Transmission Woes: Eclipse Cross Owners Seek Answers

Hey there! I have some experience with car repairs, and I actually dealt with something very similar on my 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander. The symptoms you're describing sound exactly like what I experienced last year. Mine had the same issues, rough shifts, weird noises, the whole deal. Took it to my trusted mechanic and yep, it was the torque converter. Ended up costing me around 2,120€ to fix, but it was worth it to get the transmission working properly again. Just to be sure we're dealing with the same thing, could you share: How many miles/km on your Eclipse Cross? When did you first notice these symptoms? Does it happen more when the engine is cold or warm? I can give you more specific details about my repair experience once I know if we're looking at the same situation.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Outlander! My Eclipse Cross has 78160 KM on it, and I just had it serviced last month. The symptoms started about 2 weeks ago. It's definitely more noticeable when the engine is cold, especially during my morning commute. The grinding sounds usually decrease after about 10-15 minutes of driving. It's concerning since the car isn't that old, and I'm trying to figure out if this is a common issue with these models. The repair cost you mentioned is quite steep, hoping it might be something simpler in my case! Let me know if you noticed similar patterns with the cold/warm behavior in your situation.

Hey again! Thanks for those details, and yeah, that cold-start behavior sounds exactly like what I experienced with my Outlander. The morning drive was always the worst, right? In my case, I also noticed it was particularly bad during the first 10-15 minutes, just like yours. With my Outlander, I initially hoped it might be something minor too (believe me, I was praying it wasn't the converter!), but the symptoms were just too similar to ignore. The way it would gradually improve as the car warmed up was exactly the same pattern. At around 78K km, you're actually hitting about the same mileage where mine started acting up (mine was at about 82K km when the issues began). One thing I didn't mention in my first reply, before I got it fixed, I tried changing the transmission fluid thinking it might help, but it only made a slight difference for about a week before the symptoms came back full force. Not saying you shouldn't try that first, but just sharing my experience. Just keep an eye on it, if it starts getting worse, don't wait too long. Mine went from "annoying but driveable" to "seriously concerning" pretty quickly. The repair wasn't cheap, but it was better than risking more extensive transmission damage. Let me know if you want any other details about how my repair went down. Hope you can get it sorted out for less than I did!

Thanks so much for all this detailed info, it's really helpful to hear from someone who went through almost the exact same thing! It's kind of scary how similar our situations are, especially with the mileage and cold-start symptoms. I was actually thinking about trying the transmission fluid change first, so I'm glad you mentioned your experience with that. Might save me from wasting time and money on something that won't fix the real problem. I'll definitely keep a close eye on it and probably get it checked out sooner rather than later. Don't want to risk making things worse by waiting too long. Really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, gives me a much better idea of what I might be dealing with. Guess I better start saving up just in case it does turn out to be the torque converter! Thanks again for all your help!