From: Neon John <johngdNOSPAM@bellsouth.net> Subject: Re: Are Trans Sealers Really So Horrible ? Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 17:02:30 EST Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech Shrub7 wrote: > > I have a leak in the trans of my 85 Chevy Caprice. It is slowly getting worse. > The only place I have to park it is on the road in front of my house and the > embarrassment factor is coming into play. > > I am tempted to use a trans sealer. Has anyone used one and had the trans > survive for more than, say, 1 year?? I keep hearing that the trans sealer will > expand the gaskets until they actually stick into the trans's inner workings, > and screw it up. But I have NEVER heard anyone say "Yes, I used a trans sealer > and it ruined my trans". I HAVE heard one guy who used it in a Cadillac say it > fixed his leak and his car was OK for a year, but I don't know if it croaked > one month later or something..... I don't work on FWD cars so when wifey's 90 Camry started leaking xmission fluid, I suggested she dump some leak stop in. About a month later, the tranny wouldn't go in gear. Had the tranny shop next door pull the tranny. Watched the guy take the thing apart. O-rings were jelly. Could be squeezed apart with the fingers. He said he sees that a lot in jap cars where tranny sealer has been used. Cost me a junkyard tranny and the labor to install it for what turned out to have been loose pan bolts :-( OTOH, I've used this stuff in older cars with good success. Something that works at least as well in my experience is simply adding 4-8 oz of lacer thinner to the fluid. It does the same thing as the tranny sealer does - soften and swell the O-rings and seals. At the concentration mentioned, it seems to be somewhat less strong than a can of tranny sealer so it's a good intermediate remedy to try. So. My one line advice would be. Try it if you dare. But be ready to tromp the junkyard if it fails. John -- John De Armond johngdSPAMNOT@bellsouth.net http://neonjohn.4mg.com Neon John's Custom Neon Cleveland, TN "Bendin' Glass 'n Passin' Gas" |