doh! It did not occur to me that it was a magnetic plug.

 

A while back I did some research when the new trannY specs came out with a 75W-80 (5W-30) GL-3 Spec. I came across some technical talk how the tranny, in stock trim, was suitable for around 250-265 Ft Lbs or Torque, which is pretty much about stock power levels. How many EVO's are left stock, not run at the track or do not get some spirited driving ?

It seems that this might be an area where Mits could stand to spend a couple dollars on improvement.That is why you have companies such as Shep Trans, Team Rip and others building these trannies to handle the extra power.

Also, why these builders are not running a lightweight fluid, such as the New Mits Fluid which helps shifting when the tranny is cold but provides limited protection against shock load.

Doc

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