Ok so back in July about 1,000 or 1,500 miles ago I got a brand new clutch kit installed in my 1998 Eclipse N/T and it was just a stock LuK replacement cause it is a stock car and staying stock. The reason I got the clutch replaced is because it was getting hard to shift gears. Ok so new clutch goes in and I go for a drive the clutch was very easy to push in and at times it still felt kinda hard to get in any gear. I took it back the same day and they drove it again and said it felt fine so whatever I figured let it brake in a little while and see so here I am now in September. It is still hard to get into gears and if your rolling very slow you should be able to pretty easily get into first gear but sometimes it is impossible it seems. So I called another Cottman and he said it probably just needs to have the system bled so I end up taking it back to the one I went to right off base and having the SAME guy that installed the clutch look at it. He adjusted it a bit where I easily noticed a difference in the clutch and it was better but still sometimes a little jerky to get into gear so I said would flushing the clutch(brake) fluid help. He said it wouldn't help but it would tell us if there is something like metal or anything in there. So he ends up doing that and then I come to find out he thinks the front main seal is bad cause on the left of the tranny where it looked flat and I would imagine a gasket is there was leaking a little. They say it must of just started leaking cause they would of seen it when they replaced the clutch...this seems a bit fishy to me seeing that I asked the guy who did the job well how hard would it be to replace the seal since you had my tranny open and he says I don't know. That pretty much tells me he didnt look at the seal and wouldn't know if it was bad so this all could of been prevented by him actually checking that seal out and could of been done for what $50 since the tranny was dropped already. I don't know how much that stuff costs but it would be $358 less if the tranny was already dropped. Also they said my clutch will be bad and need to be replaced now since oil is all over it and will be softened. The manager said he has to ask his boss if it will be covered under warranty...umm it freakin better be or I am going to flip out. Does this sound fishy to you or what? I think on Monday I am going to go to AAMCO to get another opinion as well as find out what his boss says about this. Also the guy who did it said now it is adjusted the way it should be meaning he didn't do it right the first time as well. Looks like they should eat that labor charge, replace the clutch, and let me pay for the seal or whatever to be replaced. He also said there has to be a reason the seal went bad which could be a bearing or bushing or something...any thoughts or ideas on what I should do here cause I am furious. I think there upset to begin with because they guarenteed me a price on the clutch before finding out it was a modular clutch and then having to "lose" money and on top of that I got a military discount. So who knows what they did right or wrong. Also is it normal if you do not touch the clutch or push it in at all and try pushing it into first gear and your car starts creeping forward slowly? Thanks a bunch beforehand. Please help!

Jared

Christ, another POGE. He should've notice the rear main seal was leaking. It's not hard when you have the tranny and flexplate off and staring right at the crank. I'm willing to bet, the shifting problem is a result of wrong tranny fluid. You must go to a Dodge dealer and get the fluid for the manual transaxle for the NVT-350 tranny. If they say ATF-4, don't but it. Tell them you want 2 quarts of the mopar NVT350 tranny fluid. It will say NVT350 on it. Rear main seal shouldn't cost you more than 7 bucks. Takes like 5 minutes to install. If they charge you more than 7 bucks, then go to NAPA and ask the guy at the counter. You want the rear main seal for a 420A engine, non turbo 2.0.

Originally posted by DSMRoadster
Christ, another POGE. He should've notice the rear main seal was leaking. It's not hard when you have the tranny and flexplate off and staring right at the crank. I'm willing to bet, the shifting problem is a result of wrong tranny fluid. You must go to a Dodge dealer and get the fluid for the manual transaxle for the NVT-350 tranny. If they say ATF-4, don't but it. Tell them you want 2 quarts of the mopar NVT350 tranny fluid. It will say NVT350 on it. Rear main seal shouldn't cost you more than 7 bucks. Takes like 5 minutes to install. If they charge you more than 7 bucks, then go to NAPA and ask the guy at the counter. You want the rear main seal for a 420A engine, non turbo 2.0.

Well I am not sure if it's the rear seal but here are some pictures below. I told them about the tranny being picky on the fluid and he said we've done many of these cars blah blah blah. The seal won't cost much but they want me to pay to drop the tranny again and that is bs. I doubt this place will go to a Dodge dealer and buy tranny oil from them cause they probably buy a big drum of tranny oil in bulk and use it in all tranny's period. I think I am going to take this to AAMCO monday and let them tell me what they think.


As you can see I just changed my valve cover gasket and did not clean it up yet. Could engine oil of ran down to the tranny and make it appear the tranny was leaking by any chance?






Hey look at that, they even forgot to put the cap back on the bleed valve...pos company!

My cousin said to clean off the tranny and drive around and see if the leak appears again.

Also I just called Dodge and they said it shows it takes ATF-4 and he doesn't know of any NVT-350 oil. Either way would Cottman using bulk oil screw anything up in my transmission and who could I call from like a Mitsubishi dealer or mechanic that could somehow tell Cottman that they could of possibly messed up my transmission by using the wrong fluid? Cause if using the wrong fluid can eat up organic syncro's how could it not eat up a rubber seal.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks

Jared

Tell the guy behind the dodge counter that he's a moron. Look at this. http://forums.2gnt.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=74044&mode=full.

Ok I just went and cleaned all the oil off the head from the previous leaking valve cover gasket and jacked up the car and used some castrol degreaser stuff and cleaned the tranny off. Then I went up to the car wash and cleaned the whole engine bay and cleaned the tranny off again. I just drove it around the base and came back on to park it. I am going out in a little bit and when I come back I will check the bottom of the tranny again. I really do not think it is leaking...it looked like dried up...clear fluid like the brake fluid is...so lets see if that big spot comes back in a few days and if by Monday I am going back to complain some more and go out there when they put it on a lift so he can't do anything stupid to make me think there is something leaking. Also I want my slave cylinder bleed valve cover back and if they have to buy one so be it. I am fumin lol...thanks a whole lot for your input. I heard these are great tranny's in the N/T and at 84K it's hard to believe it's breaking down already since my 240SX almost had 300K miles on it and a bearing in the tranny is going bad but it still is running like a champ cause my mom drives it as a daily driver. So wish me luck come Monday and I will keep you guys updated. Thanks again

P.S. - I just called Mitsubishi parts and they have that NV-T350 tranny fluid in stock and since I'm military the guy said he could get me it for $11 a quart so I need two quarts one thread said. So come monday if no leaks again I am going to tell Cottman if I go buy the fluid will you change it for free since you put the wrong fluid in for my car and see what they say...hopefully this will fix the hard shifts.

Jared

Ok I just got home. On the way to where I was going it was slipping in like 4th and 5th gear. If you would floor it the rpm's would go up about a 1,000 and if you let off the gas it would stumble back down to where it should of been. It is odd that it don't seem to be slipping when you take off in 1st or 2nd and seems like all the power and hold is there. On my way home the car sat for like 2 hours and it didn't seem to slip at all in any gear so I don't know what the deal is. It seems to me that the clutch is not adjusted properly and not fully engaging cause it literally engages at the top of the pedal. I was told by someone that they may not even put a new clutch in because a new clutch should engage about 1/3 of the way at the most up...so this is seeming weird to me. Monday I will be dealing with all this cause I am ticked. I do not think this guy knows what he is doing that installed my clutch. Also the liquid that was on the bottom of my transmission was clear and I was told transmission fluid is red in color...it didn't look red to me at all. Well come Monday if I don't see any fluid where it was seen on Friday then I don't think there is a leak. Well anymore ideas?

Thanks,
Jared

automatic tranny fluid is red in color. our nvt350 is clear. also try looking into the bell housing. take off the ahit inthe way of the inspection cover. take that off and feel inside. if that feels wet, then it is your input shaft seal, or the rear main seal.

Well I don't know how to take things off of the transmission. I think the leak is starting to show again though so something isn't right. I am just upset they didn't catch this when they did the clutch job. I think they should give me some kind of break on labor for dropping the tranny again to get this job done. Geez...and if this seal is bad then you have to replace not only the seal but what is causing it to go bad it seems I need my transmission rebuilt at 84K that just isn't seeming right to me. Since this guy doesn't know how to adjust a clutch properly who knows he didn't screw anything up with the transmission to cause this problem. I am just really angry at how this all came to be. I think I am going to take it to another Cottman and see what they say about this cause this is nonsense.

Thanks,
Jared

Ok some ok news I guess. This morning I get up to another Cottman around 8:30 and talk with the guys. They do their free check and a tech drives it etc. They don't see any problems so I go for a ride with the guy and boom it starts slipping for him. So after that I end up revealing to them I just had a new clutch installed and how they said they think this and that is leaking. So here the manager of that store says the general manager should be there in a couple minutes. Oh great here comes the guy from the other store which I didn't know was the general manger of this one as well so anyways I have it out with this guy. He is an older man so he was huffin and puffin so they end up making me take it back to the one that did the clutch job. So they get out there and start inspecting again and they go, Oh we found something we think the fill plug is bad HAHA I was like the other cottman just checked the tranny fluid level and that is why it looks like it is leaking so ok that gets scratched. So we come to the conclusion of I will not pay a penny for them to drop the tranny so they do that and look at that no leaks or anything and it's dry as can be. So I end up telling them I want the Mitsubishi oil in there so I go and spend $32 on 3 quarts of the oil for the NV-T350 transaxle and they will be using that tomorrow. So I was like well why does it engage so high and all. I talked to Mitsubishi mechanics and they said it should engage at the most half way up and engaging at the top is just not right. Also the mechanic at Mitsu. said right away when I said they used bulk tranny oil he said let me guess your having shifting problems. He said that stuff will tear up the Chrysler trannies so anyways. Tomorrow a new LuK clutch kit is coming in and they are going to install that along with the Mitsubishi oil. I doubt this is going to fix where the clutch engages and the guy at cottman adjusts the master cylinder thing by the pedal and can't get it to engage farther towards the ground so what is the problem here...both master and slave is good do these people just not know how to adjust this or what? Well at least I am getting a new clutch again and using the right oil. I will let you all know what the deal is after work.

Jared

Ok new clutch is in and mitsubishi tranny oil is in. Now it engages two or three inches off the ground which is finally right. Clutch feels great and the gears shift so much smoother. This oil is what you need period don't go for anything else but this. Thanks for all your help guys! Now on to the next thing...I went for an alignment after this and the guy went for a test drive after and it still pulled to the left a little. So he put it back up there and made the right side compensate for the left but still keep it in the green and now it seems to drive straight. The guy said maybe the tire is faulty but they checked it out and they said it probably is the shocks or struts whatever this car has, he said what it was but I can't remember which. So great...and yeah I am sure they are stock with 84 almost 85K miles so yeah probably about time. They seem mushy anyways and I hate the suspension on this car at least how it is now. They can put 4 on for like $400 and something geesh. I forgot the brand but its a popular one that begins with a M. Any cheap struts online for this car? How hard are they to install? Maybe I should start another thread for this now lol. Well thanks again and wish me luck :)

Jared

stop wasting your money on labor, do some searching and do it yourself.

I think I am going to get the TOKICO HP Series 1.5-Inch Drop Suspension Kit Mitsubishi Eclipse which comes with HP series shocks and the lowering springs. My friend did all his suspension and said he would help me so that's probably what I am going to do then.

Jared