There is jerking in the transmission when breaking so I took it to mitsubishi and they said the fluid is black and won't replace it because the new fluid might not fix the problem and make it worse... It only has 89,500 miles on the car... Should I replace the transmission fluid anyways?
What’s your millage and how many speeds does it have (4/6/CVT)?
It is a 2.0 l 4 cylinder it only has 89,500 miles
Big reason I tell people not to buy Mitsubishi 7 inherently weak transmission and unfortunately you're either going to have a problem are you going to gamble and change the fluid and pray it doesn't slip badly after doing it with the fluid that dirty. Good luck tranny's cost a fortune to rebuild
It's likely a JATCO CVT auto transmission.
The only thing you can do is change the transmission fluid.
Castrol CVT fluid works well in mine. Saves money too.
In the case of the Jatco JF011E CVT - the fluid should've been replaced every 20k to 30k miles. If you haven't replaced the oil in almost 90k miles, it lasted it's design lifespan as stated by Mitsubishi and you'll probably have to get the belts, the valve, and the stepper motor replaced.
If you have this gearbox, GET IT SCANNED WITH AN ADVANCED SCAN TOOL. These often have issues with their electrical shift mechanisms, and oil pump valve issues that can be diagnosed and replaced.
Personally, If the gearbox doesn't have trouble codes, I'd take the risk and replace the fluid on this gearbox.
In the case your car is a Ralliart model or if you have the 4 speed automatic, I'd also recommend getting it scanned. chances are a scan results won't pin point an exact issue if anything at all.
On those I'd just take the risk (and that's quite a bit risk) and just replace the oil risking the chance that the friction packs will begin to slip. And if after the fluid replacement It'll drive alright I'd recommend getting rid of it while used prices are high.
If you will continue driving the car as is, you'll most likely have to replace the transmission anyway (valve body will get clogged up by the burnt fluid, and the mechanical components won't get properly lubricated causing them to also wear out)
So yeah, I'd take the risk (although damage has already been done, but who knows maybe it still has another 20k-30k of life left in it... but I'd guess it has much less left in it...)
So if I do change it would it'd be smart too change only 50% to 75% of the transmission fluid? Is it possible that that would cause the least amount of damage?