ARX in Automatic Transmissions

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Big O Dave

Big O Dave

Joined
Aug 10, 2004
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High in the Mountains of Central California
After the auto trans in my wife's Explorer failed last week (with 110,000 miles on it), I decided to take some pre-emptive measures with my two other old vehicles, the C20 (Turbo 350) and the F250 (C6) and I put 6oz. of ARX in each transmission.

So far, it has only been in for a few hundred miles in each vehicle. They really weren't exhibiting any problems (especially the C6), but the Turbo 350 was having an occasional problem wherein it would not go into gear upon cold starts. I'd have to put it into neutral and rev the engine slightly a few times, then try again to put it in Drive or Reverse, and then it would work normally.

Within a couple of days I noticed that the cold start problem with the Turbo 350 was diminishing, and now lately it hasn't happened at all.

With both transmissions I am noticing crisper shifts.

Incidently, I did check the level of ATF in the Turbo 350 when it started doing its "I won't go into gear" thing, and it wasn't low. I talked to a fellow shop owner (a trans guy) about this problem, and he indicated that this problem sometimes happens as some of the rubber parts in the trans age and get hard.
 
benjamming, that's the weird thing... the Explorer exhibited absolutely no warning signs. I even drove it the night before it failed and came home and commented to my wife how nice the truck was driving. Then, the next day I was at work and she called me to tell me that her transmission was shifting very badly. I drove it and it would start in first, skip second and go into third and then OD.

When I took it to the trans shop, I watched them disassemble it and the second gear band was snapped. He told me that the trans was clean inside and that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. He also mentioned that since the time the trans was built ('95) a number of upgraded parts had been created that remedy the problems my trans had (it also had a failing planetary gearset shaft).

I have religiously flushed the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles on my vehicles, but when I married my wife last year, it was only then that the Explorer came under my care.

I've had my C20 for six years, and it has had regular trans flushes. As far as the F250 goes, I just got it in April of this year, but the prior owner had flushed the trans every 30,000 miles and advised me to do so as soon as I could (I did). This F250 still has the original, unrebuilt C6 (it just hit the 100,000 mile mark) and the C20 has the same Turbo 350 in it that it had when I bought it (it had been rebuilt two years before I bought it).

I don't do drain and fills on my vehicles with A/T's. I have a flush machine at my shop and I always flush the trans using it, after dropping the pan and changing the filter. That way, ALL of the fluid gets changed, including the fluid in the torque converter.
 
I'll be very interested in your results. My wifes Camry has had two forced (100% replacement) flushes in it's 120K life and though I find no troubles with it I'm considering the A-RX for it.

Didn't you also dose a power steering unit not long ago?

Her's seems to be leaking a bit from one shaft, so that will also be quite interesting.

John
 
quote:
Originally posted by John Hilmer:


Didn't you also dose a power steering unit not long ago?

Click to expand...
I haven't used ARX in a power steering unit yet, but I've read around here of people who have. One thing I do know about power steering units is that they have little tolerance for grit and grime, and when I've seen units with these impurities in them, they are beyond help.

ARX would be good for stopping seal leaks in a power steering unit, as long as the seals are not damaged.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Big O Dave:
benjamming, that's the weird thing... the Explorer exhibited absolutely no warning signs. I even drove it the night before it failed and came home and commented to my wife how nice the truck was driving. Then, the next day I was at work and she called me to tell me that her transmission was shifting very badly. I drove it and it would start in first, skip second and go into third and then OD.

When I took it to the trans shop, I watched them disassemble it and the second gear band was snapped. He told me that the trans was clean inside and that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. He also mentioned that since the time the trans was built ('95) a number of upgraded parts had been created that remedy the problems my trans had (it also had a failing planetary gearset shaft).

I have religiously flushed the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles on my vehicles, but when I married my wife last year, it was only then that the Explorer came under my care.

I've had my C20 for six years, and it has had regular trans flushes. As far as the F250 goes, I just got it in April of this year, but the prior owner had flushed the trans every 30,000 miles and advised me to do so as soon as I could (I did). This F250 still has the original, unrebuilt C6 (it just hit the 100,000 mile mark) and the C20 has the same Turbo 350 in it that it had when I bought it (it had been rebuilt two years before I bought it).

I don't do drain and fills on my vehicles with A/T's. I have a flush machine at my shop and I always flush the trans using it, after dropping the pan and changing the filter. That way, ALL of the fluid gets changed, including the fluid in the torque converter.
Click to expand...
My sister’s Mazda Protégé just had its trans rebuilt, no warning signs.

Got the car used at 101K, it was shifting rough. I had it flushed, was slightly better. Then I dropped in a bottle of Lucas Transmission Fix, after that it shifted like new, for about 2K.

At some point the transmission started hesitating, when you put it in D or R, it took some blip on the gas to respond. When it finally caught on, it acted like someone dumping the clutch on a manual. I checked and the fluid level was normal.

Took it to the shop, they found much of metal shaving stuck to the magnets in the pan. Took it apart and they found one of the gears in the differential with most of its teeth shaven off. They attributed the hesitation to this.

Does it make sense? Could the Lucas have done this transmission any wrong?
 
quote:
Originally posted by Jonny Z:
Could the Lucas have done this transmission any wrong?
Click to expand...
Nope! It was already on its way out. Feel glad that you got that good 2,000 miles with Lucas.
smile.gif
 
No, sorry I am not a transmission expert! I wish I was! Anyways I'm a uni student. I normally post as "busky2k" on many other forums but I muddled up the username on this forum.
 
yep, I don't know why many people on this site don't use auto-rx for their transmissions. Especially since auto transmissions don't last as long as engines! I've used the product and it worked in my auto transmission. I've posted it before here too.
 
All I get from this thread is that 30k ATF flushes ISN'T enough maintenance for a typical transmission, and that nothing will fix factory defects.

Why not practice a more frequent maintenance interval to prevent problems and not need additives when problems occur?
 
quote:
Originally posted by unDummy:
All I get from this thread is that 30k ATF flushes ISN'T enough maintenance for a typical transmission, and that nothing will fix factory defects.

Why not practice a more frequent maintenance interval to prevent problems and not need additives when problems occur?
Click to expand...
Who said 30K fluid replacements isn't often enough? In general people tend to forget about transmissions totally till their is a problem. No matter how often you change the fluid, it isn't going to fix a design flaw. Everyone seems so concerned about engine oil, but transmissions these days cost just as much as some engines
dunno.gif
 
As automatic transmissions age, the rubber seals inside of them harden and they lose their ability to maintain the necessary internal pressures for proper shifting. This is not a defect, nor is it necessarily due to a lack of ATF changes.

In my experience with the Turbo 350 in my C20, ARX resolved this aging seal problem and now the transmission has lost its false-neutral problem upon cold startup. Moreover, when driving around with the trans up to operating temperature, the shifts are noticeably more crisp and the kick-downs are much more responsive.

This is the real focus of this thread.
 
We should also keep in mind that no additive is going to do anything about a hard part failure, as happened to Big O Dave and Jonny Z. Hard parts break due to mechanical stress or design weaknesses in the part. Heat can exacerbate this. No fluid product can really affect such a situation while staying within the design limits of the trans. A trans cooler would be a better, but not foolproof, means of preventing such failures.
 
I absolutely agree with Matt S. When we had the Explorer's transmission rebuilt, it turned out that a LOT of the internal parts have been redesigned since that transmission was made in '95. The trans rebuilder used all of the updated parts... in addition, we had a large, external trans cooler installed. No ATF additive could have taken the place of all these changes.

ARX can only help with deposit problems and with seal rejuvenation in a trans that is not already mechanically damaged or plagued with design flaws.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Big O Dave:
I absolutely agree with Matt S. When we had the Explorer's transmission rebuilt, it turned out that a LOT of the internal parts have been redesigned since that transmission was made in '95. The trans rebuilder used all of the updated parts... in addition, we had a large, external trans cooler installed. No ATF additive could have taken the place of all these changes.

ARX can only help with deposit problems and with seal rejuvenation in a trans that is not already mechanically damaged or plagued with design flaws.
Click to expand...
Bingo. It's good to see we're on the same page.
smile.gif
 
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