So,

Today the car, for the 3rd time in me owning it decided to fall flat on it's face when I gunned it at 38mph. Usually this entails a downshift, lots of screaming, and cars falling backward in my rearview. This time it entailed engine RPM screaming away and no going. Every shift otherwise is fine, it was only doing this once in a while. Called mechanic, I asked him about fluid change, etc..since car is so high mileage he said leave alone add lucas trans slip. Added some, car seems to shift better. Tonight leaving friends on way home, I recreated situation and it did it, AGAIN. Ok, but yet it can shift fine from gear to gear, etc...it's just during THAT particular speed downshifting like that harshly AT TIMES. I did it a few more times, and as the car actually got up to a darn good temp (hasn't in weeks, always cold here) it stopped doing it! I also went home and put some more of the bottle of Lucas Trans Slip and also checked the fluid..yeah...it's a reddish/brown mix now. Nearing the good brown side, but this Lucas stuff is supposed to fix worn fluid so...I poured most of the bottle in. Took her back out, seems a lot more confident during shifts, and didn't mis-down shift once during another few attempts. Thoughts? For now, it seems good.

Oh...car has 174,000miles all original. I feel blessed each day she starts and gets me where I am going, and even though it's cost me so much past 2 months, it's worth it. So just tell it as it is.

Probably worn clutch packs. And the Lucas oil wont fix the worn fluid, your fluid is toast.

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Had the same issue. You can actually hear it during one of these autocross runs, just after the right-left:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pciGeX5-lK0&#t=18s

That's the 2-1 slipping and I didn't realize for a long time, since I rarely/never do 2-1 under hard throttle. All other shifts were great at the time. Though it seemed fine during other runs. When the trans got rebuilt eventually, autopsy revealed that 2nd gear clutches were toast.

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Jerry /// Past: 95 SSEi (June 2010 COTM) -- 04 GXP (July 2011 COTM)
91 Honda Civic Wagon DX 2WD (fuelly) -- 208,000km -- 92hp -- Autocross Warrior
09 Lexus LS460 AWD -- 94,000km -- Daily Driver
09 White Hot G8 GT -- 155,000km (fuelly) -- LS3 Cam -- GM LS3 CNC Ported Heads -- Kooks 1 3/4" Long Tube Headers -- Solo Catback Midsection -- Hooker Maxflow Mufflers -- Pat G Tune -- Rotofab Intake -- Tein S-Tech Springs -- GXP FE3 Dampers -- BMR Subframe Cradle Inserts -- BMR Subframe Connectors -- Forgestar F14 Gold 18x9 +40 -- Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/45/18 -- Maverick Man Carbon Fiber Spoiler

Yeah I hear it, sounds like mine...ugh.

Sorry for 2nd post in row. Upon chat in chatroom, Don, Ed...etc....we've come to the decision...well...I have with their help, a fluid drain (not flush) is in order with normal replacement fluid and a new filter, also going to add Lucas to this change to help the transmission get the most life it has left. I'm going to start driving her easily and hope for at least another good year, everything as of this minute shifts fine, that Lucas did seem to do the trick, but bad fluid is a no-no.

3rd...yeah yeah..in a row.

Update:

Dropped the pan, all I found in it was what you'll see in pictures below. The fluid was beyond clean (even if it pics show it's not..it is). No metal at all near the magnet. Mechanic said the filter weighed a LOT, and the constant whine during driving from the transmission seems to be gone, downshifts now work perfectly at 38ish now, all shift points are better. Let's hope it keeps this way, but post thoughts on what this mystery part is. It was made of something like plastic, and the mechanic said it could be from any number of areas but nothing seems to be effected now. I've also included a pic of stamp from tranny, I've seen posts how this can be useful to reading into the transmission I believe? Meh.

That piece of plastic is a thrust washer. Your trans is still savable with an overhaul, but it may not be if you keep driving it. When a thrust washer goes, you get metal on metal conditions in the tranny. Just like brake pads that are worn down to the metal plate.

Sounded like my "routine" fluid/filter change. Complete with mystery part at the bottom of the pan. I had a whine happening too. It would whine at 1800-2000rpm on light throttle just before a shift. Eventually it got worse and was whining at all RPM's and through 1st-3rd, after that there was too much wind noise for me to hear it. This was when I took it in for the fluid change.

My trans guy, the local 4T6x specialist and go-to shop for the GTP community, said that it was a washer of sorts as well. He felt that it was from the diff. The fluid on the way out didn't seem so bad, the tech doing the job said "it's dark, definitely due, but I've seen worse." And then he inspected the bottom of the pan and found the washer.

Did you see what was inside the filter? I didn't have much metal on my magnet either. But metallic quicksand came pouring out of the filter. I had things to do and wanted to limp the car home that day, so I asked them to piece it back together and I'd bring it back later on in the week for the rebuild. After disturbing the clogged filter, the car wouldn't move in forward or reverse, period. Lack of fluid flow = slip. They dropped the pan again and replaced the filter with a new one - after this it went back to "normal", I had all gears and "limped" the car home, by that I mean 65mph on the highway across town. It may feel fine, but I think it's similar to what happened to me. You could have hours left to live, or months. Who knows.

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Jerry /// Past: 95 SSEi (June 2010 COTM) -- 04 GXP (July 2011 COTM)
91 Honda Civic Wagon DX 2WD (fuelly) -- 208,000km -- 92hp -- Autocross Warrior
09 Lexus LS460 AWD -- 94,000km -- Daily Driver
09 White Hot G8 GT -- 155,000km (fuelly) -- LS3 Cam -- GM LS3 CNC Ported Heads -- Kooks 1 3/4" Long Tube Headers -- Solo Catback Midsection -- Hooker Maxflow Mufflers -- Pat G Tune -- Rotofab Intake -- Tein S-Tech Springs -- GXP FE3 Dampers -- BMR Subframe Cradle Inserts -- BMR Subframe Connectors -- Forgestar F14 Gold 18x9 +40 -- Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/45/18 -- Maverick Man Carbon Fiber Spoiler

I've had this condition in my old GM reman 4t60-e and current 4t60-hd. Every once in a while, it just won't catch.

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95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

Don (Jrs3800) said it's impossible to tell in chat, meaning that yeah, it could last a long time or not too long. He said his trans puked up the thrust washer like mine at 80k, and now he's at 180k on the transmission. I'm just hoping for the best and ignoring the rest The trans acts better than it did at 122k, and it's now at 174k. We'll leave it there, but thanks for the information.

My trans is still going... I had those chunks of thrust washer in my pan as well.. That was 100,000 miles ago... It really is hard to say how long it will last... But if it shifts good............

Mine is a Bit sloppy... Even my light throttle Overdrive apply is off kilter.. If I ever tak the trans apart I fully expect to find severely worn clutches and a pretty well worn out 4th clutch hub and Reverse reaction drum...

Agreed. Best case scenario, you can continue driving and start budgeting for a rebuild down the road, whenever that is.

I didn't trust mine any longer based on the amount of metal coming out of the filter. I didn't need it to fail while I'm here an hour away from home at college, I had a couple weeks of allowable downtime right then and there, and the price was right ($1350 CDN). It all added up for me

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Jerry /// Past: 95 SSEi (June 2010 COTM) -- 04 GXP (July 2011 COTM)
91 Honda Civic Wagon DX 2WD (fuelly) -- 208,000km -- 92hp -- Autocross Warrior
09 Lexus LS460 AWD -- 94,000km -- Daily Driver
09 White Hot G8 GT -- 155,000km (fuelly) -- LS3 Cam -- GM LS3 CNC Ported Heads -- Kooks 1 3/4" Long Tube Headers -- Solo Catback Midsection -- Hooker Maxflow Mufflers -- Pat G Tune -- Rotofab Intake -- Tein S-Tech Springs -- GXP FE3 Dampers -- BMR Subframe Cradle Inserts -- BMR Subframe Connectors -- Forgestar F14 Gold 18x9 +40 -- Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/45/18 -- Maverick Man Carbon Fiber Spoiler