QuestionFrom a cold start, my car will start off in first gear, then progress through 4 gears, then drop back to the third gear. It will then spend some small time going from 3rd to 4th then back, settling in 3rd and staying there. When I come to a stop, I must pull the shift lever back to 2nd or 1st, in order not to start off in 3rd gear, then push the lever back to D. Pressing the OD button does not have any effect. At this point, the car will not go to 4th any more, it just goes to 3rd and stays. My engine sputters a good bit, too, so there may be a vacuum leak behind all of this. I have a haynes book on a galant of the same year, but information on exactly what is where when trying to tune up the engine is not forthcoming as it would be in the old chilton's books of old. There are things the book references that I cannot find. Quite frustrating. Today a light came on in my instrument panel. It looks like some sort of house, I guess. I was thinking it meant my air filter was bad, so I replaced it, but the light is still on.
So back to the transmission, could my cable be out of whack a bit, and that is all that is causing it to not get to 4th and stay, or could it be a vacuum leak? I know that you really don't need to even attempt to diagnose trans problems unless the engine is running right and all vacuum hoses are checked for leaks.
I got this great little car for a 67 VW and 100 bucks, so I want to do whatever I can to keep this baby working.
Any ideas as to what to look for with the transmission, and what that light on my instrument panel could be (it's the only orange colored light, and it's between the oil warning light and the brake warning light, next to the last one on the right) Thank you for your time, sorry this is so long.
AnswerBill: You need to get the fluid and the filter changed in the transmission. That might fix your problem. Could be it is out of adjustment too, but I would try the fluid and filter first. As for the light it could be that your car is low on water, sounds like that light. You should have your car coded, AutoZone will do that for free and it would rule out any problem with a sensor(s) or the computer. You know don't you that Mitsubishi farmed out the building of their computers to another company which did not build very good ones. With time a piece will start to leak inside the computer and then kills off the computer. That could be causing the sputter in the engine or it could be a weak sensor someplace. But the house looking light, I think might be the low on water light. Sometimes those lights in those little cars are hard to understand. But check the water, your car might be low. One of the cars I worked on, was not low enough in the way of the water to make the car heat but enough to bring on that light. Put in a bit of water and the light went off. So try that. Could be a vacuum leak with the transmission but try the fluid and filter. And also you might have to take the car to a shop, because sometimes finding out what is wrong with one's transmission is hard to find. Hope this helps and good luck! Linda. Ps. Have fun with that VW too! :o)
