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i was just wondering how reliable the 4 cylinder automatic trannys are? i know the gs's are crap but how reliable are the rs's?

my insurance company wants $1300 for an accident i was in last year before i renew my insurance or there going to double my premiums for 3 years. thinking of selling my car then with the money paying that off then grabbing a beater to get around in. theres a mx3 rs for $800 with a very nice paint job that looks to be in good shape with an auto tranny. he says its a 93 but it has the 94 interior so im thinking its a dohc unless he did a dash swap.

all autos are crap.

he says the tranny slips if you floor it but its alright for regular driving. ive never herd of that before on an auto but its not a very good sign. guess ill have to look for something else. may have to giveup on mx3s for a bit .

or just give up on autos. My wife has always driven a manual. Change your tampon and get a stick.

lol i have a 5 speed and i actually prefer them. theres no mx3s around here in my price range that arnt auto might go with a 323 or protege

RS_OBD'oh_2 wrote:or just give up on autos. My wife has always driven a manual. Change your tampon and get a stick.

lol, my mom taught me to drive a stick.

ok 1 more time around I will explain this for those who instantly say autos are crap. The auto trans was not crap, in fact if its built up it will work better than any 5 spd. Here is the skinny on why they fail so often, its the trans cooler, 4 banger and v6 alike, the cooler on them was plain out junk. If you do the cooler upgrade and the trans is in decent working order then you will get a much longer life out of it simple as that. All the probe gt guys know about the infamous cd4e trans and how crappy they were, well I found the issue with it fixed one for my buddy we installed a remote atf filter with a upgraded cooler, he has a klze in it and over 400,000 kms on the original cd4e trans and it still runs great. If you own one here is what you need to know;
1) change the filter and atf every 50,000 kms
2) upgrade the cooler to a better one especially in hotter climates and stop and go traffiic
3) be aware of the auto limitations, it won't take consant abuse, just like a clutch won't take it.

A built up auto will hold more power than a 5 spd. why do you think drag racers use them so much? The auto for the mx-3s were not bad trans it was the cooler at fault simple as that.