I think my transmission is dying :(

[Monkton]

Basically, it's slow. I have an automatic and whenever I take a sharp corner and have to slow down a lot, when I get back on the gas the engine just winds up for a second or two and then the car will "kick" into gear and go. And the other day I backed out of my friends driveway to leave and I shifted into drive and actually did a burnout because it didn't shift quickly enough into gear. Is there anything I can do to fix this or am I going to have to get a new transmission?

[97loudcut]

That sounds really bad. How many miles on the tranny?

 

 

[SigEpCutlass]

Lucas makes a supplement that you add to your Tranny fluid that might help you. It fixes the seals and lubes up your transmission, and even help extend it's life.

 

However, before you do that, when was the last time your transmission was flushed and had the fluid replaced? Further, when was the filter replaced for your transmission? Does your fluid smell "burnt"? If it's been quite a long time, simply doing both of those items I suggested may correct your problem.

[99RegalGS]

What's the fluid level?

 

[SigEpCutlass]

DUH! That was sort of an important question I forgot to ask. lol

[ExZion]

I churp the wheels every now and then because i get on the gas like a half second before it clicks into gear. i dont think its the trans's fault that i'm impatient. BTW not to be a dick, but a Burn out? where you still rolling back and slamed it in to drive wot?

[bigdman]

i had the same problem you said that you were having. by changing the transmission fluid and filter, that went away. try changing it and maybe adding some lucas like SigEpCutlass said. it makes a noticeable difference.

 

[Monkton]

I churp the wheels every now and then because i get on the gas like a half second before it clicks into gear. i dont think its the trans's fault that i'm impatient. BTW not to be a dick, but a Burn out? where you still rolling back and slamed it in to drive wot?

 

I was rolling back slightly when i put it into drive, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. And it was far from impressive, just a little smoke and maybe a two foot rubber mark. Thanks for the suggestions guys. My car does kind of smell like burning when I get home from school. The levels on all the fluids are fine as well, forgot to mention that. The car has about 119,000 miles on it, and I think the transmission does as well. I'll try changing the fluid and filter, and possibly adding some of that Lucas stuff you mentioned. As far as I know the filter on it has not been changed since I have had the car, unless my Dad did one day without me knowing it.

[DaveFromColorado]

For the record, I've never been a fan of any of the lucas products.

 

Lucas products are a band-aid to hide problems that are there, they don't actually fix the problems - an example is, I had a friend who had a rod knock in his LS1, he added the lucas and the knock went away, and there was no sound from it for 2 weeks when the rod finally let go and killed the block, cam, oil pan ... needless to day, it wasn't a reusable block anymore.

 

It's not the first time I've heard of that happening either, I've herad about lots of people who've had similar problems.

 

for a trans with that many miles, where you smell an actual burning when you've been driving for a while, sounds like the clutches are slipping beyond their capacity and are generating loads of extra heat, in this case, I'd change the fluid and filter, but use type F fluid instead of the Dextron III. Type F has more friction modifiers in it (zinc, sulpher, etc) which will actually get the clutches to hold together tighter.

 

I'm not saying you HAVE to use my method or anything, just thought I'd make sure you get a lil' more info

 

--Dave.

[SigEpCutlass]

I've only used Lucas once and it was because I didn't have the time to do the flush before I went on a big trip. I didn't have a problem, I just added it to hopefully extend the life of my fluid and help make up for going over the service interval. That being said, I've never used the Lucas tranny solution to try and solve any serious issue. It was just an idea that I was throwing out there. Dave brought up a very good point about it.

[Monkton]

For the record, I've never been a fan of any of the lucas products.

 

Lucas products are a band-aid to hide problems that are there, they don't actually fix the problems - an example is, I had a friend who had a rod knock in his LS1, he added the lucas and the knock went away, and there was no sound from it for 2 weeks when the rod finally let go and killed the block, cam, oil pan ... needless to day, it wasn't a reusable block anymore.

 

It's not the first time I've heard of that happening either, I've herad about lots of people who've had similar problems.

 

for a trans with that many miles, where you smell an actual burning when you've been driving for a while, sounds like the clutches are slipping beyond their capacity and are generating loads of extra heat, in this case, I'd change the fluid and filter, but use type F fluid instead of the Dextron III. Type F has more friction modifiers in it (zinc, sulpher, etc) which will actually get the clutches to hold together tighter.

 

I'm not saying you HAVE to use my method or anything, just thought I'd make sure you get a lil' more info

 

--Dave.

 

Well I guess I'm going to put some fluid in it tomorrow and see if that helps any. But I mentioned the Type F fluid to my Dad (who has been a mechanic for a long time) and he said that I shouldn't use that. Said that it would hurt my tranny more than help because of something to do with a slipping agent missing in it or something like that.

[DaveFromColorado]

Transmission Fluid Facts

okay, I am looking at my old textbook from school - "Automotive Technology - A Systems Approach - 3rd Edition"

 

I'd like to put a few quotes in here from pages 988, and 989 discussing the differences between DEXTRON-III/Mercon and Type F (and other transmission fluids)

 

"The various chemicals added to ATF ensure its durability and overall performance. Zinc, phosphorus, and sulfur are commonly added to reduce friction [friction modifiers]. Detergent additives are added to ATF to help keep the transmission pars clean. Dispersants that keep contaminants suspended in the fluid so they can be trapped by the filter are also added.

 

Because some chemicals used in the composition of transmission fluid may adversely react with the fibers or synthetic materials used in the seals of the transmission, the compatibility can result in external and internal transmission fluid leaks due to deterioration, swelling and/or shrinking of the seals."

 

"To reduce ware and friction inside a transmission the most commonly used transmission fluids are mixed with friction modifiers. Fluid types A, CJ, H, Dextron, and Mercon have friction modifiers [reduce friction] added to the ATF. Transmission fluids with these additives allow for the use of lower clutch and band application pressures, which, in turn, provide for a very smooth feeling shift. Transmission fluids without a friction modifier, such as type F and G tend to have a firmer shift because higher clutch and band application pressures are required to avoid excessive slippage during gear changes.

 

If an ATF without friction modifiers [type F] is used in a transmission designed for friction modified fluid [Dextron III] the service life of the transmission is not normally affected. However, firmer shifting will result and the driver might not welcome this change in shifting quality. Transmission durability is effected by using friction modified fluid in a transmission designed for nonmodified fluids. This incorrect use of fluid will cause slippage, primarily when the vehicle is working under a load. Any amount of slippage can cause the clutches and bands to ware prematurely. Also, because of the high heat generated by the slippage, the fluid may overhead and lose some of it's lubrication and cooling qualities, which could cause the entire transmission to fail."

 

--Dave