This is my first posting so please bear with me. I will try to be as thorough as possible in describing this issue.
I have a 1995 Galant with and automatic transmission. I recently had an oil change done. Afterwards I noticed that I had white smoke coming from the exhaust. It seemed to stop after 5 minutes or so. But then it started to seemingly drop into neutral whenever I made a sharp turn. My first thought was that maybe it was low on transmission fluid. So I parked and checked it. Sure enough it was about 3/4 of a quart low so I topped it of.
However, as soon as I "hit the gas" a little hard, the smoke was back... with a vengeance! It looked like I had a cloud coming from my exhaust pipe. Uh oh. Not good I though.
Unfortunately, I was still 10 miles from home. So I put in in reverse, backed up, and the car stalled out as soon as I hit the brakes. Now I was pretty sure I had a vacuum leak somewhere. After cranking up again, I began to make my way home. But I soon learned that I could only tap the brakes, or I would stall out again.
When I finally did get the car home, I found the transmission fluid was low by almost a quart! Now I had an idea about both the white smoke and the vacuum leak. I had the same thing happen to a 1991 Ford Explorer when the Vacuum Modulator Valve went out on the transmission.
Now the questions behind my long winded story are:

1) Were is the vacuum regulator located at on this transmission? (After searching the internet, and asking my local Advanced Auto Parts store, I'm pretty sure it has one)

2) If I'm wrong, and this transmission is totally electronic as I have been told by a few people, how else could i be "burning" transmission fluid? I'm almost 100% certain that the white smoke that I have is due to that because I have checked all of the other fluids and none have went down except the ATF. And, the smoke stops as soon as the transmission fluid gets low.


Again, I apologize if this is a bit drawn out and unorganized. Like I said, this is my first posting. Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated http://www.mitsubishi-forums.com/style_emo...lt/liebe011.gif

Well unfortunatly , yu are wrung. This car has nun. It is fully electronically controlled and has no need for one. On mitsubishi's (these model transmissions) ive always checked the transmission fluid warmed up and not running. Running will usually give a false reading on these models , unlike other model transmissions to which yu are spossed to check with it running.

Anyway. The white smoke would be engine related. Now when yu say "drop into neutral" do yu mean it has a second of loss power ? as if the engine power temperarily cuts out during the turn then comes back again? White smoke generally means that yu may have a failing cylinder head gasket or cooling system issue related in the same way. How did the transmission fluid look, colour? How does yur cooloant look, is it low?

When I checked the transmission fluid level the car was already warmed up as I had just driven it about 16 miles. And yes, it was shut off.
When I said that it would "seemingly drop into neutral" I meant that the transmission felt as if it was in neutral. I would accelerate to turn, then the transmission would "drop into neutral" with no loss of power from the engine. I would actually have to let of the gas or the engine would just race, and SLOWLY give it gas for it to "go back into gear".
As far as the fluid levels, they are all perfect. With the exception of the transmission fluid being low as I said earlier. The engine oil looks extremely thin though considering I just had it changed with 10w40. It looks more like the consistency of 5w10. But there is no water in it. The transmission fluid, although vary low, looks nice and red.
I have checked under the car to see if maybe I just have a very serious ATF leak, but there was nothing so I still dont know how I lost nearly a quart of transmission fluid during only a 10 mile drive.

Its hard to understand yur term drop into neutral. Then yu say as in a loss of power frum the engine but , then say the engine races? Normally in making turns when a person is slowing to turn they are braking and then accelerate after making the turn , as in turning on a road. Now yu are saying after yu make the turn then press the gas to accelerate it acts as if its not in any gear?

Yu can be dealing with a pressure issue within the transmission. As ina seriously restricted filter. Ive seen it alot on these models the F4A22 and F4A23 and similar models. Couls be that after yu are driving and then slow down , the restricted filter is causing pressure issues and air possibly and also the variance in the fluid level.

First, let me add that I have changed the transmission filter less than 3000 miles ago. And as for the "dropping into neutral" issue, I'll try to be as clear and simple explaining it as I can.
When I stop at a red light or stop sign, and attempt to my a turn, the car accelerates fine for approx. 5 seconds before it "drops into neutral". When it does this, I have to let off the gas or the engine will simply race as if its in neutral.

Also, as an experiment, I just checked the transmission fluid level (after it reached normal operating temperature). I found that it was low. The coolant, brake fluid, and power steering fluid were all perfect. The oil was nearly perfect except that it seemed very thin, as I stated earlier. After adding enough fluid to reach the level on the dipstick, I drove it for 1 mile. During the 1 mile drive the was so much smoke coming from the exhaust pipe that I couldn't so behind the car. When I got it back home, I checked all of the fluids and the only thing that was low was the transmission fluid. It was down to the very tip of the dipstick. What could be causing this? There is no fluid on the ground so I'm fairly certain that it's not leaking that way.

Any thoughts?

Did yu look to see if the transmission is leaking fluid around the inspection plate? The plate that yu remove to remove the torque convertor bolts? Yu can be having an issue with a failing TQ convertor . Did yu inspect the transmission cooler lines? See if they are seeping fluid near the hose clamps where they fit to the transmission. Yu could also have worn down transmission 1st gear clutches or second gear clutches causing slippage under high tq at low rpm situations.

Ok. just checked for any signs of transmission fluid leaking from underneath the car or from the cooler lines. There are no signs of any leaks in either area.

Also just tried something. With the car parked, I ran it at idle until it reached normal temps. I then shifted through the gears and then put it in neutral and checked the transmission fluid level. It didn't even register on the dipstick. After I put in back in park I shut off the car and checked the transmission fluid again. Same results. During all of this there was NO SMOKE coming from the exhaust. Then I checked the other fluids( oil, power steering, brake) and they were all perfect AGAIN.

So I cranked the car again and let it idle for 15 min. Still NO SMOKE. After 15 minutes I shift through the gears then put it in neutral and add transmission fluid until it registers as full on the dipstick. Almost immediately it starts to smoke. A LOT. Its a thick white smoke that just hangs there. I waited until it stopped smoking and then checked the transmission fluid. Sure enough, IT WAS EMPTY AGAIN!!!! I shut off the car, and checked the other fluids again and they were at exactly the same spot as before.

So here is what I know as facts :

1) I'm losing transmission fluid.

2) Somehow it's being burned through the engine/exhaust.

3) No other fluids are going down.


So my question is this, How is transmission fluid getting into the engine/exhaust? And please, don't waste my time with answers like "It's impossible for that to happen". Because as my experiment proves, it not only can happen, it IS happening.

Dont waste yur time? Im the onlee one here tryin to help yu. Well maybe i shuoldnt waste my time either. There is no vacuum regulated modulator valve. No vacuum lines that interconnect the engine or transmission. The smoke may be not related to one another. Yu can have bad valve stem seals causing the engine smoke of its coming frum the exhaust pipe.

kit is correct...
there is no common place where the trans and the engine cross...

the only place where trans fluid even could is in the transcooler thats part of the radiator...and if u had trans fluid leaking in there your coolant would look like strawberry milkshake...

so unless somebody did something really stupid like actually hooking your vacuum lines too your trans somehow..which as kit stated isnt really possible because there is no vacuum system on a mitsu...

the only way i can think would be if someone hooked up the breather tube or something ...

did u remove the intake hoses and air box to see if there is any trans fluid in the intake?