Any benefit to adding Lube Guard to a perfectly good trans ?
And if you did , what one of their products would you use and why ?
And if you did , what one of their products would you use and why ?
Lube Guard
- Thread starter hardheaded
- Start date
Yes, the ester oil base is the same thing that sets HPL and Redline apart. It does what is advertised.
It will run slightly cooler - I have used it and observed that claim to be true. As to what the additive package may or may not do - I can’t say as it’s outside my wheelhouse and it’s not why I use it. I also use the blue in engines (cleans admirably in addition to other ester benefits), yellow in gear boxes. A little red in the PSF system, too.
I use the Red as an additive as I have mostly all Aisin and one GM transmission to care for. You could use their ATF, or platinum if you have Honda or other brand transmissions.
It will run slightly cooler - I have used it and observed that claim to be true. As to what the additive package may or may not do - I can’t say as it’s outside my wheelhouse and it’s not why I use it. I also use the blue in engines (cleans admirably in addition to other ester benefits), yellow in gear boxes. A little red in the PSF system, too.
I use the Red as an additive as I have mostly all Aisin and one GM transmission to care for. You could use their ATF, or platinum if you have Honda or other brand transmissions.
I use the Platinum at the recommended dose in my 10R80 and Honda vehicles.
Old history here:
My 2002 Volvo was put up for sale due to a transmission hiccough. It was similar to a 2-3 clunk. It was occasional but present.
The car would also 'clunk-shift' at lowering speeds (gear selection confusion?) going into an uphill or downhill turn.
It's hilly where I live.
The original owners had the fluid exchanged at a dealership. I experienced whatever was left unaided during my test drive.
I bought the car.
Several weeks later I bought a TCM download at another Volvo dealership and it helped.
LubeGard red bottle was praised here. I added the recommended dose. The fluid being new was a good coincidence.
I noticed an immediate improvement in operation.
Comparatively speaking, the total improvement I realized from LubeGard equaled that of the download. No question about it.
I've no connection with the company.
I did read here that LG would be a waste if used with synthetic ATF. I don't know if that is true.
Might the esters differentiate LG?
Mobil 3309 / Volvo fluid and its ilk are conventional, not synthetic.
OK....What year, what car?
My 2002 Volvo was put up for sale due to a transmission hiccough. It was similar to a 2-3 clunk. It was occasional but present.
The car would also 'clunk-shift' at lowering speeds (gear selection confusion?) going into an uphill or downhill turn.
It's hilly where I live.
The original owners had the fluid exchanged at a dealership. I experienced whatever was left unaided during my test drive.
I bought the car.
Several weeks later I bought a TCM download at another Volvo dealership and it helped.
LubeGard red bottle was praised here. I added the recommended dose. The fluid being new was a good coincidence.
I noticed an immediate improvement in operation.
Comparatively speaking, the total improvement I realized from LubeGard equaled that of the download. No question about it.
I've no connection with the company.
I did read here that LG would be a waste if used with synthetic ATF. I don't know if that is true.
Might the esters differentiate LG?
Mobil 3309 / Volvo fluid and its ilk are conventional, not synthetic.
OK....What year, what car?
Interesting, because I had nearly the identical experience; did not mention it above.
A few years ago I bought a very nice, clean, relatively low mileage 2004 XC70 because It had the similar (common) transmission issues like you described, PLUS some pulsing in the steering in long turns (e.g., sweepers or interstate ramps). The dealership told the owner their was no solution other than a $10,000 swap for both systems; he showed me and I have the diagnosis and estimate. I figured that was not in fact the case, and got the car very cheaply. My worst case was swapping the valve body assembly + a rack, which would be $1k and some annoying work, but do-able. Even if I had to do that, the car was still a bargain. It ended up costing less than $100 and just a fluid swap and chemical treatment to fix both.
I drove it a week with a strong dose of B-12 in both systems, which reduced the symptoms dramatically in both. I then flushed both systems with 3309/T-IV and added a strong dose of Lubeguard Red. The symptoms were gone within a few hundred more miles and the car ran perfectly.
As to Red being redundant w/syn ATF - that would only apply if it the ATF contains a decent ester component already. The only ones I know of that do are Redline and Lubeguard ATF (there may be others; that’s just all I know of offhand). I actually emailed the Lubeguard CS dept. about that years ago when I was contemplating their product and they said the same; adding Red would be redundant with their ATF or another one with a reasonable ester component.
I've had nothing but great success with Red LG.
My 10r80 is literally unsafe to drive without a very small dose, under 1/4 strength added to it. I typically would not put it in a unit that is otherwise driving well, but this is one of the few that if you felt the need I wouldn’t say no. That said, I would consider not running a full strength dose unless there was a specific issue to address.
JHZR2
Staff member
I run LG red in all my AT vehicles (they all spec Honda DW-1 or Dexron II). I sometimes run Lubeguard blue bio tech when I have it and think of it.
I use their LSD additive in my Dana 80 axles.
I use their LSD additive in my Dana 80 axles.
I have lube guard red, black and platinum in my automatic transmission. Has been going great for years. I put them in power steering fluid as well.
I forgot about that product. I use it also in LSDs.
The additive package in it seems identical to other LSD additives - meaning I use the same amount of it to get the chatter to go away compared to AC Delco, etc. brand. I use it for the ester base.
