Ok i know some will say "search search search" i did, not any good info (plus im no good at searching)

anyways, my girl drives a 99 amigo 3.2 4x4 with an auto. After a 15 minute high speed drive i smell burnt oil when getting out of the car. I look under the truck and see oil dripping from the drain hole bolt. Its done this ever since i had the tranny flushed ($125 by a local mechanic)
Now ive heard the tranny gets hot, thats normal, ive even heard it gets hotter than the engine coolant. Ive been told it gets up to 250 degrees. I was like woowwww thats hot concidering i have a 175 degress thermostat.

So, its not the engine oil, its the tranny oil. Does this sound like something bad is happening or is it normal for it to get hot enough to burn the oil? on the outside.

the tranny works fine, shifts ok, did freak out and shift hard 6 months ago but we did a flush. The truck has 99000 miles on it.

kevan <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Does the Amigo have the tranny temp idiot light? IIRC my 99 Trooper had one.

If you can get a look at some of the oil dripping you should be able to tell the difference between motor oil and red tranny fluid, even if the fluid is burnt.

yes it does have the idiot like, but i will not look to that because some people have reported their tranny went kaboom because of the before the light went on.

kevan

ill get a better look at it today, after i clean all the mud off of it (the snow melted at little moab wooo hooo)

sounds like you need to turn it into a grocery getter kev <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

hope ya get her figured out.

troy

just curious, has anyone ever had the tranny temp light work other than at startup?

No matter how hot it gets you should never have oil leaking out and definitely not after only 15 min. I'd take it back to the place that flushed it and tell em to find out whats wrong. Trannies definitely can run hotter than the engine coolant. To give you an idea my tow rig runs around 150 around town, about 180 towing on level ground, and i'll let it get up to about 210 climbing mountains before gettin out of the gas. It'll go a lot hotter than that, and many people let it even with a gauge, but auto trannies are very sensitive to burnt fluid, and I plan on makin this tranny last a nice long time, it was kinda expensive <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Dallas

Yup, that would be me. I even have a transmission temp gauge. The light in my Trooper comes on at about 275. I have had the light come on a total of 3 times. The first time I was effectively pulling a load up a mountain and I saw the gauge creep up. Once it got that hot I let it cool down. The next time I was just "keeping up" with traffic on the highway in the mountains of NC. It got hot and puked fluid out of the breather. I refilled it and let it cool down before I proceded to drive a bit slower the rest of the way to Uwharrie.

The 3rd time I was doing almost the same thing, except the temp gauge never climbed above normal (around 190 on that tranny). The light came on, I pulled over, the gauge went up immediately after pulling over and I found that I didn't have any more clutch material left on 3rd gear. I'm guessing that the pump failed, which caused the tranny to heat up and burn 3rd gear (combination of high temp and low pressure). The pump not pumping properly would explain the lack of change in the temp gauge, and I had heard a whirring noise at higher RPMs for a month or two, which I though was a bad bearing in my alternator. Turns out that it wasn't.

The replacement tranny (from a 99 Rodeo) stays between 175 and 180 most of the time. If I have the hubs locked, tires underinflated and lots of weight, it will climb up to around 210 on the highway before I let up.

-Tad

ok, i have never messed with her auto tranny (i have a manual) i dont even know how to check it. How do i check the fluid level? Im thinkin i need to replace the fluid in it. I use dextron 3 right? ive heard that this is the cheap stuff. Which is the best fluid for this tranny, i wanna make it last forever, well at least 200,000 miles.

kevan

To check it: have it at normal operating temperature (preferebly), have it in either park or neutral and the engine running, pull dipstick out and wipe it off and put it back in and check it again if it's got one. I seem to remember that these don't have a dipstick, if so, it'll be just like the manual tranny with the fill hole on the side. Just pull the plug and the fluid should either trickle out or you should be able to feel it just below the hole.

Yes, it does use dexron/mercon III. If going with regular atf, the cheap house brand normally will work just fine and last as long. Just compare it to the specs of the name brand. It should match the specs, but since it is dexron/mercon III it should meet the minimum specs anyway. If going synthetic, which will last longer/resist being harmed by high temps, I personally would go with Royal Purple MaxATF if you can find it. Otherwise go with the Mobil 1. Also, with regular maintance the tranny should last you at least 200,000 miles on just regular atf. Mines got 176,000 miles and is 15 1/2 years old and still shifts fine (knock on wood). But the key is to keep up with the maintance. I've got an eclipse with 118,000 miles that I'm looking at either rebuilding the transmission or replacing it do to previous owners neglect.

Hope that helps.

Richard <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

ok, so mobil 1 or royal purple synthetic ATF. I just wanted to make sure they use the same oil like everyone else (oh yeah, its not an isuzu tranny, only the manual which takes motor oil)

kevan