FTO AUSTRALIA

hi ive had my fto for almost 2 years now, its a 97 gpx tip, it has run almost perfectly i get it serviced at joe n riks and have a warranty on it atm, the prob is that just startin today the gears are a little clunky, not the usual smooth shift, i stopped at the lights, and the car did not hold some revs like an auto should, more aless sorted stalled, i applied some throttle and it finally clunked into gear and jolted slighty forward, even in normal auto mode it still clunks between the gears, no where like the normal smooth transition, ive read a few of the post and know there can be some issues just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the exact possible cause, i will be talking to rik tommorow for his advice???

cheers much appreciated,

jared

im in no way an expert on the auto's, however i do know they get very clunky when the tranny oil gets old, do you know when it was replace last?

Its very simple to do if you have a jack i think theres a DIY on here somewhere too

Run a diagnostic check on it as well, just to make sure there are no error codes coming up.

oil is old!

jono is old!

Btw what did rik say?

yeah spoke to rik over the phone, he seems to have a fare idea, he said it could either possibly be a sensor, or the transmission oil needs replacing, hasnt been done for ages, was due next service, so yeah im taken the car up tommorow, hope its nothin to serious,

cheers

went to joe n riks, today, got the oil changed, still the original trans filter, so it definately needed to be replaced, when he was empting the oil, he found a small metal shard he figures somethin in the trans is goin, perhaps the inner casing or somethin about a seal ??, anyways after the oil change gears are back to running smooth as, which is good, however a new whining sound has developed only when accelerating in first gear, im not to sure what to make of this, anyone have any possible idea on what is happenin, i guess its hard to tell without pulling the gearbox apart,

cheers

damn, it is still goin limp and sorta stalls on me when its cold, its like somthing isnt grabbing the gear, u have to apply some throttle, and it clunks nastly into 1st, doest do it very often but not a good thing, takin it to a transmission specialist that rik suggest, ahhh a gearbox should not go after 80,000kms shouldnt it ??? that sucks

Have you checked for tip error codes?

Here's the list of most common causes of tip failure in a list of least expensive to most expensive to fix:
1. Bad / old oil ($100 bucks-ish)
2. Input or output speed sensors ($200-$300ish)
3. Torque converter failure. ($1500-$3000ish)

yeah i have a warranty atm, that covers $1500 on trans, so that is prob goina come in handy, the warranty company put me onto some trans guy, had a quick chat to the guy, explained what was happenin and that i just had the oil changed by my mechanic, and he found 2 small aluminuim shards, the transmisison guy said he had seen a few FTOs before and said it sounded like the inner casing is shreading. im takin it there tommorow and theyll take it apart and i should know by friday, hopefully

i just had a transmission overhaul done....$2850....my car has done 88k...

what did that exactly involve, btw, what year and model is your Fto, just reckon its strange that at 80,00kms that the gearbox would start shreaddin itself???

The torque converters are the usual suspects. They're renound for not being real strong in FTO boxes.

damn lol, ahh thats life, i suppose, thanks anyway

Apparently there are ways & means to strengthening them when you've got the box out to be reco'ed. Im no auto specialist & am unsure whats involved, but I've heard it can be done.

Yeah bullet proofing the internals and uprated torque converter definitly can be done, quite exxx though, but a few guys have done it. If my box was out id be doing it no doubt but it really depends on your future plans to the vehicle really.

However i do highly suggest getting a oil cooler for the tranny

Apparently the internals of the auto boxes are pretty solid as is, just that pesky torque converter that keeps letting go needs a hit of steroids.

+1 on the cooler. If you dont have one, just get the bits & hook it up, all the holes are already there for it

Ok, found the tranny error codes:

If it flashes at 2Hz, twice per second, the ATF temperature is too high and you should stop to allow it to cool down.

11, 12 and 14 all relate to Throttle position sensor system (Vehicles without TCL) and Accelerator pedal position sensor system (Vehicles with TCL) - The rest relate to the box.
Code
11 Short circuit
12 Open circuit
14 Sensor maladjustment
15 Oil temp sensor system Open circuit
21 Crank angle sensor system Open circuit
22 Input shaft speed sensor Open/Closed circuit
23 Output shaft speed sensor Open/Closed circuit
26 Stop lamp switch system Short circuit
31 Low and reverse solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
32 Under drive solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
33 Second solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
34 Overdrive solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
35 Reduction solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
36 Damper control clutch solenoid valve system Open/Closed circuit
41 1st gear ratio does not meet specification
42 2nd gear ratio does not meet specification
43 3rd gear ratio does not meet specification
44 4th gear ratio does not meet specification
45 5th gear ratio does not meet specification
46 Reverse gear ratio does not meet specification
51 Abnormal communication with Engine ECU or Abnormal communication with TCT ECU
52 Damper control clutch solenoid valve system Defective system
54 A/T control relay system Short circuit to earth/ open circuit
56 N range lamp systems Short circuit to earth
71 Malfunction of A/T ECU

what did that exactly involve, btw, what year and model is your Fto, just reckon its strange that at 80,00kms that the gearbox would start shreaddin itself???

sorry mate....i have no idea what was done to it for the rebuilt...i only got told from mechanic (Mayan@Maytech) that the car was slipping gears, which the gearbox need to be rebuilt. i had no choice but pay the $$...

apparently after the transmission overhaul was done, i noticed a few problems were solved. (however, i am not sure if they are directly related to the rebuilt) 1. car now idles @ around 900rpm instead of 400rpm before. 2. i couldn't keep on a certain speed before, eg. i cant keep the car going on 70k/h constantly. now its good. 3. car engine doesn't stall when i reverse back in my backyard every nite. 4.when i floor the pedal, gear will shift down to say 3rd or 2nd depending on situation. 5.my traction control light on the dash doesn't flash anymore.

one thing i haven't check is whether mivec will kick in (it didn't before), cos i really ran out of $$, couldn't afford to re-dyno to test that...

k..that s the story..

Ben your a F&*KEN GENIUS, thats awesome mate cheers