Car is a 2.5 V6 Hyundai Sonata with about 100k on the clock.
I have no idea what oil changes etc have been done on the car in
the past.

A couple of weeks ago my Sonata autobox dropped out of
top gear. On arriving home I checked the oil level to find it low.
I topped the oil up and everything ran fine for the next week.

However I now have a problem.

I can start up fine in the morning and gearbox changes quite happily on
my 40 mile to work. However if I spend a long time
stop start in traffic (well about 5 minutes) The gearbox will drop down
a gear from top with a jolt. It then proceeds to
drive the rest of the way in that gear with no changes. If I stop and
switch off and start again. It seems stuck in bottom gear until
I get to about 3000 to 4000 rpm when with a jolt it will change to
one down from top it then stays in that gear all the time.

However after been parked all day or for an hour or so I can drive
nearly all the way home again without a problem until again it drops
out of top.

Any ideas. The oil in the gearbox looks a little on the brown side.
Would an oil change help?

I only need this car for about 3-4 weeks more is it likely to hold
together that long for about 3000 miles?

wrote:

<Snipped Text>


> Any ideas. The oil in the gearbox looks a little on the brown side.
> Would an oil change help?
> 
> I only need this car for about 3-4 weeks more is it likely to hold
> together that long for about 3000 miles?


Sounds like one of the shaft speed sensors is failing. They are quite
common on these. A quick trip to a dealer to read the codes might reveal
this - usually a 'Pulse A' or 'Pulse B' error.

-- 
Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
(updated Feb 21 2005)

Is replacing a sensor a fairly cheap thing or is it a gearbox out job?
Or could it be just dirt in the oil affecting the sensor?

Andy Hewitt wrote:

>  wrote:
>
> <Snipped Text>
>
> > Any ideas. The oil in the gearbox looks a little on the brown side.
> > Would an oil change help?
> >
> > I only need this car for about 3-4 weeks more is it likely to hold
> > together that long for about 3000 miles?
>
> Sounds like one of the shaft speed sensors is failing. They are quite
> common on these. A quick trip to a dealer to read the codes might reveal
> this - usually a 'Pulse A' or 'Pulse B' error.
>
> --
> Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
> Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
> http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
> (updated Feb 21 2005)

wrote:


> Is replacing a sensor a fairly cheap thing or is it a gearbox out job?
> Or could it be just dirt in the oil affecting the sensor?


The snsors are not cheap, but fitting them is very easy. Depending on
the exact box you have fitted (they vary a bit), it can have a pair of
siamesed sensors on a single loom, or two separate sensors. They are
bolted onto the top of the casing with 10mm bolts.

These sensors are actually very akin to ABS or Crank sensors. As such
they are also around the 100 mark.

As they are a fairly common problem, I wouldn't opt for second hand
either.

It's not likely to be dirt, they normally get weak and can't build up
enough signal.

-- 
Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
(updated Feb 21 2005)

In article <1h04jxf.x1tj00231m22N%hairy.biker@spamcop.net>, Andy Hewitt 
says...
<snip>

Andy, are you still going to be around in October? I may need some 
advice on a Ford autobox depending on what I find.

Don't go away.

:-)


-- 
Conor

-You wanted an argument? Oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse. You want room 
K5, just along the corridor. Stupid git. (Monty Python)

Conor  wrote:


> In article <1h04jxf.x1tj00231m22N%hairy.biker@spamcop.net>, Andy Hewitt
> says...
> <snip>
> 
> Andy, are you still going to be around in October? I may need some 
> advice on a Ford autobox depending on what I find.
> 
> Don't go away.
> 
> :-)


In the group? I should be, if nobody pisses me off! ;-)

Physically, I certainly hope so.

However, I am a little rusty with the Ford boxes now, which one in
particular were you thinking of?

-- 
Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
(updated Feb 21 2005)

Ok been to Hyundai and they say it needs pulse generators. Well I
didn't take the car in but that is what it says on the engineers
report.

They quoted some silly price of 317 pounds fitted.

Is it possible to get these pulse generators from any other source?
Like a gearbox specialist who is likely to charge a more reasonable
figure?


Andy Hewitt wrote:

>  wrote:
>
> <Snipped Text>
>
> > Any ideas. The oil in the gearbox looks a little on the brown side.
> > Would an oil change help?
> >
> > I only need this car for about 3-4 weeks more is it likely to hold
> > together that long for about 3000 miles?
>
> Sounds like one of the shaft speed sensors is failing. They are quite
> common on these. A quick trip to a dealer to read the codes might reveal
> this - usually a 'Pulse A' or 'Pulse B' error.
>
> --
> Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
> Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
> http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
> (updated Feb 21 2005)

wrote:


> Ok been to Hyundai and they say it needs pulse generators. Well I
> didn't take the car in but that is what it says on the engineers
> report.
> 
> They quoted some silly price of 317 pounds fitted.
> 
> Is it possible to get these pulse generators from any other source?
> Like a gearbox specialist who is likely to charge a more reasonable
> figure?


If it's a pair then that's about right I'm afraid. Probably about 100
each, plus some labour, usually an hour for diagnosis and fitting 60? +
the VAT.

They are easy to fit though, so you could do them yourself, or get a
mechanical mate to fit them (a 10mm bolt on each one). You'll need to
return to the dealer for the code reset though.

You could try Auto Transmission specialists, but Hyundai use a rare
American made box, and it's hard to find anybody outside the dealers
that can fix them. IIRC there was only one company that was listed for
repairs by their extended warranty company.

Any experience I had of independent repairs was not good though. We
found a specialist in Watford that would tackle them, but tended to fuck
up more than they fixed.

-- 
Andy Hewitt **  FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/thehewitts2/index.htm
(updated Feb 21 2005)