Buick Transmission Fluid Change

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actionstan

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Hi,

I am sure this topic gets beat to death but I am trying to evaluate my specific situation.

I have a buick with 185k on the clock, the transmission fluid has NEVER been changed, it is a brownish color.

The car drives fine, except for after about 30 minutes of driving the transmission starts shifting hard.


Should I change this fluid and add a bottle of lucas transfix to the mix to keep it a little thicker to hopefully avoid slipping, or should I leave it be and let it die a natural death instead of trying to fix it this late in the game?

It bothers me a little because I have even heard mechanics say to leave it be?


Thanks!
 
Do not flush -- I think everyone will agree on that. Beyond that, you will hear differing opinions.

There are lots of snake oils out there that supposedly do wonderful things. I am skeptical of them all.

I would do a pan drop and filter change. This will gently replace 50% of your fluid with new and could make a noticible difference in shifting. It will not hurt anything. If your trans dies anyway after this, it was already doomed and ignoring it would not have made much -- if any -- difference.
 
Originally Posted By: Ken_W

Do not flush -- I think everyone will agree on that. Beyond that, you will hear differing opinions.

There are lots of snake oils out there that supposedly do wonderful things. I am skeptical of them all.

I would do a pan drop and filter change. This will gently replace 50% of your fluid with new and could make a noticible difference in shifting. It will not hurt anything. If your trans dies anyway after this, it was already doomed and ignoring it would not have made much -- if any -- difference.


Pretty much what he said, but definitely CHANGE THE FLUID!
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Install a Magnefine inline filter and start doing drain & fills.

Hopefully your transmission will work better, but if its worn or broken, it is what it is.


Was going to post exactly the same advice.
 
I'm not a mechanic but if it's the 4T65E that I had in a Century, a Transgo shift kit will help with the hard shift. It's not a performance kit, it's a problem solver kit for those symptoms. Change the filter while you're in there and replace with Maxlife ATF. The kit does not solve the problem but does effectively deal with the slipping which the trans then increases line pressure (max-adapt or something like that?) to prevent slipping. That's the hard shift you feel when it goes into max-adapt mode.

There are differing opinions about flushes but I would consider a fluid exchange through the cooler line to get most of the old fluid out. Lubegard Red bottle may help as well. Keep in mind that if it's on it's last legs, all any of this will do is buy you some time before an overhaul. The question is how much time and nobody knows that.
 
Originally Posted By: WishIhadatruck
What year and model is it?

When you say, starts to shift hard, how hard? Slamming into gear like it wants to self destruct or just firmer than you want?


Oops!! 2003 century, it's a slight slam, it seems like it thinks for a second then shifts there is a noticeable buck on All upshifts. Self destruct? Not at all

I might mention sometimes when putting it in gear it is kinda loud its hard to describe the sound
 
Originally Posted By: actionstan
Originally Posted By: WishIhadatruck
What year and model is it?

When you say, starts to shift hard, how hard? Slamming into gear like it wants to self destruct or just firmer than you want?


Oops!! 2003 century, it's a slight slam, it seems like it thinks for a second then shifts there is a noticeable buck on All upshifts. Self destruct? Not at all

I might mention sometimes when putting it in gear it is kinda loud its hard to describe the sound


I agree with the other poster that suggested the shift kit. I had a hard shifting problem with my Grand Prix and it was fixed by a shift kit similar to the Trans Go kit mentioned. It keeps the shifts within specification. If the computer detects the shifts as being too slow it will think it is failing and go into a fail safe mode and cause the pump to go to max pressure and cause the shifts to slam from gear to gear. You can hear the pump whining as well when this happens. I put my kit in at 120k miles on the odometer and I just hit 200k miles last week, still shifting good. It will occasionally shift more firmly when hot but it never slams like it did. I had a great UOA of my trans oil using Valvoline Dex VI from 90k-180k when I tested it at 180k. I do a pan drop and filter change every 30k miles. I have Redline D4 in it now which is working good it seems. I probably would just have stuck with the Dex VI if I had it to do over again. The D4 was an experiment for fun as much as anything.

A pan drop and filter change will get out 7.5-8 quarts, a large % of the fluid. I would do that. Many people use Maxlife Dex/Merc which is full synthetic and are very happy with it. Any Dex VI would be good. Any name brand Dex/Merc would be acceptable as well although they are no longer licensed so what you are getting will vary some, but they generally are good fluids.

Do a pan drop and filter change, put the shift kit in while the pan is dropped and fill it back up with whatever fluid you want. If I were you, I'd use the Maxlife or a Dex VI.
 
Mechanics probably meant "they don't want to change it" not "It shouldn't be changed"

Any subsequent issues will be faulted on the fluid change (with most people, not you) not the 185K miles it wasn't changed
 
Originally Posted By: Ken_W

Do not flush -- I think everyone will agree on that. Beyond that, you will hear differing opinions.

There are lots of snake oils out there that supposedly do wonderful things. I am skeptical of them all.

I would do a pan drop and filter change. This will gently replace 50% of your fluid with new and could make a noticible difference in shifting. It will not hurt anything. If your trans dies anyway after this, it was already doomed and ignoring it would not have made much -- if any -- difference.



This.

DO NOT USE A SNAKE OIL FIX UNTIL YOU SIMPLY DO THE ABOVE.

CHANGE THE FILTER AND REPLACE SOME OF THE ATF WITH THE PROPER SPEC FLUID!
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: Ken_W

Do not flush -- I think everyone will agree on that. Beyond that, you will hear differing opinions.

There are lots of snake oils out there that supposedly do wonderful things. I am skeptical of them all.

I would do a pan drop and filter change. This will gently replace 50% of your fluid with new and could make a noticible difference in shifting. It will not hurt anything. If your trans dies anyway after this, it was already doomed and ignoring it would not have made much -- if any -- difference.



This.

DO NOT USE A SNAKE OIL FIX UNTIL YOU SIMPLY DO THE ABOVE.

CHANGE THE FILTER AND REPLACE SOME OF THE ATF WITH THE PROPER SPEC FLUID!


Do not use a snake oil. Period
 
Do NOT use Dex VI!!! Somebody else posted that you can use that, but he is WRONG!! The stuff has stronger detergents and friction modifiers which are not good for anything that doesn't call for it.

Pre-2005 GM transmissions use Dex III; but since that is not an option (not licensed by GM anymore), any dex/merc is compatible.

I use Castrol, but if you can find a better deal at Walmart or Costco for example for a cheaper brand, go for it!
 
Originally Posted By: babyivan
Do NOT use Dex VI!!! Somebody else posted that you can use that, but he is WRONG!! The stuff has stronger detergents and friction modifiers which are not good for anything that doesn't call for it.

Pre-2005 GM transmissions use Dex III; but since that is not an option (not licensed by GM anymore), any dex/merc is compatible.

I use Castrol, but if you can find a better deal at Walmart or Costco for example for a cheaper brand, go for it!



What are you talking about i used Supertech Dex VI in my 2002 Century.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis

What are you talking about i used Supertech Dex VI in my 2002 Century.

Not a good idea, that's why.
Dex VI is a whole different animal, why risk putting that in your car?

Dex/merc is what should be used in pre-2005 GM vehicles... whether it's Full syn. maxlife or some other non syn. version.

I read on this very forum about a guy using Dex VI in his pre-2005 Pontiac with NOT so favorable results... So the question remains, why risk it?
 
Doesn't matter if you put Dexron VI, Maxlife Synthetic Dex/Merc, or Dex/Merc III in a pre-2005 GM car with a broken transmission...your're still going to have a broken transmission after the changing transmission fluid.
 
I've got a 1993 Ford Taurus with the AXOD metric transmission. Original transmission with 156,000 miles. For many months, it had been slipping in first gear and "hesitating" between 3rd adn 4th, (like you said, it was "thinking" about shifting). I changed the fluid with Advanced Auto Dex/M and the filter as well. No change. I added two bottles of the "Lucas" transmission fix in a bottle, (it's really thick stuff). No change. I added a bottle of Lubegard silver, no change. When I added a bottle of Lubegard red, there was a slight change, but not enough to make me happy. Finally, I added a bottle of "Seafoam Trans Tune" and literally, within two miles, transmission was working perfectly. Shifts great and no more slipping or jumping into gear.

I was told by wise people here on Bitog that probably, my transmission was suffering from varnish inside the innards of the transmission. While there were some who strongly warned me not to use "snake oils," there were others who advised me I needed to clean the varnish so the innards would work properly.

Two months later, Taurus is still shifting very well with no slips, bumps or jerks.

The way I changed the fluid was to pump fluid out via the filler tube with a little hand pump, (it works great, you can get them at Lowes for about 12 dollars), then replaced said fluid and drove around for a while, then pump more out and replace, drive, pump more out and replace, then drive. Ended up replacing 16 quarts this way, then added all the different "fixes in a bottle." So far, the "unholy mixture" is doing well.
 
Quote:
Oops!! 2003 century, it's a slight slam, it seems like it thinks for a second then shifts there is a noticeable buck on All upshifts. Self destruct? Not at all

I might mention sometimes when putting it in gear it is kinda loud its hard to describe the sound


In addition to changing fluid and filter, check the Universal Joints, motor mounts, and transmission mounts.
 
Originally Posted By: babyivan
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis

What are you talking about i used Supertech Dex VI in my 2002 Century.

Not a good idea, that's why.
Dex VI is a whole different animal, why risk putting that in your car?

Dex/merc is what should be used in pre-2005 GM vehicles... whether it's Full syn. maxlife or some other non syn. version.

I read on this very forum about a guy using Dex VI in his pre-2005 Pontiac with NOT so favorable results... So the question remains, why risk it?


Why would it be backwards compatible and cause problems? I haven't had any issues since I switched to dex 6. The reason why I switched to it in the first place was by advice from members just a few months ago.

I even had a similar problem as the op in this thread with a firmer shift than I liked between 1-2 shift and dex 6 seemed to soften it a bit.
 
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