The transmission shop i went to to adjust my trans after they rebuilt it is saying that i ruined my trans when i used lucas in it when i filled it up the first time after the rebuild. They claim it voided their warranty because "...it makes the rubber seals swell and the goverener sticks. it's made to make the seals swell." Is there any truth to this and if so do i need to get it rebuilt all over again($700 is hard on a full time college student). If it's not a lost cause and the stuff is bad is there anything i can do to save myself?

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'66 Barracuda super six turbo??

What is wrong with the transmission?

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Joshua

it slowly stopped going into 3rd. finnaly it wouldnt go into any gear. So pulled the valve body and cleaned it up and nightened the bends on it. I got 1, 2, and R back and it would shift into each easier but still no third. So i did the pressure tests and i wasn't getting enough pressure to actually engage 3rd. So i dropped the trans and took it in to get rebuilt. The shop rebuilt it, told me to bring it back in while it was in the car so they could get it adjusted right. Now they are claiming the lucas is why it's not shiftinginto 3rd and not because they did a bad rebuild. I know they didn't do it right because they rear seal wasn't replaced. In short, it's not shifting right. Honestly i don't think they even know how to adjust it.

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'66 Barracuda super six turbo??

If the Lucas product wasn't in the trans very long it wouldn't have had time to cause any problems. Tell the shop that the transmission didn't even have time to sustain any damage. The fault with the transmission they were paid to correct was not repaired. They can either correct the problem or refund your money.

Chances are the shop didn't do any valve body work. It's also likely the shop didn't do anything except replace the friction materials and external seals.

You brought the trans in to this shop on good faith and they need to respond in kind. It's OK to drop that you're a college student and that being in the information age and all that you know your rights in regards to the BBB, the attorney general and small claims courts. Hey, if you paid with a credit card you can dispute the charge as they performed faulty work.

I had a friend that ran a transmission shop. Carry in jobs like yours are often troublesome. The shop doesn't have control over the car and the install. They can't road test the car. Very few shops have a transmission dyno so they can't even check their work. If the torque converter was not replaced they can say the trans failed because of debris in the converter.

What I would not do at this point is leave your car with them. If they have your car and have not been paid for work on the car then they can file a mechanics lien. They'd have to be pretty underhanded to pull something like that, but be cautious.

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Joshua

I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt. They say the "lucas" hurt the trans. Ask them to put this in writing, and state exactly what damage it caused. Tell them you are going to file a claim with Lucas and need proof. Then contact Lucas, and see what they have to say. Either way you will have documentation, for leverage. I am not a fan of Lucas additives, but I don't think it would cause any problem in the short term.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I have never used any of their other products but I agree that the Lucas trans stuff is crap/ last winter I dropped the pan on a perfectly working 46 RE (elec governor version of the 518 OD) for a fluid/filter change. This was not the 1st time this trans had this done to it. (I do a trans fluid/filter every 4-5 oil changes;12-15K miles.) This crap was like molasses! I put about 1/4, maybe 1/3 of a bottle in the funnel, and had to "chase" it with ATF to get it to flow. Well went for a ride after the fluid/filter change and it didn't go more than 12-15 miles and barely made it home because the trans died that fast. Yes I had been plowing snow with it earlier that day, but it still worked great and there were absolutely NO shavings in the pan, the fluid was just starting to darken a bit so knowing that I had been using it a bit hard of late and that a pan drop doesn't drain out all the fluid and I had been hearing good things about their engine oil and fuel additives so I thought I'd give the fluid remaining in the TC a little "boost" and it bcakfired to say the least. I only wish now that I had dumped the funnel out in the drain pan once I saw how thick their crap was. I'd probably still running that truck on the same trans. Even SS Dan on here says that most additives aren't worth it but I thought I'd try it "just this once", had my TC had a drain plug in it I wouldn't have tried it even that time.

Well, I wouldn't put Lucas poo in anything that I cared about(*), but I honestly doubt that is your problem. I agree with the others who've said that the transmission shop probably cut a lot of corners and just slapped new friction materials in. Its also possible that they replaced the front servo seals and then forced it during reassembly (anyone who's ever done it will tell you that it takes patience and a good assembly lubricant to reassemble the front pack with new seals) and rolled the lip seal over so that you now have a huge internal fluid leak on the front (direct gear) "apply" hydraulic circuit.

Another thing shoddy rebuilders will do is neglect to check the end-play between the input and output shafts- when that gets too loose it allows fluid pressure to run chronically low and burn up clutches.

As far as swollen seals making the governor stick... its been about 4 years since I had a transmission torn all the way down myself, but IIRC the governor is like valve body shuttle valves- just a precision metal plug that slides in a precision metal cylinder. What rubber seal is gonna make that stick again??

(*) To see just how harmful Lucas addtives can be, see http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

Lucas additives cause severe foaming of lubricants, causing far more potential harm than good..

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that sounds more like what they did. I'veonyl saw the oil guy's page after all this broke open. However, when i was in yesterday the owner of the shop was there and heard what happened. Apparently their rebuilder has been doing some shoddy work recently so he's gonna rebuild my trans for me instead if it needs it. So this morning i got a call from him tellin me that he was gonna pull the trans and rebuild it free because it was screwed up. The lucas had nothing to do with the problems it was having. And the line of bull about the governer sticking was waay off. i went through my FSM and there is no reason why a swolen seal would cause a goverener to stick it's all metal inside the valve body.

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'66 Barracuda super six turbo??

I'm glad the shop is going to fix your transmission.

Now stay away from miracles in a can, OK.

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Joshua

Good trans shop owner....you are a lucky guy.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

That's a good shop owner. Now you will tell people, how he treated you right, and fixed a problem, instead of badmouthing him. Things like that are good for business, in the long run. Now if he just gets his "rebuilder" squared away.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

My luck never runs that way. I allways very nice and diplomatic when I am being screwed. I have a friend that screams blood murder from the first sentence. Guess who gets unscrewed. Not me.
There are a few people that respond to being nice, I am one of those people. If your a dick to me right out of the gate, you will get nothing from me, though not many people yell at me. Unfortantly most people respond to yelling, screaming and threats.
From what I read in your posts, you seem like a nice guy. I feel you really did get lucky. Tell the world of the good out come.

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67Cuda,FAST EZEFI,340cu,CR=10.25,RollerCam&Rocker (XR268HR,#20-810-9)(#1622-16)(EddyRPM#60779,#7576), (MSD6AL,#6425) A904, GearVendorsOD, 8 1/4,3.55:1, ClassicAir

Half a cup of brake fluid (DOT 3) will do the same thing as Lucas additives in anything with seals, and costs a lot less.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I have duplicated the Lucas products with muddy water.....

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Yeah, Ive pinched seals upon install myself but its one of those things, unless its your 1st rodeo, that you "know" about it as soon as you put the piston in there. so if the 1st guy that the shop had build it was even 1/2 awake he did too, unless he was either stoned, drunk, or just "that much" of a hack.