Hi,



I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for a little advice. I know the automotive model specific forums are a lot of help. As I belong to many of the types of cars I own. I own a 1965 Plymouth Valiant 200, 1973 Dodge Charger, 1986 Plymouth Reliant SE, 1998 Ford Ranger XLT, 1999 Dodge Dakota R/T, and of course this 2003 Hyundai Sonata GLS. I'm pretty fair with keeping all these vehicles in shape except the ones that still have carburetors. I acquired this 2003 Hyundai Sonata for nothing so anything I get out of it is worth it. I was told by the previous owner that he was told it needed a transmission control module. It is a 2.7 automatic. I started it up and there was no CEL on or no Transmission lights. I put it in all the gears and you can feel them engage. The fluid was pretty bad looking. When you put it in a drive gear and press the accelerator it moves but it takes a lot of RPMS to get it to move barely. It also will not drive smoothly. I honestly didn't try to continue to drive it like that. If you put it in reverse and press on the gas hard the car will kinda move forward like a clutch but it will never move in reverse. I concluded that the transmission is gone. I did try to check the solenoids, replace the fluid, and the speed sensors but nothing changed. All the speed sensors were clear and clicked. I was just wondering could there be any relay or control module that would actually cause this car not to drive or is the transmission just toasted? I'm not sure if it's worth putting a new transmission in. It's got 136,000 miles on it.

 

My local junkyard charges $130 for a "good" used transaxle. If that's all it takes to get a dead car running it's worth it in my opinion.



The RD platform had a specific requirement for SPIII auto trans. fluid, or the clutches would turn to goo, leaving eventually no forward gears. A quick googling tells me Hyundai is still specifying SPIII . . . if that's happened to your transmission then it's time to rebuild or replace.

 

Change the fluid and the filter and see what happens? It may bring it back to life!

 

People have put well more than 136k miles on those motors. Double that! So, it may be worth fixing the trans. Just remember to also do the maintenance on the motor, especially the timing belt.

 

I made sure to take my 14' back to Hyundai to get the right fluid. That is a quick way to end a Hyundai trans. Any universal fluid = bad idea, but if it already happened - too late, damage done. Get another and use the right fluid. Should be good for a bit.