Intermittent TB

[Old Pearl]

I have a auto with 169k on the odo. The has been sitting before I acquired it. It has torque bind intermittently.....both times I drove in the rain and a few more random times. I car has matching 4 stud less m+s tires. What would cause the randomness? I would think that if I had a issue it would be all the time.

[GeneralDisorder]

Drain and refill the ATF twice - drive it 5 or 10 miles between the changes.

 

GD

[Old Pearl]

Any special trans fluid?? Will supertech from wally world lbe ok? Can I leave the rear diff alone?

[GeneralDisorder]

Just plain ATF - any brand will do as long as it's new. You will need about 3 gallons.

 

Don't touch the rear diff unless it's leaking. It doesn't take ATF - it takes 75w90 gear oil.

 

For that matter - don't touch the front diff gear oil either. And make sure you pour the ATF into the right dip-stick tube. It will be the one on the driver's side of the transmission. The short one on the passenger side is for the front diff gear oil.

 

GD

[Old Pearl]

Thanks GD. If you don't mind, why will flushing help this problem? How does the AWD work?

[GeneralDisorder]

That's a question best answered by searching the existing threads on the topic.

 

Basically there is a solenoid actuator inside the transmission known as the "duty-c" solenoid. It gets gummed up from no one chaning the ATF and in cases where the TB is intermittant it can usually be solved by flushing the ATF and freeing up the stuck solenoid. You have to do the drain/fill game twice in order to get most of the old fluid out since there is a lot of fluid in them that gets trapped in the TC.

 

There are other causes for TB, but in your case I think a flushing will do.

 

GD

[Rooster2]

Any special trans fluid?? Will supertech from wally world lbe ok? Can I leave the rear diff alone?

 

Wally world's Supertech has worked well for me.

 

When adding fresh ATF through a long funnel into the dip stick tube, you will need to add 4 quarts, and just a smidge more. If it were me, I would add a little less then 4 quarts, and add a can (pint size) of Trans-X. You may actually want to change ATF twice, since you can only change about half the quantity that is in the trany system. The torque converter retains the other half. Then, add the Trans-X on the second ATF change.