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I have a 97 kia I hope to get a few more miles out of and it is showing signs of the tranny going out, It sometimes will slip when hot and the fluid does appear to be brown as if it has got hot. Has anyone faced this before and had any luck with changing the fluid and adding a can of the transmission treatment that suppose to help worn out trannys. Its not burned up yet but getting there. This car isnt worth replacing the tranny even if I switch it myself. thanks.
I don't see how a fluid change would hurt anything. I don't know about the "mechanic in a can" though. If old-school Ford Type F fluid is not in direct violation of what the trans wants, back in the day it was the standard cheap fix for a GM trans that was slipping.
I have heard a lot of anecdotes about changing fluid and things getting worse with a neglected auto trans.
What about finding a 5-speed in a boneyard, or a 5-speed car with a blown engine, make 1 good car out of 2 bad ones?
If you have time on your hands and professional experience as a mechanic, which I think you do, I don't see much downside to getting a trans from a boneyard and swapping it in.
I don't see how a fluid change would hurt anything. I don't know about the "mechanic in a can" though. If old-school Ford Type F fluid is not in direct violation of what the trans wants, back in the day it was the standard cheap fix for a GM trans that was slipping.
I have heard a lot of anecdotes about changing fluid and things getting worse with a neglected auto trans.
What about finding a 5-speed in a boneyard, or a 5-speed car with a blown engine, make 1 good car out of 2 bad ones?
If you have time on your hands and professional experience as a mechanic, which I think you do, I don't see much downside to getting a trans from a boneyard and swapping it in.
This car had a blown engine 3 years ago and I got it free. I did install a solid used engine and let the son take it to college. It has ran well until now and has the cel on indicating 4 differant codes but now with the tranny in question and knowing I will have to spend some time and maybe real money to get it to pass inspection I am about ready to let it die before I take it apart again. Front wheel drive trannys as you know are rather hard to replace.thanks for your reply
i had a friend that had a truck with pretty much the same problem. In his case the transmission shop tested his fluid and its was oxydized and said a fluuh and fill might get him by but there was no guarnteee. He decided to do it and he drove it another two years. I would take it to reliable transmision shop.My broher in law just had a transmision rebuilt 6 mos. months ago for 1300 dollars.
Yeah, you can say that some FWD transmissions are a PITA to swap out, but the rest of them are a REAL PITA to swap out.
Bottom line I guess is either the fluid has lost it's viscosity so the pump does not produce enough pressure to get the trans to not slip, or, the clutches are worn down to the point that they don't have enough friction material to work. Either that or the pump is going. If you have a gauge that will work on this trans, you could check the pressure.
What are the CEL codes? Probably it just needs a tuneup. That said I am not looking at the car and you are, if it's had it, you probably recognize the signs.
If you can get the trans to quit slipping, you can maybe sell it to someone who won't have to smog it out in the country.
I don't know if the old Ford type fluid is advisable or not, I might be tempted to do one change with whatever the manual says use, and if that did not help might as well try the Type F. At worst it would finish the trans off, which I doubt. But if you are at the point of junking it, the junkyard won't care what ATF you put in.
Thanks for the advice. Codes are po400,po442,po455,po170. I have a code reader or this alone would be very costly to fix. The parts which are associated with these codes can be costly. Im going to drain the fluid and replace it with new and a can of the "majic tranny rebuild " and if its still continues to slip on the downshift I may just take it behind the barn and shoot it.
If you haven't changed your tranny fluid in a long time, you may be better off leaving it in the car. Sometimes all the junk floating around in your transmission fluid keeps your tranny together.
I've changed fluid on an older car before only to have the problem worsen.
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