'Trans fix' chemicals- anyone have any experience

[motzingg]

I hate myself for even asking this but seeing as y'all have been around old cars maybe someone has some experience.

I've got a subaru wagon thats the wife's, its in really good shape all around except for really severe leak in the torque converter, probably either the shaft seal in the converter itself or the one into the body from the shaft.

Anyhow, I know those snake oil trans fix chemicals are pretty much just a plasticizer and maybe some detergents, maybe some friction modifiers... but that might be just what the doctor ordered to swell up this seal and fix it until i get a chance to pull the engine.

Anyone use any of that stuff to fix a bad seal? Any brands that are known to work?

Sorry this has to be my first post on here, i promise the rest of my postings will be on topic, just bought a 68 f100 yesterday...

oh yeah and i did try searching this... didn't find anything.

[Donnie]

Hi, the Connecting tube that runs from the converter into the trans uses Viton seals which can tolerate the high temp that is generated by the converter, unless this trans has been rebuilt & someone useing nitrile/ buna or something other than the OEM seal's......you are looking at an engine pull...Viton can withstand temp's to about 400 degrees & is resistant to any agent that I know of that will "swell up the seal" That is why it is used in HI TEMP apps.
Don't let anyone advise you to use brake fluid as it will attack other seals in the trans that are made of other less costly material & you will be looking at a major failure.....
I know of no "TRANNY MAN IN THE CAN" that can help you.....this is only my opinion...others may dis-agree..........donnie

What year is the Suburu & engine size? I only mention this to alert you to the head gasket problem with some year 2.5's
You will never be any closer, when the engine is on the bench................food for thought

[motzingg]

yeah thanks, thats a good point about the viton. it is pretty stable, at this point i'm just looking for a limp along until i get my truck running in case i need to do some hauling around of parts.

i've been able to do some more digging since posting this and it looks like the problem may be related to the pistons that do the shifting having a seal issue or something like that.... I'm pretty well versed in subaru mechanicals but i'm a MT guy and don't touch automagics unless i have to, in this case because my wife is a nerd about driving a stick.

thanks, i'm going to try something called 'z max' that others had good luck with, i bought a transmission rebuild book just a couple hours ago see if that thing gives me any great wisdom....

[Donnie]

Hi again, if you have access to a black lite kit, I would invest a few bux in a bottle of trans dye & qualify this leak before teardown.
If you don't like automatics , you will definately NOT like working on this one....Find your leak BEFORE you teardown.
Isn't "Z" man some mystery oel that is supposed to give you better fuel mileage or longer engine life..To be honest, I'm not qualified to give you an opinion on any of these additives.....My thought's were and still are" if a part is worn out or broken, it needs to be replaced"
It is your car, your money & your willingness to try........so have at it......good luck, Donnie........we're here if you need us

[motzingg]

Well, I'm pretty sure (99%) that the oil is leaking from one of the front trans seals, its definitely ATF, the ATF is going down slowly (mileage dependent, not time dependant- which means it comes out under pressure and not while sitting) and there is a ton of oil coming off the bottom of the bellhousing- which just so happens to hold the power steering rack, leading me to believe before that the PS rack was leaking (subaru's use ATF in the PS).

As an update, I bought something called 'Trans-X' that was in a silver 1 qt oil bottle style bottle with a blue label. It didn't do much at first, but it seems like over the last week or so it has slowed the leak (or maybe i'm just low on ATF again) and the shifting is slightly better.

The problem is so intermittent it is hard to tell when it gets better or worse, but I drove the car a few times this week and didn't have a single 'bad shifting' excursion. Usually it will get cranky once or twice a week at least. Since adding the TransX it seems to have calmed down. I'll double check with my wife today and see if she is still seeing the same problem, but for now it looks like the goop bought me at least a couple weeks to sort out the tranny rebuild.

Soooo in conclusion, if your plates are sticking, seals are leaking or there is random badness in your valve body, this goop may offer a temporary solution until you can sort something out.

Also, i've read through the ATSG manual i bought for the transmission... pretty straightforward stuff, not exactly rocket science. Its easy to get intimidated by something with so many complex little fidgy bits but its all just mechanical and electrical systems that work the same as anything else. Take it apart, look for broken stuff, clean it, install new seals and gaskets, re-assemble... boom! We'll see if my confidence stays the same after i rebuild this dumb thing.

[averagef250]

Also, i've read through the ATSG manual i bought for the transmission... pretty straightforward stuff, not exactly rocket science. Its easy to get intimidated by something with so many complex little fidgy bits but its all just mechanical and electrical systems that work the same as anything else. Take it apart, look for broken stuff, clean it, install new seals and gaskets, re-assemble... boom! We'll see if my confidence stays the same after i rebuild this dumb thing.

No experience with Subaru trannies, but I would slightly caution against over confidence going into it. The ATSG books usually do cover most of what you need to know, but often don't emphasize the really important stuff nor do they lay things out in a chronological fashion. Often times the ATSG books don't account for variations in clutch and plate thicknesses and may not even mention industry standard fixes for common failure points. If there is an OEM Subaru manual available that covers your transmission I would get that. The OE manuals are usually better than ATSG, but the ATSG is good to have along side as they sometimes suggest methods based on common shop tools instead of some special OE fixture/tool thing that nobody has.

If I were in your situation I would try to buy a known good transmission and swap it in. I know for my wife's Hyundai it was a no-brainer. They used the same auto for 20 years. They're cheaper than dirt. Another alternative would be buy another tranny and rebuild it while the car is still limping along then swap it out over a weekend.

Good luck!

[LANCE65]

If you are looking for a FSM(factory service manual) try a company called Faxon. I have bought several from them at VERY reasonable prices. They are located in Riverside,Ca.

[Donnie]

Have you checked your differential fluid? Is it getting any trans fluid mixed in? Is it higher than full on the dipstick? The seals that control the clutches are internal & will not leak to the outside..Throwing chemicals at this unit WILL NOT CURE your leak.....Your leak is at one end or the other of the transfer tube.......What year are you working on?..........Donnie