'Check Trans' warning light in the dash

[boylopz]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie to this site. I need your help, I have a 3.1L '96 MU with auto tranny which I have acquired just recently.

I noticed that the 'Check Trans' warning light in the dash shows or flicker at low RPM or at idle with aircon 'on' but goes out with inceased RPM or when I shut off the aircon.

I suspect that this just an electrical problem coz the tranny shifts perfectly well and this beast runs great.

I'm from Manila, Philippines and a privileged few owners of MU's.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Boylopz

[justin]

Having a total guess here but there is a cooling pipe that runs from the trans through the bottom of the radiator and back to the trans. Seeing as the trans light would be activated by temp rise, at idle with the aircon on would probably just load the fan enough to decrease the cooling efficiency of the rad and increase the trans fluid temp? I would disconnect the trans inlet and outlet pipe in the rad and give it a flush or blast out with comp air to check it's not blocked. You could do this quite easily by clamping the ends of the pipes and you only loose a cupful of trans fluid. Other than that a trans service, (filter & fluid), is always worth doing in excess of 60K use. Again this is just a guess! J

[geeves]

Also check fluid leval. This is done with the engine idleing in neutral or park. There are 2 marks on the stick one is for cold the other for after you have driven aprox 20km. Also check the colour of the fluid. It should be a bright red If dark or brownish it indicates that the trans has been very hot and its likly damage has occurred. Still change the fluid if its like this as well as the filter but theres no garentee you wont have problems later.
As you dont know the history of the trans its worth changing the fluid and filter anyway. This should be done every 30000km but frequently gets overlooked.

[boylopz]

Thanks for the help guys. There is another dash light which indicates 'A/T Temp' which doesn't goes on, should this be the one that suppose to flicker when the A/T fluid gets very hot?
I checked the A/T fluid level/condition, seems to be normal as per 'geeves' description.
Anyway, i will be changing the fluid and filter just to make sure and see if that 'check trans light' behaves.
Regards.

[matt2000]

hi boylopz I have the same problem with you my isuzu bighorn 3.1, Im also from the philippines. What is your email address so that I can give my cel no. to you.

[wizbru]

Mine comes on when the speedo is disconnected - but it flashs so unless there is a real problem with the trans (which would cause the light to flash) I would suspect an electrical fault in the warning lgt circuit.