ATF

[spoiledred94]

I changed my transmission fluid and like a week later it was brown and murky with sediment in it already. it was dirtier than the fluid I changed out that had been there for a year. Transmission slips. It always has. When I got the car it slipped The first change improved the performance a lot. Not this time.

[96 SSEi]

hi, I would change it and dive a bit between changes until its clean - maybe all the dirt was trapped in TC
see if that improves slip - dont forget to replace filter

[spoiledred94]

Hey thanks for the suggestion I'll give it another shot. It didn't do this on my first ATF change. It's a good plan. I hope it works with the first change at $60 a pop

[nos4blood70]

Add some Lucas stop slip!

[spoiledred94]

I always use a couple bottles. How much can I use max? It DOES make a difference in my experience.
Thanks Carl. You guys are raising my hopes. All my sources are pretty much gone. Right now if the Trans goes out I can't replace it.

[96 SSEi]

excessive heat and dirt kill modern trans. you must avoid both do make it last
my 92 GTP had the same trans as our cars and went well over 400,000 klm with regular tranny care

[spoiledred94]

Excellent, did you start doing all that when the car was new?

[96 SSEi]

no, bought at dealers auction for $10,250 in 98 with 76,000 klm on her - she was a sight to behold!!!

first thing I did was oil and tranny fluids upon advice from buddy mechanic.

[spoiledred94]

I take it that it was a very good price?. Kbb said my O1 was $35K new and worth $5000 in 2012. These are really nice cars. All the extras, easy to work on, dependable pretty fast and cheap to insure. I'm disappointed there are no new ones.

[96 SSEi]

I take it that it was a very good price?. Kbb said my O1 was $35K new and worth $5000 in 2012. These are really nice cars. All the extras, easy to work on, dependable pretty fast and cheap to insure. I'm disappointed there are no new ones.

mine was arctic white and fully loaded..... saw base model ones on lots for 17k so yes I scored a great deal.....reliable, sexy, but a complete pia to work on - not for the impatient!!

[spoiledred94]

I guess I'm am not experienced enough to say which cars are easy to work on and which aren't. I have worked on few cars but nothing major until my Bonnevilles.

[spoiledred94]

How much should I expect for a Trans cooler if and when I do that?

[redfury]

A good trans cooler will run about $40-50 with hoses and fittings http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php ... &jsn=10529

You want the plate style, they are the best.

Are you running Dex3 or Dex 6 in your transmission? Transmission fluid is also a cleaning agent, so it's entirely possible that your fluid change cleaned out the transmission. I'd be concerned about the slipping though. Slipping creates heat which breaks down the fluid. Transmission fix fluid additives usually have suspended material that help the bands grab better, which is why you don't want to flush all the old fluid out of the transmission. All the clutch material that is suspended is helping extend the useful life of the transmission. I would start putting some money aside for the eventual day that it gives out. Once the bands and plates lose enough friction material, all the fix in a bottles you can stuff in it won't do a thing. Save up some cash and keep your eye out for a decent used transmission.

[redfury]

As far as ease to work on, coming from working on an Astro van with a V8 implant, these cars so far have been only moderately difficult to work on, and I did the intake gaskets on the Bonneville and the van within months of each other. I can say, by far, the Bonneville was 10x easier to do...and the engine spun a bearing on the test drive on the van which put me into the Bonneville, so there's that. Spark plugs on the Astro? 5 year of driving it and I have an 8 pack of brand new AC Delco's sitting in front of me in the sealed box. Wires were bad enough, I didn't want to fight the plugs out of that van. I've never had much issue working on the myriad of GM cars I've had to do work on. I'd pull the transmission out of my car in my driveway in a heartbeat if it came to it. Matter of a fact, I disassembled the ENTIRE interior out of my Bonneville and reinstalled it all over the course of a week ( had to redo the headliner and pull the dash for the sunroof drain tubes ).

[spoiledred94]

The atf cooler sounds like an idea. I could do both the cooler and another fluid filter change. Are you suggesting that I leave a couple qts of the old dirty fluid in there and put new fluid in on top? I neglected to put in a drain plug in the drip pan the last couple ATF changes. So I'll have to drop the pan and put some of the used ATF back. Or by a siphon pump.

I've been using dex merc. Sorta universal? Sounds like the story about changing very old ATF and having the Trans go completely. Poked around a few minutes looking at used 4t65e's. It looks pretty scary trying to get what you pay for. The big banner offering great free shipping on a Trans. BS.

Does Harofreak sell transmissions?

[spoiledred94]

I did some work on my neighbors old aerostar. So I can only imagine the frustrating as hell efforts it would take with a V8 in an Astro. The worse case of wtf-why is it put together like that is the motor mount blocking access to the w. pump on my 94 If they would have put just this one bolt an inch farther away it would cut an hr off. Does GM design their cars to be more expensive for repairs?

I have hat same neglected box of plugs that I need to install. It's just that they are high up on shelf at O'Reilly's