Need tranny advice on 04 Matrix

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Hi all,

My girlfriend just got 04 Matrix and I did drain and fill of all fluids.

I used Mag1 Low Vis in tranny, as it worked really well on my accord. And she has been telling me that the car hesitates to go, I can conform this, the tranny shifts perfectly, but it has really hard time in 1st gear.

I replaced the fluid twice, and its still coming out pretty dirty. Color looks light, it has a lot of dirt inside.

This problem happened once the fluid was changed the 2nd time.


I am thinking maybe the line is clogged by [censored] and torque converter is having hard time. Its has improved over last week,but it is still there. Should I do another drain and fill with max life or have someone flush it properly?

I ordered some tranny fluid testing kit to know more, but the result will take a few weeks.
 
Maybe do 1 more drain fill and if that didn't fix it, I would stop thinking that fresh fluid is the cure for its woes and take it to an independent tranny shop for a diagnostic.

How many miles are on it?
 
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+1 A couple more drain and fills.
Also, It can take the car around 100 miles to relearn shift points. If you can take it out on the highway a couple times and get it hot that can help too.

3 drain and fills will replace around 90% of the fluid, but if you have a bunch of crud in the system it might be cleaning that up too.

Also, you may want to look into a Magnafine in line filter.
I have one on my 2004 Nissan Xterra with 86k miles, and my 2002 Ford Taurus with 206k miles. Both installed on the cool side of the cooler loop back to the transmission.

It is a full flow filter that has a magnet prior to the filter, and the filter has a built in bypass.
Of the 4 Magnefine filter's I have given an autopsy to all of them have had metal build up on the magnet, and seem to have held up very well.

I have a spin on full flow filter set up on my F150 with 112k miles, but you have to find a lot of room to put those under your hood.
 
2 drain and fills mean you probably changed about 1/2 the fluid, maybe a bit more. I think the pan on those is relatively smaller vs. total capacity than on some other models.

Are you sure Mag1 LV is the right fluid for that? It is more a WS replacement than a T-IV replacement. I am using Mag1 synth LV in one vehicle right now and it's a great fluid imo. But that was a later WS vehicle and in T-IV vehicles, or vehicles whose tranny was originally designed around T-IV, I use Mag1 synth. (not LV). I think the 04 Matrix still came with T-IV fluid, not WS. Mag1 regular would be the right fluid, or at least the one more in line with what the tranny was designed for (Toyota Aisin did not alter the transmission when they changed the original fill).

I would pump the whole thing out via the cooler line and refill with Mag1 synthetic (non-L.V.) or Castrol synthetic multi-vehicle, or similar. Something with a visc. closer to T-IV than low-vis, MaxLife, etc. Here is a cheap/easy way to do that at home:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5t...flush-pics.html

Yours should be nearly identical but look in the Matrix forum to verify.

Then I'd disconnect the battery for a few minutes to let the PCU reset and re-learn.
 
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are you replacing with the proper type of fluid?

If memory serves: it should be T-IV (ATF-3309) fluid, not Dexron/Mercon varieties.

Q.
 
Engine issue?
Hesitates to go....no power.

If over 100k, drop the pan and change the filter.

Tiv shears so much that visc is NOT an issue.
 
Originally Posted By: Greasymechtech

Tiv shears so much that visc is NOT an issue.



I agree w/you - over time. In the short term it matters and I have felt it/experienced it. I think doing a partial fill with WS-type fluid, vs. very worn T-IV makes the PCU confused. The PCU in these years on these cars is VERY responsive, weirdly so, to short-term inputs in the sensors. BTDT.

I stand by my recommendation above; it's a cheap first start instead of throwing money at other issues.
 
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Drop the pan and see how the filter and magnet looks.

Is it revving but not actually moving much?
 
Why not just go ahead and do the cooler line flush method replacing with max life red cap? that's what I did on our 2013 Corolla and had absolutely no problems. Then you start with 100% new, clean fluid. I didn't drop the pan or anything, just drained it, filled it back up, then did the cooler line flush until all the fluid coming out looked like what was going in.
 
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