Lucas Trans Slip Fix

My truck has been slipping in 1st recently. The fluid is brown, however I don't see any shavings in the fluid and nor does the fluid smell burnt. I was on the fence of replacing the fluid due to possible problems of more slipping or just not working all together. I was watching a mechanic's video on youtube of fixing a car that slips, and he suggested using the Lucas Trans Slip Fix, replacing one quart of the trans fluid with that. Anyone here had any experience with that stuff before?

Also, going to have to replace my valve cover gaskets soon as they are leaking from the rear of the engine. Its been slightly leaking for a while, however now I really do notice it due to the oil dripping on the exhaust manifold. How hard of a job is it to myself?

 

Snake oil, the only way that would work is if your valve body is sticky preventing the clutches from getting proper pressure.

 

Where would I get snake oil from?

 

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You can add that "trouble in a can" shit if you want but I'd highly advise against it, especially with these automatics, strong but very fussy about maintenance & can only think over the counter fix-its in a can could be the nail in the coffin for you ... If you do, let us know the results ...

 

I'm starting to stray away from that since you said it would make it worse. The Toyota tech said I was a quart low on the transmission fluid as well. Any ideas of where to get snake oil?

 

Snake oil:

Snake oil is an expression that originally referred to fraudulent health products or unproven medicine but has come to refer to any product with questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit.

 

So you're saying that there's really no fix to this?

 

snake oil is a term used to describe something that is basically b.s. Like all these fix-it in a can type products. In other words "to good to be true" type situations. Typically if your auto trans is already to the point of slipping then its probably f'd and in need of alot more work than some magic potion in a can. If your trans fluid is brown then it is definitely in need of a changing, atf should be a nice red color. I'd try a simple fluid and filter change, I.e. Drain the fluid, replace the filter and refill the fluid. Not a flush, I've heard reports of the power flush services doing more harm than good as they can dislodge contaminants that are currently doing no harm and cause them to go down stream and get into places they shouldn't and cause more issues.

 

Transmission additives can contain substances that swell the seals . When a transmission gets old with high mileage and lack of maintenance or lack of routine fluid services, sometimes the seals shrink causing the transmission to slip . When properly diagnosed , a seal swell agent can be used to possibly stop a transmission from leaking oil all over the ground or stop a transmission from slipping in a certain gear .
With this said , problems like yours need to be diagnosed to determine wether a seal swell agent will work or cause more issues as mentioned above . Another point that could be mentioned is there are different types of additives out there that do work with proper diagnosis . The downfall to quick fix additives like this is they turn to acid shortly after they are introduced to the system and a fluid flush is needed to prevent complete contamination . Once the additve has been used and exposed to heat , you need to flush all the fluid

You can read more about the common problems assosiated with your transmission slipping in 1st gear at this link .http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...warner-340-series-transmissions-write-up.html

Are you planning to overhaul the transmission yourself ? a couple months ago you added half a bottle of Lucas and it bought you some time ? http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/343661-trans-slipping.html#post9144878

 

Being a quart too low is an issue that can cause sloppy shifting. I would do a full flush but dont use the pneumatic machine. Find a shop that knows how to do it right or just do a few drain and fills yourself (drain, fill, drive, repeat until you get clean fluid - expensive but safe).

 

I never got around to doing that actually. I've been having a bunch of stuff occur in a short time and it slipped my mind on getting some back then. What do you mean by transmission overhaul? As in rebuild? And, I would love to get it diagnosed but there's no good reputable transmission shops in my area. I'll have to do some more research to see if there is one I could try out.

 

Well that is what the Toyota tech told me when I went for a multi-point inspection. I've tried to measure the fluid myself but every time I take the dip-stick out, there is no line to show where it should be and the fluid just goes up almost the entire length of the stick. Is the line the part where the stick turns sideways?

 

This will change your mind about the overhaul, when mine went out I got quotes up to $3400.00 for a rebuild, & not a typo, I found this was about average... I found a good used one out of wrecking yard for about $1000 & change..

 

Oh believe me, I already know transmission shops will butt rape me to rebuild the thing. Not to mention being stranded without a car for a week or two. Sadly, I can't find any Tacomas at junk yards. And when I do, everything is gone.