Transmission snake oil

[MarkB_MI]

We kept our 2012 Acadia after buying a new car for my wife. It has about 120K on it but is still in good shape. Our plan has been to use it to tow our 18 foot center console boat down to Florida this fall, then leave the car at our condo for the winter. I did a fair amount of work to get the Acadia in shape before we left, including a new windshield, polishing the headlamp lenses, new struts and changing the fluids in all the gearboxes.

The Acadia has developed a bit of shudder at around 30 mph, which I figure is probably the torque converter failing to lock up smoothly. Changing the transmission fluid (half the fluid, anyway) didn't seem to help. As we made out way down to Florida pulling the 3000 pound boat and trailer, the shudder got progressively worse. By the time we arrived in Tarpon Springs, it was seriously shaking the car.

I assumed I'd have to take the car into a transmission shop, but figured I'd try some snake oil first. Since the next step would be a teardown and the fluid would get changed then, I had nothing to lose by using an additive. Most of the automatic transmission additives seem to be stop leaks, which I definitely didn't need, but I found a product called '<a href=https://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-and-transmission-fluid/transmission-additive/p/lubegard-instant-shudder-fixx-2oz/592122_0_0>Lubegard Instant Shudder Fixx</a>' at AutoZone. It supposedly contains friction modifiers and is specifically intended to fix shudder. I comes in a 2 ounce tube, so I didn't have to worry about overfilling the tranny. I bought a tube and added it to the transmission fluid.

After adding the Lubegard, the shudder quickly improved. After a week it was pretty much gone; I pulled the boat for a few miles and couldn't detect any shudder. The real test will come this spring when we tow the boat back north. I'm skeptical about snake oil additives, but this product seems to work as advertised.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have my tranny fluid changed every 60k.
I have a great transmission shop.
I would ask my guy what he thinks and consider adding a tranny cooler.

My brother tried pulling a hay wagon with a dodge pickup. Fluid overhead and radiator boiled over.

I vote for fluid change and the biggest cooler you can find.

Ask your transmission guy if he believes in snake oil.

Also ask his opinion of you transmission,is is it prone to failure.

My guy has been in business 40+ years and transmission is all he does.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Thanks for your input, George. Changing the transmission fluid on the Acadia is easy; just remove one plug. You can't change the filter without opening up the tranny, though. I don't see a need for an external oil cooler, since the Acadia is rated for a 5500 pound trailer and the boat and trailer are only around 3K. Seems to me adding an aftermarket external cooler just introduces another potential point of failure. Plus there's potential for the transmission fluid to run too cold in the winter with an external cooler.

Rather than an aftermarket tranny cooler, I'd rather go with a heavy-duty radiator. The Acadia came with a standard tow package and the water temp stayed normal the whole trip, so I think the stock radiator is up to snuff. On the other hand, I have considered upgrading the radiator on our newer Enclave, since it didn't come with a towing package. (I added a 2 inch receiver hitch.) We used the Enclave to tow the boat north this spring and both water and oil temperature were normal, even going over the Blue Ridge. But if we do any serious towing with the Enclave in the future, I'll upgrade the radiator.

As for whether a transmission shop will recommend the snake oil, I'm pretty sure they won't recommend a ten dollar product that can forestall a thousand dollar overhaul, even if it works.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Any vehicle with an automatic transmission already has a cooler, integrated into the radiator.

If the additive is working, I would just keep running it until it starts showing more serious problems. As you said, they're just going to sell you a transmission overhaul.

Don't worry about it breaking down on the trip. If it does, it does. There are great transmission shops all over the place.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Exactly the reasons I like my gear transmissions. Never ever had them leave me stranded. Might have to use a different gear to get there. Automatics always were a slush box waiting to die someplace.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

I've gotten some extra mileage out of automatics by getting a transmission shop to hook up to the transmission lines and filter the fluid.then they put an additive in the trans fluid.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I have no drain plug.
I would pull the pan and replace the filter.
Add a temp sensor to transmission. See what the normal temp is without pulling something. Then tow something and see what happens to temp?

Depending on what roads you take to Florida, some roads have large inclines, transmission killers.

 

[John M]

BTDT - Youll need a torque converter. The shudder is from the converter not locking. 2012 Emclave with the same engine and trans. The Lubegard never worked in mine, but it may have been too far gone when it started.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> I have no drain plug. I would pull the pan and replace the filter.

Not only does the Acadia's transmission have a drain plug, the rear differential and transfer case also have drain plugs. Hardest part was getting those two plugs out; I had to use an impact to loosen them up.

The Allison tranny in my 2500HD Silverado has a drain plug and two filters: One inside the pan and an external spin-on. I changed the spin-on around 50K; I think you're supposed to change the fluid and both filters at 100K.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> BTDT - Youll need a torque converter. The shudder is from the converter not locking. 2012 Emclave with the same engine and trans. The Lubegard never worked in mine, but it may have been too far gone when it started.

Thanks for the heads-up, John. If I can get a few more months out of it before it has to go into the shop, I'll be pleased.

 

[Hobo,NC]

YES good stuff for a transmission shutter...

I would drain and fill the trans at least 3 times and repeat every 60K... If I towed at 30K...

I have seen it resolve the issue on a many Ford but not so much on a GM : (

 

[jhwis]

I'll just add I had an Acadia that had similar problems although not as violent of a shudder....only a hit and miss shudder. I thought the same thing with TC. Turned out it was the antilock brakes going screwy. I pulled the fuse and problem solved.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Mark,
No brainer, I would use your truck to tow your 18 foot center console boat down to Florida this fall. Wife drives the car. Then use the truck to get back home in spring.

I find that it takes about the same amount of gas to pull an empty trailer as it does with a loaded trailer. Guessing rolling resistance and wind resistance. So it's not the weigh as much as it is rolling and wind.

Use your truck. Use snake oil in car. Problem solved.

 

[John M]

Thats what I hoped for too, and we did go about another 2500 miles on it out of necessity, but the shudder was always there. It eventually got to where it was slipping when the converter locked so bad we had to do something. It wasnt a bad price, I thnk like a grand at the dealership.

 

[MeAnthony]

I really don't care for those split the trans to change the filter designs. Seems like they were intended to fail, not be maintained, simply due to difficulty of access. I had a Honda Accord like that; I changed the internal screen, then added an inline magnetic filter. The inline filter had a better micron rating. Not only was it easy to change going forward, it provided better filtering anyway. May not improve yours much but sure could help prevent it from getting worse.
MagneFine inline magnetic trans filter

 

[Texasmark]

Last time I looked the cooler was a piece of tubing with an inlet on one side and outlet on the other side of the radiator
reservoir.....cooling off with 210F radiator water.....How about a real cooler that's in front of everything getting ambient air and lots of
surface area and coooling fins....like comes with TT packages......and a tranny temp gauge on your venicle monitor screen....2011
1500 Silverado.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> No brainer, I would use your truck to tow your 18 foot center console boat down to Florida this fall. Wife drives the car. Then use the truck to get back home in spring.

Plan A was to tow the boat to FL with the pickup, drop it off and return. (I need my pickup in Michigan.) Then we'd drive the Enclave down at a later date. But wife didn't want to put so many miles on the Enclave, so I went to Plan B.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Let us know if your plan works.

 

[dr sportster]

I really don't have faith in many additives but good you found one that actually works .

 

[lightninboy]

Sam Memmolo advertised Lubegard for many years. I never needed it or used it, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I needed it.

 

[jacksun65]

My parents have a 2012 sub 5.3 4L60 that delveloped same problem. Common problem with those trans at that mileage. New convertor and seals good to go.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> The inline filter had a better micron rating. Not only was it easy to change going forward, it provided better filtering anyway. May not improve yours much but sure could help prevent it from getting worse.

Hmm. I'm not sure I like the idea of putting a filter inline with the transmission cooler. You would sure want to change it regularly. The drain plug on the Acadia does have a magnet to pick up any steel filings in the sump.

 

[Duey C]

Interesting posts.
Maw's '14 Traverse started a similar shudder routine this summer.
The '11 never did (245,800 miles). No, never replaced the cam timers. Didn't know we were supposed to.
I got her to stop when she could, shut it off, open the door, close the door, restart it and try again.
The computer resets and no shuddering. I do like the snake-oil thoughts tho.
The '05 Silverado I prefer is similar, shut it off, open the door, restart it and go again IF the computer THINKS there's a problem.

This post was edited by Duey C on 11/12/2021 at 10:04 pm.