Did you drain out an equal amount of fluid, or just add the seafoam?

Over-filling is always frowned upon. Either suck some out the dipstick tube, or drain a bit out the pan on one corner or edge.

Let'* get an accurate description of the look and smell of that stuff when you do.

Is that another member with a juddering trans? Welcome to the thread, Dave!

I've just PM'd RJGill who suggested the Seafoam additive to see if he'll revisit the thread to answer our questions.

Willwren, as long as we're talking about fill level, I'd like to ask about that:

On more than one of the GM products I've owned, both of the present ones included, the trans fluid level is all but impossible to read because the fluid is blotchy on the dipstick. It wets some parts and not others, so that it'* hard to say whether to read to the lowest dry spot or the highest wet spot? At times the coverage is 50/50-ish all the way to bottom, yet on the next dip the bottom will be fully wet, but there'll be a dry spot not far above it, and wet areas well up to above the full range.

What is this nonsense and how can I get an accurate reading?

I have overfilled a trans before because of this difficulty.

Thanks!

Mike D.

Hi Jr,

Great, I'll check that tonight.

It seems to be a cleaner/conditioner that you're supposed to add, drive a few miles, shifting through all gears, then change the fluid. It is not a stop-leak type product. I suspect it'* not a good idea to just leave it in there, which is why I was curious what RJGill had done.

Thanks!

Mike D.

Sorry about my lack of response to your questions - I've been a bit busy the past week.

SeaFoam products are recommended by the best members of this forum, so I would NOT have any qualms about using them. I just put the entire bottle of fluid in, let it run for a almost a week and then took it to Midas for a complete flush (which was about $85). I suppose you could drop the pan and drain it yourself, but if you do you're not getting the fluid out of the transfer case and other areas, basically leaving a lot of the old stuff in. I did NOT drain any fluid out prior to putting the SeaFoam in (as the bottle says that enough isn't being added to damage anything.

The SeaFoam cleans off varnish and other gunk and nastiness that builds up on things in the tranny, so I would recommend changing it afterwards...otherwise you're just leaving it in there - which to me seems pointless. Other people will tell you that its bad to change tranny fluid on high mileage cars, and others will tell you its perfectly fine. For me - I went from a shuddering, whistling transmission to a 100% perfect one by doing this stuff. It'* been fine for over a month now.

I'm resurrecting this 6 month old thread to post the final results of the experiment, so anybody searching on transmission problems will get the whole report...

In a word, Success!

We put the SeaFoam Trans-Tune in just after a fill-up at Sam'* Club and drove home, about 10 miles, with a good mix of expressway and surface streets, including a bunch of low gear stops and starts on side streets and shifting through all the gears a bunch of times.

Once we got home we did a fluid change in the driveway, using the technique of pouring fluid in while the trans pumps fluid out the cooling line at the radiator. Transferred at least 2 1/2 gallons that way, so it was a pretty decent flush.

Test drive: The slipping and loud, juddering vibration in the bottom of first gear from a standing start is GONE! There'* still a slight vibration left if you really trounce on it from a full stop, but it doesn't effect driveability in any way.

I can see doing the treatment again in a few weeks to see if it will get even better.

Thanks to RJ Gill and everyone for all the advice and tips!

Mike D.

Glad it worked out for you. Seafoam Transtune is the only 'other' product that has ever been in either of my transmissions.

My friend has also had great luck with Lucas. His tranny slipped every time he pulled into his driveway and it was getting progressively worse. he put a couple of cans of Lucas in their and the transmission has acted fine ever since. He drives an '00 Monte SS L36. The car has been tracked numerous times with burnouts and launches and the tranny has yet to have a problem. Surprised the hell out of me.

Lubgard red works - International Lubricants, Inc. > Transmission Products