car that starts in 3rd gear sometimes
 

hey guys, i'm looking for a new car and came across a pretty good deal....but the engine will occasionally start in third gear, the owner thinks it's an electrical problem, he says he had it checked out and was told that tranny is fine and shifting mechanism has been replaced...so the problem isn't from those parts. does anybody have any idea what the problem might be? and if it is an easy or cheap fix? thanks

RE: car that starts in 3rd gear sometimes
 

When was the last time the trans fluid was changed or checked? Usually cars that don't shift right have crappy transmission fluid or clogged up filters. If you change the fluid (a flush at a shop is like 200$) it would probably fix it if the guy has never changed it and it has been driven hard or has ~90K miles on it.

RE: car that starts in 3rd gear sometimes
 

does anybody know where the transmission ecu is and how much it costs?

RE: car that starts in 3rd gear sometimes
 

What model year, engine size, and transmission (stick or automatic) is the Protege boober?

RE: car that starts in 3rd gear sometimes
 

great news everybody....i'm not longer looking for another car, the tranny on the one we already have gave out today. when it's in park you can still roll it like it's in nuetral (automatic). car car starts and runs fine...but when you put it in 'D' all sorts of grinding and screaming, and man is it LOUD!!! i don't know if it is even worth fixing, i went to a mechanic that we usually go to and he said it would run about 650 bucks. the car is a 1990 with a 1.8 SOHC automatic transmission, the car has 140,000mi. what do you guys think, is it worth fixing or what can i do to get some money back from it?