A Simple Question about the Auto Transmission

[Superminyme]

I am currently looking at a 1994 MX-3 with I think it was 131,000K on it. It is an automatic transmission, as the title of the topic would have lead you to believe. I was just wondering, should I be concerned about this? It seems that the auto trans. has gotten a lot of bad rap from this place, or that may be just because you guys like standards. I could care less what I drive, I can learn to drive a standard if I wanted, but this car is a really good deal compared to the other cars around. I don't really feel like spending a huge wad of cash on switching it to a standard. I know nothing about cars, so I would have to pay for the labour. Also, there arent any mechanics locally that I trust to do such a job. I havent seen any other cars quite as nice as the MX-3 around for the price. If you guys could give me some help here I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks a lot!


Oh yeah, the car is $2000

The other MX-3 I was looking at is $6300. It has a fender body kit on, had an engine swap from a 1.6L to a 1.8L since the engine was bad when he bought it, what looks to be a Ram Air type hood, and some other stuff done to it. It has had about $2400 work done to it. The only way I would consider buying it would be if he dropped the price to $4000, seeing as I only have $7000 total to spend. My idea was to buy the other MX-3 for $2000 and spend the extra dough on it to get all the same stuff he had done to it, and more while still being cheaper than his price.

<small>[ March 31, 2004, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: Superminyme ]</small>

[hondah8er13]

I have a 92' mx-3 with a 1.6L automatic with 175,000 miles on it and it is running great, the only downside to a automatic is they are slower... if you are looking for a car to race or something stay away from the automatic.. I have owned a auotmatic mx-3 and a standard. I prefer the automatic... especially in traffic.. and for $2,000 you can't go wrong... does the car need anything? i bought mine for $1,500 but i put $200 into it, but i did all the work myself...so i got a good deal... anyway i think the problem everybody has with the automatic is they try to race the hell out of them... i got my car cause it was sporty, and got good gas mileage, The point is in my opinion i would buy the car..

[Superminyme]

Well, I wasn't looking for a racer or anything, but I am looking for something with a little get up and go, you know what I mean? If I need the speed it's there. I just don't want to be unable to pass someone on the highway if I need to. The story on the automatic is that the transmission slips a bit. My friend said that it just could be that the transmission fluid is down, but since I read about the transmission problems the people had with the automatic on here I thought it would be inherant in all the automatics.

What do you guys think? Is it just some fluid, or is the transmission going to pieces? I think I might take it to a mechanic and have him look at it.

Edit: Other than the trans. the car is in MINT condition, and I mean mint. The only thing it needs is to be cleaned on the inside. With the extra $5000 or so I will have after I buy the car I was going to put a body kit on it, new sound sytem, some rims, and some performance parts to make the engine work better.

<small>[ April 01, 2004, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: Superminyme ]</small>

[hondah8er13]

I know when i got my car the transmission would not go into any gear i would put it into reverse and nothing then drive nothing... it was like it was still in park... so i changed the fluid and filter and bam! like brand new... also about the speed thing... it is slow, i'm not gonna lie... there will be no power just waiting there for you... i mean when you press the gas and it downshifts it will pass but not like a streak of lightning.. i think my problem is that my other car is 93' maxima with a big 3.0L dohc 5-speed so when i drive the cars it is like night and day.. my opinion take it to a mechanic before you buy it...

[Superminyme]

I am definatly going to be taking it to a mechanic. Even if I change it to a standard it wont have the power to pass available? It has a 1.8L V6 in it. I am considering changing it to a 2.5L down the road, but as of now, it doesn't appear to be likely. At least not now, when I'm still looking at other cars.

[hondah8er13]

Oh hey i didn't know it was the V6 i have never owned an mx-3 V6 so it probably has alot more power, and that also means that at $2,000 bucks it's even a more better deal... as long as it checks out at the mechanic you better grab that one!

[Superminyme]

Thanks! I am going looking at cars tommorrow (I've already been out once, covered half of the available places) and if I don't see anything else I'm interested in, I'm giving this lady a call who owned it. I'll be getting it for $2000 probably, then putting a standard trans. in it, then learning to drive a standard, heh. Thats the plan, at least.

<small>[ April 02, 2004, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: Superminyme ]</small>

[Sonicxtacy02]

The whole deal with the auto tranny is it is poorly designed. Thus, there's only so much you can do to prolong its life. Adding a tranny cooler is a MUST. Frequent and complete fluid changes at regular intervals is also neccessary. Assuming you do all this and lay off the high RPM shifting you can maybe squeez 80,000 MILES (not KM) out of a mx-3 tranny. If you drive spiritedly you're gonna lose it probably around 60k. Either your torque converter will burn out, your clutchpacks will but out, or you'll have a leak on the front seal. Each is cause for a rebuild

[Superminyme]

This is all about the auto tranny, right? It seems like it would really be worth it to change to the standard then. Are there problems with the standard trans. too?

<small>[ April 02, 2004, 03:57 PM: Message edited by: Superminyme ]</small>

[cap4004]

Shaun is right about the tranny being poorly designed. If the steps Shaun mentions had been taken earlier in the car's life, I would expect it to last quite well. Since they probably weren't, you may be in time, or you may not.

You mentioned that it is slipping already - not a good sign. Could be trouble soon. Also, if you are considering the swap to 2.5L, you WILL destroy the tranny. Been there, done that, swapped to manual.

[Andrew_Pakula]

With mx-3 trannies I think it is sometimes hard to tell how the health of it is.

With these trannies they can be working perfectly with no signs of any problem then out of no where BAM they are screwed up.

Then other times you will notice problems starting to develop and if you catch them early enough you can fix them before any major damage occurs.

[dj inferno]

whatever u do... just make sure to drive it for like almost an hour of straight driving... if the deal is that good... BE CAREFULL!... expecialy sence its a V6... drive it around ALOT... take it on a highway then on stop and go... then let it sit... and then drive... get it around... when i bought mine i made sure i got a standerd just cuz the bad rap about the autos, got it and the second day the clutch went... either way ur screwed if you don't test drive it good.... and make sure the body isn't f'ed up... i got mine... looked fine.. come to find out its half a GS and half an RS... lol make sure the body hasn't had got to many imperfections... cuz i think the person that had my car rolled it... if thats posilbe lol.

[Dave Rocque]

My V6 auto tranny crapped out around 110k after being very babied by its previous owner. Poor design results in 2nd or 3rd failing prematurely if driven hard. After 3 grand spent on a rebuild I decided to install a tranny cooler and the car shifts beatifully still at 185k. Just everything else that's starting to go on it but what can you expect at that mileage? For sure look at investing in a decent tranny cooler as soon as possible. Frequent oil changes keep the fun factor up too.