ARX'd transmission today, will it help this?

[SteveU]

A friend of ours has a 95 dodge shadow 3.0L V-6 FWD automatic with 100,000 mi which has been losing transmission fluid & reverse doesnt engage for at least 1 second then feels like a neutral drop. Forward gears engage normally. Had minor seeping around the output of the transmission but stayed dry when I cleaned it up with brake cleaner. Fluid level & color is good, owner said she has been using atf+3. I added about 1/2 bottle of arx hoping that it will help with the reverse & seeping. Has anyone had this problem? Did a search but most transmission problems were forward gears not working right.

 

[psudaytona]

Thats one of those famous A604 transmissions. Those are known for trobles sadly, Allpar.com has a forum and you could ask. I would say dont expect a miracle from any cleaner additive with this beast. The most common outcome with the Ultradrive A604 is a rebuild.


Main things to help prolong it is make sure the fluid levels are correct, and maybe if the leaks stop switch it to ATF+4. Dodge reoommends switching all these trannies to that fluid as it outperforms +3 in friction and breakdown specs. It MIGHT prolong the life of the tranny.....sorry I couldnt give you better news.

 

[swalve]

quote:

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Originally posted by SteveU:
A friend of ours has a 95 dodge shadow 3.0L V-6 FWD automatic with 100,000 mi which has been losing transmission fluid & reverse doesnt engage for at least 1 second then feels like a neutral drop. Forward gears engage normally. Had minor seeping around the output of the transmission but stayed dry when I cleaned it up with brake cleaner. Fluid level & color is good, owner said she has been using atf+3. I added about 1/2 bottle of arx hoping that it will help with the reverse & seeping. Has anyone had this problem? Did a search but most transmission problems were forward gears not working right.

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The other replier is correct, it could be the A604. But it could also be the A413, which is what my 93 V6 Spirit has. The A413 is the three speed "normal" automatic; the A604 is the four speed electronically controlled overdrive trans. You can tell the difference because the 'D' on the gearshift will have a circle around it if it's the A604.

Besides that, I'm not much of a transmission person. It does sound like a fluid problem, either a clogged filter or a malfunctioning or clogged valve body.

EDIT: Never mind, I just saw that you're talking about a Shadow, not a Spirit. The other guy is right, those only came with A604's, AFAIK. If they are committed to keeping the car, make sure they put on an external trans cooler.

 

[psudaytona]

Yeah I have the A413 in my Daytona, they are pretty tough little trannys. Most all the 3.0 engines have the 604 on them, some exceptions are a 3.0 CAN take a 670 transmission which is also a 3 speed, it is a stronger version of the 413 and it also has a slightly different bellhousing.

I have though heard of decent success with just running a 413 on the V6 3.0L engines, only the turbos had to have hardened 413s due to them killing the lighter 413s.

Those 604s could have been such impressive machines....but alas they became an infamous entity. I just hope the new 6 speed autos based somewhat on that design fair much better.

 

[swalve]

I had a 90 Spirit with the A604, and to this day think it was the greatest automatic I've ever driven. After I added the external cooler, anyway. It would smell burny and seem to overheat otherwise. Very responsive, and delivered fantastic mileage. My 93 Spirit has the A413, and it too is pretty good. Not as good mileage, nor performance, though.

www.allpar.com has some pretty good info on the transmissions.

Much of the failure issue is due to improper fluid specs on the dipstick. And abuse- I don't think it was strong enough for the minivans.

 

[Frank]

Drain the transmission go to www.auto-rx.net and follow application (you don't keep Auto-Rx in unit past 1000 miles) T-tec this unit and refill with non synthetic transmission fluid. Post again.