1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT Transmission Problems

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR AUTOMATIC 1996 3000GT AT APPROX. 60 MILES PER HR WHEN CAR SURGED FORWARD 4 TIMES IN A ROW. SHE ALMOST HIT VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HER! CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. SHE WAS LESS THAN A MILE HOME AND DROVE CAR VERY SLOWLY HOME. VEHICLES REVERSE NO LONGER WORKS AT ALL!!! CAR IS ABLE TO GO INTO DRIVE BUT WILL NOT SHIFT OUT OF FIRST GEAR AND WILL NOT GO OVER 20 MILES PER HR NOW! CAR HAS BEEN TOWED TO DEALER BUT NO WORD ON WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT YET.*AK

NHTSA ID

10088858

Incident

Aug 25, 2004

WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS THE TRANSMISSION SEIZED. THE CONSUMER HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED. THE DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE CAUSE WAS NOT DETERMINED. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. *NM

NHTSA ID

10074390

Incident

May 7, 2004

Mileage

104,000 mi

I OWN A 1996 MITSUBISHI 3000GT VR-4 WITH A 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. MY FRIEND, BRIAN WATSON AND I WERE TRAVELING EASTBOUND ON HIGHWAY 20, JUST ABOUT 50 MILES EAST OF BEND, OR. I MADE AN ATTEMPT TO SHIFT FROM 5TH TO 6TH GEAR, BUT BECAUSE OF SOME PROBLEMS WITH WHAT I NOW UNDERSTAND TO BE THE SYCROS, IT WENT INTO 4TH GEAR. NOT NOTICING IT WAS IN 4TH GEAR BECAUSE I HAD SHIFTED IT INTO THE POSITION OF 6TH, I LET OUT THE CLUTCH AND PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR. SHORTLY AFTER, I HEARD THIS POP. I LOOKED DOWN AND NOTICED THE RPM'S WERE PAST THE RED LINE, THIS IS WHEN I FIGURED OUT THAT THE CAR WAS IN 4TH GEAR. I SHIFTED IT BACK INTO 5TH GEAR AND BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN, CONCERNED ABOUT THE POP SOUND I HAD HEARD. I ASKED BRIAN, IF HE HAD HEARD IT AND HE TOLD ME NO. I ASKED HIM IF HE WAS SURE HE DIDN'T HEAR IT, HE TOLD ME NO, SO I KEPT DRIVING. SHORTLY AFTER, I STARTED HEARING CLANKING SOUNDS COMING FROM WHAT SOUNDED LIKE THE TRANSMISSION. THE ENGINE STOPPED, THE VEHICLE STARTED SLOWING DOWN RAPIDLY. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER OFF THE PAVEMENT ONTO THE GRAVEL ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD OF THE CAR. I'M WORRIED THAT MY CAR IS ABOUT TO CATCH ON FIRE. I BEGAN POURING THE WATER ONTO THE TRANSMISSION, WHICH WAS BOILING THE WATER AT THIS POINT, BUT IT SEEMED TO BE ENOUGH TO STOP THE ENGINE AREA FROM SMOKING. LATER I FOUND OUT THAT THE TRANSAXLE WAS BAD AND THAT IT COSTS $4414.29 NEW, PLUS $696.00 FOR LABOR. I ASKED IF THEY COULD GET THE TRANSAXLE REPLACED CONSIDERING THE DRIVE TRAIN HAS A 60,000-MILE WARRANTY ON IT AND MY MILEAGE IS ONLY 66,000-MILES. THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP SAID NO AND SO DID THE PERSON THAT MADE THE DECISION AFTER I CALLED MITSUBISHI. SO I AM WRITING IN HOPES THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO ASSIST ME IN THIS MATTER. THE TRANSAXLE SHOULD NOT HAVE SHIFTED INTO THE WRONG GEAR, IT ALSO SHOULD HAVE NOT EXPLODED BECAUSE IT WAS IN ABOVE RED LINE.*JB

NHTSA ID

10010290

Incident

Aug 26, 2002

Mileage

66,000 mi

TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP ON VEHICLE LEAVING THE VEHICLE IN 3RD GEAR, THEREFORE KEEPING VEHICLE FROM MANUEVERING AND DRIVING PROPERLY. WAS REASON FOR POTENTIAL ACCIDENT. TS

NHTSA ID

767832

Incident

Sep 24, 2002

THE VEHICLE IS LEAKING TRANSMISSION FLUID AND WHILE SHIFTING GEAR THE VEHICLE ARE HARD. THE DEALERSHIP IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

8019500

Incident

Jan 1, 2001

THIS IS MY 2ND TRANNY BECAUSE THE FIRST TRANNY WAS GRINDING FROM A 1ST TO 2ND GEAR. THE PROBLEM WAS THE 1-2 GEAR SYNCHRO THAT GOT WORN OUT DUE TO THE MANUFACTURER'S POOR DESIGN. UPON FAILURE AT 55MPH, THE CAR SUDDENLY STOPPED AND THE TRANSMISSION AND TRANSFER CASE LOCKED UP. THE BAY RIDE MITSUBISHI DEALERSHIP ASKED ME TO REPLACE TO A NEW TRANSMISSION WHICH COST ME $3000. I DID AND THE CAR RAN FINE FOR THE FIRST 15K MILES THEN THE SHIFTING BECAME NOTCHY AND THAT'S WHEN MY TRANSFER CASE GAVE UP AND I BOUGHT A NEW ONE AND INSTALLED IT MYSELF. SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE ABOUT MITSUBISHI'S POOR TRANSMISSION DESIGN.*AK

NHTSA ID

757670

Incident

Nov 8, 1998

CONSTANT LEAKING FRONT TRANSFER CASE. DEALER REFUSES TO WORK ON COMPONENT AND HAS STATED THAT "TRANSMISSION" HAS BEEN OVERFILLED. CAR HAS SIT IN THE DRIVEWAY FOR THE PAST 3 WEEKS WITHOUT BEING DRIVEN. TRANSFER CASE IS NOW EMPTY OF FLUID.*AK

NHTSA ID

752614

Incident

Aug 1, 2001

THIS IS THE THIRD TRANSMISSION THAT I'VE HAD PUT IN MY CAR, AND I'VE ONLY OWNED THE CAR FOR TWO YEARS. FIRST TRANSMISSION WENT, AND WAS REPLACED. ONE MONTH LATER I HAD TO GO BACK IN BECAUSE OF THE TRANSFER CASE HAD GONE BAD. AND NOW, A YEAR LATER, MY SYNCHROS ARE GOING OUT ALREADY. IN ABOUT THREE MONTHS, I BELEIVE I WILL NEED A NEW TRANSMITION, ONCE AGAIN. IT'S AN ONGOING CYCLE. OR A WAY FOR THE COMPANY TO MAKE LOTS OF MONEY, FOR OUR TRANSMITIONS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.THIS IS THE THIRD TRANSMITION THAT I'VE HAD PUT IN MY CAR, AND I'VE ONLY OWNED THE CAR FOR TWO YEARS. FIRST TRANSMITION WENT, AND WAS REPLACED. ONE MONTH LATER I HAD TO GO BACK IN BECAUSE OF THE TRANSFER CASE HAD GONE BAD. AND NOW, A YEAR LATER, MY SYNCHROS ARE GOING OUT ALREADY. IN ABOUT THREE MONTHS, I BELEIVE I WILL NEED A NEW TRANSMITION, ONCE AGAIN. IT'S AN ONGOING CYCLE. OR A WAY FOR THE COMPANY TO MAKE LOTS OF MONEY, FOR OUR TRANSMITIONS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.*AK

NHTSA ID

751769

Incident

Jun 6, 2001

TRANSMISSION WAS UNDER WARRANTY AT THE TIME. FIRST THE HUB WENT OUT ON THE TRANSIMISSION BETWEENT THE FIRST AND SECOND SYNCHRO. ABOUT 50 MILES AFTER I HAD THE NEW TRANNY PUT IN, THE TRANSFER CASE WENT BAD.*AK

NHTSA ID

742190

Incident

Oct 23, 2000