So we bought a 1999 Plymouth Voyager 2.4L with 3 speed automatic about 2 years ago. It had 114,500 miles at the time. The lady said it had had a transmission fluid change and my tranny shop looked at the fluid on the stick and said it looked good.
At 122,000 miles it started slipping on acceleration. After several days of this happening I asked the tranny shop and was told it needs a new tranny. I put half a bottle Lucas Trans Fix Slip Stop and it stopped slipping. Then I decided to change the fluid, doing three syphon and refill cycles using Maxlife ATF (I know it is not listed for the Chrysler ATF4 fluid, but the Valvoline tech told me it is just that they can't list it because of some legal thing). After the Maxlife was in I added some more of the Slip Stop for good measure. No slipping problems for nearly 20,000 miles.
At 141,5000 miles it starts slipping again, and we noticed it also took several seconds to engage in drive from a cold start. this is at the depths of our cold spell with temps hovering in the single digits frequently. I decided to get a pan drop to make sure the filter is good. Shop did the pan drop, filter was not that bad, magnet had debris on it, they replaced filter and filled with semi-synthetic ATF4. I just drove it about 9 miles and it is not slipping at all.
So, what gives? Was the Maxlife ATF not up to the job? It worked fine for nearly 20,000 miles. Is the tranny somewhat worn and now hard on fluid? Did the last change (at 142,000) help get the remainder of the older fluid from when I purchased the car out? Was the Lucas stuff a bad thing in this cold weather because it made the fluid too thick? What can I expect going forward?
At 122,000 miles it started slipping on acceleration. After several days of this happening I asked the tranny shop and was told it needs a new tranny. I put half a bottle Lucas Trans Fix Slip Stop and it stopped slipping. Then I decided to change the fluid, doing three syphon and refill cycles using Maxlife ATF (I know it is not listed for the Chrysler ATF4 fluid, but the Valvoline tech told me it is just that they can't list it because of some legal thing). After the Maxlife was in I added some more of the Slip Stop for good measure. No slipping problems for nearly 20,000 miles.
At 141,5000 miles it starts slipping again, and we noticed it also took several seconds to engage in drive from a cold start. this is at the depths of our cold spell with temps hovering in the single digits frequently. I decided to get a pan drop to make sure the filter is good. Shop did the pan drop, filter was not that bad, magnet had debris on it, they replaced filter and filled with semi-synthetic ATF4. I just drove it about 9 miles and it is not slipping at all.
So, what gives? Was the Maxlife ATF not up to the job? It worked fine for nearly 20,000 miles. Is the tranny somewhat worn and now hard on fluid? Did the last change (at 142,000) help get the remainder of the older fluid from when I purchased the car out? Was the Lucas stuff a bad thing in this cold weather because it made the fluid too thick? What can I expect going forward?
