Val Maxlife ATF + Lubegard Red fixed my trans

[Cutehumor]

On my 96 sunfire 3 speed automatic. Almost a month ago, on the way to work my trans would not go over 30mph unless I floored the gas pedal to get the auto trans to shift. that weekend, I dumped the 2 yr old fluid/filter and dropped the trans pan. I found some black residue at the bottom of the pan. There were no metal shavings on the magnet. I added 4 qts of maxlife and a bottle of lubegard red. After a whole month, my auto trans is now shifting normally now! Whatever the fluid did, the valve body or governor in the transmission is not sticking anymore. I saved myself a trans rebuild.

 

[ET16]

Great! I agree. Maxlife seems to be a super fluid.

 

[brian12]

So it started working correctly again today? I noticed about a week ago you said it had improved some.

 

[hate2work]

Not to rain on your parade, but I doubt it was your choice of fluid that helped the transmission, it was just the fact that you changed it. I'm sure Maxlife is good stuff, but it's not magic.

Good that you don't need a rebuild

 

[Steelhead]

the black residue is just normal friction material wear, same concept as manual transmission clutch dust or brake pad dust. something has to wear on each transmission gear shift especially where there is constant power applied as in an auto transmission.

do a complete 10 qt change out of the ATF thru the cooler line technique or at least 3 pan drain changes to get close to 100% ATF change.
the additives that provide proper shift characteristics, keep the transmission clean, lubricate moving parts, maintain seal integrity all wear out or are used up over time
30K miles is about max for most ATFs

 

[Cutehumor]

I had another thread where alot of folks told me a fluid change wouldn't do anything and a trans rebuild would be needed. hey, cheap insurance.

I inherited this car from my g/f now wife that she bought new. here's the trans history:

50,000 OEM transmission fluid flushed at Jiffy boob before she met me. verified by receipt. wife didn't know.
93,000 trans pan dropped with filter change; shop called horrified asking "is this the first transmission service?" trans filter had 93k miles on it.
Makes me wonder if all Jiffy boob did was flush my wife's wallet!

I took over the car when we got married in 2005:
143,000 I dropped the trans pan with filter change
162XXX I dropped the trans pan with filter change after shifting problems.

I drive 7-8k miles a year currently. But next year, I think I'll put Redline D4 syn in there and do yearly pan drops. flushing the trans myself looks difficult for this car. the trans cooler lines have a metal clamp on it. It looks like I would have to cut the hoses to do it.

 

[Donald]

+1 for a full flush. You have only changed about 1/3 of the fluid by draining and refilling. The cooler line flush is very easy.