Laquer thinner in transmittion

has anyone ever heard about doing this to cure a transmittion that is slipping ? someone came into the store today and they said they have heard and done this before and it started shifting real good again, and it lasted for about 3 years , they said the thinner swells the seals inside. He said that you put about 3 table spoons every three months our so , so just wanted to know if this will do anything bad to the transmition before I try it, thanks

I can't imagine how swelling the seals could help with slip which is usually the result of the clutch discs burned or worn out. A transmission will slip if it is low on fluid but you would see the leaks.

Fords are notorious for the lip seals in the clutch packs getting hard from the heat not sealing and letting fluid pressure to bleed off causing the trans to slip. Lacquer thinner will soften these seals and swell them but it will also cause them to degrade and eventually fail .This is only a temporary and a possible dangerous fix. The thinner will also loosen the bonding material that holds on the clutch and band friction material causing major failure resulting m,etal to be thrown thru the trans and convertor. BAD NEWS DONT DO IT.

Ok so is there anything safer to use that will swell up the seals and help stop the slipping ?

I'd look for something at the auto parts store that says specifically to recondition seals.

The main issue with the seals in these transmissions is if you store the car for extended periods without running the motor. Half the seal stays nice and pliable, the other half gets rock hard.

Try this, I have.

thundrburd said:

Ok so is there anything safer to use that will swell up the seals and help stop the slipping ?

Click to expand...

I have tried and had good succeess with Lucas Trans Slip fix. Very thick stuff so try and warm it carefully in the Microwave before pooring it in or you will be there all day.

Seemed to help noticeably in mine which helped it last about a year longer before I rebuilt it.

Smitty

so with the lucas trans fix, do you have to drain any of the transmission fluid or do you just put it in with the full transmission ?

thundrburd said:

is there anything safer to use that will swell up the seals?

Click to expand...

You could always beat them with a club.

Oh, the transmission seals....... http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products.sd?iid=29&catid=2&loc=show

RadiumSC said:

You could always beat them with a club.

Click to expand...

LMAO........

Hijack!

A related question.

Anyone know if fluid that has been contaminated with coolant can simply be drained and replaced? Does it do anything to the clutch material that requires a rebuild?

I would attemp to change fluids but there is a chance something could have gotten damaged dependant on how long the car was run like that..If not run at all I wouldnt worry to much unless its been sitting in there for years

I'd call a transmission shop if a tranny guy here can't answer.

The problem with coolant in engine oil is it's interaction with the combustion left overs in the oil. It creates an acidic compound. In the transmission you don't have combustion left overs, so I'm not sure what happens.

You're gonna need to drain the torque converter for sure.

Evidently, the ethylene-glycol in antifreeze can cause the clutch material to soften and disentegrate What I don't know is how long it takes for that to happen... Since I have little to lose, I'm going to swap the fluid out, and install a good radiator and see what happens. If it won't shift, guess I'll pull it apart and replace the clutch plates... again

Well. I did a transfusion from the white car's AOD trans fluid into the red car and swapped out the radiator for an old one with a non-leaking trans cooler.

The old fluid looked good, a bit darker but had no metal debris or silt in the pan.

The reason I didn't use new fluid in the red car is because If it still had a problem, I didn't want to waste 3 more gallons of mercron. So, I drained the old (pink) fluid from the converter and tranny, cleaned and inspected the valve body for the 3rd time , and filled with the good used fluid.

Drove around for a while and at first it acted the same in that it wouldn't shift out of 1st, but eventually it started to shift and then started to shift much better throughout the gear ranges. Let it sit overnight and tried it out the next day.. shifted almost perfectly. I concluded that the heat essentially baked out the residual coolant still left in the trans and this allowed the clutches to heal.

So, unless something goes awry again, I'll drain and fill it with new fluid and hopefully that will be that.