Broke down. Need advice

[Frank]

My brother-in-law is on his first road trip coming down from Bartlesville, OK and is broke down in Tushka north of Durant. 02 Hyundai Elantra. Sounds like the transmission is going/gone out. He has checked the fluid and it was really low. Hoping he dodged a bullet and can fill it up. He doesn't have an owners manual and he isn't a car guy so I am teaching him what I can. He can follow instructions pretty well.

When I googled, I can't get a straight answer is what ATF he can use? The gas station he managed to pull into only has ATF type III and type A. My junk always just used MD so I don't know a lot about these other fluids if they are ok to mix. ANy advice? Any advice on a garage he could trust somewhere on 75 if he had to take it some place near there?

[Josh.0]

I believe its type III

[Baron Von Crowder]

cant help on the fluid, but we have a ton of those on the shelf if he needs one, they dont seem to go out often, I have ~130 in my region and have only sold 2 in the last 90 days.

[Snatch Napkin]

Damn, left for his first road trip and didn't pre-trip his car? That blows.


The automatic transmissions take sp-III.

[Rick Modena]

Broke down on the side of the hwy in this heat, pour whatever he can find and hope that bitch makes it back home or to your house, which ever is closer.

[Rick Modena]

Damn, left for his first road trip and didn't pre-trip his car? That blows.

Yup, at a minimum the air in the tires get checked. Most of my cars are new and I do my own oil changes, so a quick glance under the hood and im good to go. But yeah, if you have an older car, all fluids must be checked before any road trip is even attempted.

[Frank]

He's a good kid but his Dad died suddenly when he was about 8 years old and has not had any male role model with any kind of mechanical knowledge to show him. I have taught him what I could when I can living several hundred miles away, but shit now is not the time for this bullshit judging.

Baron, I'll PM you.

[Rick Modena]

I don't believe anyone is judging, just giving some insight on a checklist of things to do before going on a road trip in an older car. I really doubt that a quart low on tranny fluid is going to cause it break down, it could have other issues especially since he doesn't know about cars, it could be something else. Especially since DJ said those trannys hardly go bad.

Good luck Frank...

[Snatch Napkin]

I wasn't judging. Merely observing. When you grow up poor as fuck, you figure out that you have to maintain your stuff if you want to keep it.

The top reasons for those transmissions to fail is from using the wrong type of fluid or lack of maintenance.

The Castrol Multi vehicle can be had at Walmart and is a highly recommended fluid over the OEM.

[mstng86]

probably a bad coil

[Frank]

Yeah, I had been so busy with work I didnt think to coach him before he left. I didnt know what he drives. Likely been low for a long time. Small town, short hops, hard to spot any real issues. He could still move so he drove on to get to an O'Rielly's before I could stop him. Waiting to hear back.

[ceyko]

If he is young, it's a lesson learned.

These links say spIII (don't really know what that is, thought it was type III)

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080305180540AAqhR0X

http://www.justanswer.com/hyundai/5ef1t-hyundai-elantra-gls-want-change-transmission-fluid.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_type_and_how_much_transmission_fluid_do_you_need_for_a_2002_Hyundai_Elantra

[BP]

They use DIAMOND ATF SP-III, which is very similar to Mopar ATF+4. I do believe it's a Mitsubishi transmission.

[Baron Von Crowder]

I wasn't judging. Merely observing. When you grow up poor as fuck, you figure out that you have to maintain your stuff if you want to keep it.

The top reasons for those transmissions to fail is from using the wrong type of fluid or lack of maintenance.

The Castrol Multi vehicle can be had at Walmart and is a highly recommended fluid over the OEM.

If the fluid was really low, I would think there might have been a slow leak that has been slowly draining the trans, and it got low enough to burn up the trans.

We are a bunch of guys who have car interests, so things like checking fluid is something we know to do. My B-I-L doesnt know even how to change a tire, much less what he would be doing to check fluids. He puts gas in it and takes it to the quicky lube when the sticker on the windshield tells him to.

[Frank]

probably a bad coil

He just called back. Got fluid in it, drove, still rpms going up, speed going down. I told him to stop the first place he can get to to stay cool and I'll head up there.