TransX... Yay or nay? 1983 300D - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Cinnamonandgravy · #1 08-25-2014, 11:47 PM

Read some success stories round these parts of people using it, but also read some people saying to stay away from it at all costs (they never gave specific examples, just casually mentioned 'side effects'...

).

Whatcha think??

Some background:

Apparently transX is good for cleaning varnish off of valve bodies and swells seals (heard people say its not meant to clean anything... But it says it does right on the bottle... At least the 75k+ 'high mileage' version).

Basically when my car is cold (212k original tranny) it can have trouble shifting into 3rd... Have to keep the car at around 3k rpm for upwards of 20 or so seconds, then it'll shift (god I hate doing that). After it succeeds in that shift, it's fine thereafter. Shifts no problem. Seems like a seal can't quite build enough pressure until it warms up. No tranny leaks.

It used to flare occasionally going into 3rd (by about 800 to 1000 rpm), but after a tranny fluid change (didn't drain the torque converter... Too lazy), a new filter (Mann), and a Bowden adjustment that's gone away (biggest improvement was actually going into reverse... Used to produce a large clunk, now it's super smooth

).

Letting the car warm up for 5 minutes or so before driving generally helps with the reluctant 3rd shift, but not always. The fluid change helped a bit.

Wondering if transX would help me... Sounds like it could! Worried about 'side effects', then there's the whole question of how to apply it... Lord baby Jesus, everyone has somehow found a different way to use it

dude99 · #2 08-25-2014, 11:50 PM

I have used Gunk Transmission medic and had good results, I had a flare from 2-3 in my 300SD when I got it, fluid change and a bottle of that and it went away completely. I say go for it. It won't hurt anything to try it. I have yet to read a story where someone has used it and actually had something bad happen.

engatwork · #3 08-26-2014, 06:07 AM

I would recommend against putting anything other than the proper transmission fluid in it.
One time I had a 250k transmission die shortly after doing a transmission service where I added TransX.

leathermang · #4 08-26-2014, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

I would recommend against putting anything other than the proper transmission fluid in it.
One time I had a 250k transmission die shortly after doing a transmission service where I added TransX.

Yes....but at the same time you would suggest doing proper changing out of the transmission fluid... and many of our old cars did not get that. The change out period is shorter than most people realize on our cars..

Proper transmission fluid will not correct build up of varnish caused by thousands of miles of relative neglects of the proper change out periods for fluids.

Why did you put that Trans-x into that 250 K transmission.... probably SOME reason you did that... the fact that it did not fix whatever that problem was does not mean the product is dangerous.

Many people do not know how much fluid is in there transmission.. this you need to know to install the ' cleanout' percentage... then you drain that and change the filter...and install about half that percentage for leaving in the system.
So sometimes people stick one can in and then do not see the results which might be possible with the recommended amount. My wagon took two of the sorta quart sized round cans... they are metric ...

winmutt · #5 08-26-2014, 08:49 AM

Reminds me of a thread here were the DEALERSHIP put transx in after a rebuild, killed the trans.....

leathermang · #6 08-26-2014, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winmutt

Reminds me of a thread here were the DEALERSHIP put transx in after a rebuild, killed the trans.....

Thanks for providing all the relevant details of that situation.

Zulfiqar · #7 08-26-2014, 10:11 AM

I have had good result with lubegard additive - the red one, I put it in a GM 4t60E which had some issues with applying the converter clutch and also shifting into 3.

It did help smooth out the problems in a a couple of days and all became smooth again. That car was driven for another 13,000 miles before it got hit and totalled.

I know the GM unit is not even remotely comparable to the mercedes benz one in build quality but just sayin that the lube gard helped.

The next car which also had the same trans - did not get helped with the lubegard additive and needed a trans rebuild anyway - which I did in my little garage and admired the nutcase valve body design which has a "check ball" instead of a valve for the main line pressure hold and the funny welded stove pipe reverse reaction basket - lol.

you can try one small bottle of lubegard and see if it works - its good for about 9 qts. If it does not help then you need some work on the trans.

engatwork · #8 08-26-2014, 10:12 AM

You are correct Greg, I recommend doing transmission service at least every 40k miles. The one I had cause issues (it is my silver 95E300) had had its prior transmission service at 200 k miles.

Dan Stokes · #9 08-26-2014, 11:49 AM

The thing with "hope in a bottle" trans stuff - if the trans is sick anyhow, what do you have to lose? If nothing's wrong the decision is harder - I mean, why use it?

I say "Go for it". Might help and it's already sick so you're not out much if it doesn't.

Dan

97 SL320 · #10 08-26-2014, 12:03 PM

I had owned am auto repair shop from 88 to 97 and have been in and around the business for years on either end of that.

Trans in a can will sort of keep a failing trans going but at the expense of damaging other parts. It also really won't "fix" the problem you have.

The lube guard anti shudder additive is a friction modifier that will help converter shudder and is about the only type additive that should go in a trans, ever.

Some trans additives smell like brake fluid, this will swell hard seals but, the seals might continue to swell causing the pistons to drag in the bores, this will in turn cause clutches / bands to drag burning them up.

Cutting loose sludge is a bad thing as it can stick valves, the result can be low line pressure and burned frictions.

Take a hard look at engine performance, if power is low when cold you will be into the throttle farther causing a delayed shift.

leathermang · #11 08-26-2014, 12:44 PM

That goes to show that one can own an auto shop and not know how something actually works.

The shifting ..... apply one clutch sending the power to one set of gears....and then another...

is taken care of by hydraulic pressure.

Inside the valve body ... which few people have actually seen.... are some small BB sized balls which are pretty much foolproof.... since they are in a vertical tube and can not fall out of the bottom of it... Gravity causes them to want to fall DOWN... pretty foolproof unless that tube gets varnish deposited over the years to where they are slowed down.. or do not fall far enough to completely seal ... these are shutdown valves.... if they allow some pressure to remain on a clutch which is supposed to be shut down... then excessive wear happens pretty quickly...and you may have two clutches engaged at the same time...

All this stuff claims to do... is dissolve the varnish.... and swell some seals.... the most important ones to most are the front and back seals of the trans... which leak when old and dry or deteriorated from heat or whatever...
My 95 Lincoln front trans seal was leaking a quart per 75 miles... I put the Trans-x in several times... it was leaking out at first of course.... and over a couple of weeks that front seal stopped leaking.... I have the car today... drive it ...and it is not leaking out the front seal... that was about ten years ago that I treated it....
about 1975 I had a 1965 Rambler... four door... and interestingly had the quarter windows on the back side of the back doors... just like a Mercedes... I bought it really cheap because it WOULD ONLY GO IN 2 GEAR....
I would not have tried Trans=x on it except a long time family friend mechanic suggested it... I am not into snake oils either....

but I followed the instructions... sitting in the driveway and moving the shifter through the gears.... allowing about a minute per gear.... and about 30 minutes later it was shifting like new... I drove the car for four years... it had those front seats which would fold down flat with the rear seats....

winmutt · #12 08-26-2014, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leathermang

Thanks for providing all the relevant details of that situation.

13000 posts and you remember every post you've read with finite detail?

leathermang · #13 08-26-2014, 01:08 PM

""Reminds me of a thread here were the DEALERSHIP put transx in after a rebuild, killed the trans.....""--- Winmutt

It was a negative statement with no useful facts associated with it....
It leaves out all sorts of possibilities having to do with the quality of the rebuild...
and assigns blame to something which , if you understand what is it, is unlikely to affect the situation.

Now, if people do not follow the rules..... use it at a certain percent of strength...
then not change out that fluid AND the FILTER....
which may now be clogged by the vanish removed from the body of the transmission...
and then put in clean fluid and new filter ... with smaller strength left in...
yes,,,, you might see a problem with the transmission....
but one can not assume that a temporal relationship between a trans needing work...and it stopping working after something as benign as a varnish dissolver
is added is a causation relationship.

mach4 · #14 08-26-2014, 01:33 PM

I used TransX once and it didn't do a thing. Had a 722.4x transmission that wasn't shifting properly - it was basically ready to rebuild or swap transmissions. I thought, what the heck, it can't hurt. It didn't do anything so I swapped in the stronger 722.3x transmission.

Anecdotically, I think it does more harm than good, but if its a case of the transmission needs to come out anyway, why not try it....it just might work.

Zulfiqar · #15 08-26-2014, 01:44 PM

I dont understand how will you get varnish out of the valve body circuits, the channels are hydraulic lines - which means they are closed, so lets say this stuff dislodges it - how do you exhaust this sludge?

the 722.6 transmission is designed that all and everything will dump back to the pan - the older ones can trap stuff in the valve body. Hence I would be pretty wary of such additives.

When I was rebuilding the GM FWD unit - its valvebody had some grease looking sludgy stuff in its channels - which were only moving with brake cleaner or atf + MMO.