Hi everybody, I am new here. I have a 97 Galant, Only 76k miles. Now It is acting up. When the overdrive is on, it shiftes to neutral around 30 Mph and the check engine light is on. If I trun the O/D id off, it won't shift to the 4th gear. When I am driving at 60-65 Mph, the Rpm is at or over 4000.

What will be the negative effects if I keep driving with the O/D off?

I was been told that I need to replace the whole transmission. It will probably cost me more that $1200. Do I really need to replace the whole transmission? Or just need to replace some parts related to the overdrive? Thanks in advance. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your help.

welcome :57:

who told you you had to replace the whole tranny?¿

I went to a shop they told me that

Welcome aboard! All you need is the overdrive clutch pack replaced which is a simple job and the transmission does not need to be removed to fix it and it only takes about an hour to do.

Mittech,
Thank you very much, I will give it a try. by the way, can you tell me around how much a overdrive clutch pack cost? Should I get a new one or a used one? and what else maintenance job I should do for the tranny? should I clean or replace the overdrive solenoids, like if you do the timing belt, you will do the water pump together??? how much will be the cost?

Another dump question, since I got this car, some one told me that I should change all the transmission fluid, but anther guy told me that I should not change them, all I need to do is to add some more to it if transmission fluid is at the low level. who has the correct answer? I am confused.

One more dump question, Should I turn off the overdrive while I am driving in slow city traffic? Will it have any damage to the tranny or engine if I turn off the overdrive and driving at 60 mph at highway?

Thank you very much for your help!!

It should be around $500. with parts and labor included.

He could be right, but I just had my overdrive replaced with brand new parts and labor, only cost me $200.00. Now this is a friend who has his own shop. He told me normally runs about $300.00. The parts were only 147.00

Running your car in 3rd gear is Direct Drive. Most cars without overdrive have 3 speeds instead of four. I had accidentally hit the O/D button on my old Galant and ran it on the highway in 2nd going 75! The tach read 6500 or so...and no damage. You should be ok.

If your transmission fluid looks to be fairly clean and you think it has been regularly serviced, change it.

If your tranny fluid looks old, dirty and kinda burned looking, then leave it alone, chances are it has gone too long without being serviced and you may do more harm by changing it than good. Just add more fluid if its low.

If your check engine light comes on, you should be able to get an error code to further your diagnoses.
I think lacarman's advise should probably read the other way around, as in change it if it's dirty and leave it if it's clean, if you want it to work for longer.
How dirty is it by the way, as that could be some help with your diagnoses too..

That couldn't be farther from the truth. I took automatic and manual trans in school, and this is what I learned:

If your car has a pinkish tint to it, you have coolant leaking into it. Since coolant is harmful to rubber components in your trans and the fluid is contaminated, you will have to replace everything rubber inside of it. If your fluid is only slightly dirty, you can flush it. If your trans fluid is dirty AND dark, you have something burning (like a locked stator or burned up torque converter clutch) that is in your trans. If you flush the fluid, it will damage it and you WILL have to rebuild the transmission. The same goes for a car with over 60,000 miles that hasn't had the trans flushed...don't flush it. With the amount of dirt in the trans, it will dislodge whatever shavings or metal pieces are in the trans and it won't shift the same and will fail after. If you have clean fluid, flush it after 20,000 - 30,000 miles and do it regularly to keep your trans performing the same way every time.



That isn't necessarily the case, either. If it is a burned up clutch in the input housing of the transmission, then the computer won't detect any codes, it will be able to be used as diagnosis if you can read the real-time stats of the car while it's running; however, but never rely on the scan-tool to just pull codes and diagnose the car. Perfect example: if your brake on/off switch isn't functioning, your torque converter clutch won't engage. It will make the brake light come on your dash, but you might not have a code for the torque converter. You have to use the scan-tool for data to make that determination.

Thank you very much for your guys help!! I really appreciate.
Yesterday, I drove my car to a AAMCO transmission shop. I have my overdrive off because I don't want to do more damage to the tranny. I told them that I might need to change the overdrive clutch. They did a test drive with overdrive off. Then they told me that I need to rebuild the transmission. It will cost at least $1450. I wonder that they just want the money and they did not check it completely for me. because while they did the test drive, they did not even have the o/d on. Then they told me that I lost the whole 4 gear, I need to rebuild the transmission. Is to change the overdrive clutch the same as the rebuild the transmission? what should I do? jsut go ahead to rebuild it or try another shop?
By the way,one of my friend scan the car for me using a computer while the engine light was on. we got the error code p1750. It said the solenoid pack fault.? Is it because some electronic part fail causing the overdrive fail???
One more thing, they told me that with a good tranny, when I am driving on 60 mph, the rpm should under 2500 rpm. Is this ture???
again thank you very much for your guy's help! I have really learn a lot from your replies. any suggestion will be appreciated.

driving in town with the overdrive off is recomended in town,so as not to labour the plates and it won't harm the trans to drive faster with the overdrive off, it'll just cost you more!
the valve body comes off without removing the trans, It could be said to be involved, so if you don't feel up to it you may have to pay someone to do it for you!
here http://www.importperformancetrans.com/foru...b03d526adb8ed17 is a pic of the valves. I've read somewhere that they cost around US$350.
I've also been told that you can clean the valves sometimes as they sludge up with dirty trans oil, which would make the job much cheaper if you did it yourself.
I changed my oil recently and scooped out all the sludge I could reach, unfortunately we didn't have the option of transmission class at school... but luckily everything is OK still.
what number trans does you car have fw1968? (mine is a f4a22)

I do not know what number trans my cars has. I have a 1997 galant es. How do I find our what nubmers my car has?

it should be written under the bonnet next to the engine and model numbers on a little metal plate rivited to the firewall
and thinking about it, if you've taken an engine apart before, taking the valve body off (to get to the solenoids) isn't too different apart from having to keep everything ultra clean...
If it is a solenoid it'll probably be only one of them (they are the 3 round things on the edge of that pic.)
also if you live in town and don't go out of town too often, you needn't do anything! just carry on as you are with the overdrive off....

i cant believe this i have the same problem with my 95 galant. mine has 32000 miles and in od it shifts into neutral at around 30 mph when the od is off ti runs fine but i have no first gear. I dont think its the tranny because i have lost no fluids and have no smoke. il keep u posted with whats goin on let me know if u find any thing out thanks.

Since i only have 32,000 miles on my 95 galant s it makes me think that my problem may be some control inputs to the o/d clutch rather that the clutch itself. before i go to the trouble and expense of replacing the clutch i would like to do some diagonostics. my local library and Advanced Auto & Auto Zone have no books that address the o/d clutch or diagnostics of it.
Does anyone have any info how to diagnose the inputs to the clutch and/or any sensors that may be involved ? also where is the o/d clutch located? and does anyone have removal and instalation procedures for the clutch itself ?
there is a Transmission Control Module (TCM) in the console in the passanger compartment. Is it involved in controling the o/d clutch ?
I have inquired at bolth Auto Zone and Advanced Auto ot purchase an o/d clutch neither stock it or can get it. Is this a dealer only item ? or is there a web site i can order this part from ?
Thank you for any help you can provide.

First of all I will warn you: Autozone and places like it don't know **** about cars. They tell you that you need 5 O2 sensors and send you on your way. If I were you, I would buy the part through a dealer rather than a parts store. Simple rule of thumb: If you own a domestic, NAPA will carry your part. If you own a Foreign, the dealer is the best bet.

Second, the TCM is what controls the shifting of your transmission. You need to test the different solenoids on the transmission. At least, that's what I think you are trying to figure out. Other than that, I can't really help you because it is difficult to diagnose over the internet.

I too would love to see a diagnostic flow chart for my auto, I suppose there's a few different varities (fw1968 has a f4a23 on his galant) but they're probably all similar, so if you find a site with good info could you post it please 95 galant driver, infact any info you find out will be of interest to anyone with a crappy galant auto box I think, as we're all heading your way for trouble!!

I opened my auto computer (when my trans was in limp mode) and replaced the capacitors as they are the same failing caps that are used in the main comp and one had started to leak, so I reckon I caught it just in time...
I'd also guess you were right in thinking the tcm has a part to play in the overdrive, but I don't know for sure.. and I haven't heard of that being a common problem...

[attachmentid=4743][attachmentid=4743][attachmentid=4743]You all think you'll got it bad.................

I joined here recently and was going thru all thepost on trannys.

Posted mines and did more researching and i came up with a startling fact.

Almost any mitsubishi with an Overdrive Transmission (Electronically Controlled) has an almost 4 pronged vice against it.

This is how i manage to get my trany fixed to a point and where i am stuck now.

I bought a 1996 Mitsubishi Galant VR V6 Fully loaded in April. From the time i bought it there was trouble.

My fourth Gear was slipping and it was not holding the gears when i powered out.

There are so many ppl in hear i would love to thank for all the info They have put on here for the plpl like us who have at times no idea where or who to turn to.
My car used to slip in 2nd 3rd and 4th.

The man i bought it from assured me that it was overhauled in december 06. Jokes..............

I spent about 1200 USD in getting parts and Labour..........This is what i replaced.


All clutches and steels.........

All bushings................ The Brake Band ( that was new to me) And the Brake Band Drum also new to me.

And of course the planetary Gear.

The car drove good for 2 hrs and broke bad down......turns out it was a faulty or rather Filthy filter that startedthis whole mess.

Now listen carefully because i realised that there are a lot of miscnceptions when ppl tell you to go buy a tranny when yours is playing the fool.

There are 3 things that make a mitsu Tranny works well and in order are
1) a Good Tranny computer along with the ECU for the car..........

2)that the tranny and internals are all in A shape and the engine is good to do.

and 3) this one hit me like a ton of bricks in the last month and i basically had the car in the papers to sell until i read more and researched it all out.
THE TPS Sensor.

The TPS sensor is more critical than i ever inmagine......this went bad on me and had the car going thru all the gears like crazy.

I mean i move from a stop in 3rd WFT!!!!
Sometimes i be driving and the car would go 1,2,3.........................2......................4..................3.............

and we all know that doing 90 miles and stuff and that happening is a death sentence.

Even more alarming was the fact that i can drive 1 2 3 with the OD off and as soon as i put it on and no matter what speed i am at it goes straight to 2nd.

My mech finally expeirenced it on thursday and he was godsmacked.

So out went the 2 computer and i am walking again.
Guys trust me when you are getting your tranny fixed please.............don't just go and get the 4th gear fixed .........please do a full electrical on the tranny.

Because i realised that the TPS the ECU the VALVE BODY ,the OD and the SOlenoids are linked.

If you change your TPS get the rest check and so on so forth.

BRAKE BAND DRUM


BRAKE BAND


TPS