[1ownerT]

Originally Posted by pjc360

so since it is a non lock up converter type f atf fluid can be used in this transmission? it is old and does not have alot of the additives the newer fluids have but it can be used in the A-518 transmission that does not have lock up? correct?

I would be asking the shop that is backing the warranty on this trans.

[pjc360]

well so far it still has the fluid in it that they put in it, im sure type f is ok to use in it, i probly wont put any type f in it untill after i get a shift kit installed.
I just dont really care for +4 from what i have been told by people i know its not the best atf to use in a non lock up hydraulically controlled transmission like the A-518s, i have been told even regular old dexronIII would be better then +4 and that dexronVI is the best atf on the market right now. well besides amsoil and royal purple, ill re phrase that i been told its the best atf made by a manufacture on the market right now.

[tnsmith10]

Originally Posted by pjc360

well so far it still has the fluid in it that they put in it, im sure type f is ok to use in it, i probly wont put any type f in it untill after i get a shift kit installed.
I just dont really care for +4 from what i have been told by people i know its not the best atf to use in a non lock up hydraulically controlled transmission like the A-518s, i have been told even regular old dexronIII would be better then +4 and that dexronVI is the best atf on the market right now. well besides amsoil and royal purple, ill re phrase that i been told its the best atf made by a manufacture on the market right now.

whoever told you that atf+4 is not the best for a dodge/chrysler trans fluid for a trans it was designed for is blowing smoke at you. yes, it has the qualities to help prevent lockup shudder but, it also has more to it than that. auto manufacturers design their own fluid for a reason.
bringing up amsoil and royal purple and also not to mention dex VI, only put those fluids in the same category as the atf+4, theyre all a synthetic fluid.
at this time, id recommend that you do a little reading up on transmission fluids and get properly educated on the matter.
lastly, the shop you went to you say has the best reputation in town and they told you that they put in atf+3, now, wouldnt it make sense to follow up with what they told you that they use to keep your warranty? not to mention what the kind of reputation you say they have, wouldnt you also take for granted the shop knows the proper fluid to put into your trans as they do the work for a living?

[pjc360]

supposidly they are the best shop in town, but my re-build only has 500 miles on it and im already having vibration problems and torque converter wind up noises, the guy who built the transmission told me that they put +3 in the transmission because they do not like to run a synthetic fluid in there re-builds untill it has at least 1000 miles on it. What seems odd to me about this shop is the first time i brought it to them, i was thinking i only needed a front seal replcement and when i was there i asked one of the mechanics, not the owner but a guy that was working in there, i said what atf will you guys be putting back in my transmission and he said what would you like i said well i dont +4 i guess and he said we use a universal fluid that is safe to use in all transmissions except for sum ford transmissions calling for type f.
So one of the mechanic tells me they use a universal fluid, but after they re-build it and i go and pay my recipt says i got 14 quarts of atf+3, one thing that kinda makes me doubht they put +3 in it is where did they find it? i cant even find atf+3 anymore none of my local parts stores carry it? i think they put there universal stuff in there and just put atf+3 on the recipt.
So since i suspect that i dont really trust his word on what fluid to use anyways because im pretty sure he has already lied to me about what fluid they put in it. i did alot of searching for atf+3 and there is only 1 company left that i know of that still makes it and that is amalie and i do not even know where to buy it at.

[pjc360]

the owner of that transmission shop is the typical owner who thinks everyone is stupid, and thinks he can pull fast ones over peoples eyes but not me, i remembered that mechanic telling me they use a universal fluid, then after my re-build my recipt says i got +3? hmmmm kinda strange because i couldnt find +3 at any of the parts stores in the area and the dodge dealership didnt have it ether, so where did he get atf+3 at? My guess is he didnt he just put that universal fluid in it and wrote on the recipt that i got +3. Thats mainly why i am asking you guys what fluid to use?? i have been talking to a bunch of different people, none of them say +4 is a bad fluid majority of them say your transmission is not new enough to need +4, its still old school enough to run on dexronIII or type f and would most likely run better on one of those then +4.

[pjc360]

the only reason i am asking about type f is because my old man ran it for years in his 70 cuda with a 440-6 pak and the 727 transmission, and he also ran it in his 77 dodge truck with a 727 with no problems at all, but he is no longer alive for me to ask him about using type f in the A-518 wich basically is the same as the 727 but with an overdrive unit on the back.
I dont see why type f would perform any different in my transmission then it did in his? unless type f fluid is a big no no in an overdrive unit? thats all im trying to find out.

[user151]

Originally Posted by pjc360

what could have went wrong upon installing new bottom transmission mounts? because ever since i put new bottom transmission mounts is when this vibration problem occured? ........

Check your driveshaft universals, especially the front one.

[pjc360]

it can not be any of the driveshafts because the vibration is occuring at stand still as well, when i fire the truck up it starts vibrating right at start up and i can feel it pulsating thru the seat and steering wheel and the dash, its a womp womp womp womp womp just a consistent vibration that gets worse when you apply some gas to it. when you apply gas to it, ity feels like the doors are going to fall off.
Im taking it to the transmission shop who re-built the transmission on monday and im telling them to figure it out and fix it, its under a 2 year warranty and i paid in full with cash. so the least they can do is take the transmission out make sure the torque converter is clocked right and make sure its the right converter and make sure the flexplate is correct and whatever else is in there that they can check cause something is going on, im getting a whine type noise form the converter while driving, and when i crawl under it while its in park at an idle and watch the torque converter i think i can very fadly hear the same type of noise but that might just be my mind thinking im hearing that noise, but i can deffanitly hear it when i put it in gear and start to take off from a stand still.

[pjc360]

well i dropped my truck off at the transmission shop this afternoon, and i explained to the owner what was going on and he said he'd take a look at it later on in the afternoon and call me back and tell me what he thinks it is.
I felt like saying well whatever it is im not paying for it cause its under warranty, he never did call me back this afternoon so im guessing he didnt have time to look at it, but when he calls me back and tells me what he thinks it is ill get back on here and let you guys know what he says.
I still need an answer to my question about running type f atf in this transmission? its a non lock up converter 2 pin connection, A-518.
I'm hoping i can run type f in it because it helps firm up shifting and its half the price that atf+4 is. thanks guys for all your words of wisdom.

[pjc360]

to be more detailed, when i walked in the door of the transmission shop the owner was on the phone and when he got off the phone he said whats up? i said that transmission is having problems of some sort, he said whats it doing? i said everytime i put it in gear and go to take off the converter is making a wind up noise or whine noise? does it all gears even reverse, and i said it is always vibrating the dash and the steering wheel and when im going down the freeway at 75 miles an hour is shking and vibrating so bad it feels like the doors are going to fall off, and he said well can you leave it with me for awhile so i can take a look at it? and i said yup and handed him the key, i said i been talking to a few people and they all seem to think that the torque converter is ether side loading or its the wrong converter or the converter was not clocked right, and he said its the right converter, and i said well i dont know all i know is the torque converter is making a ton of noise and i have a vibration.
He said i will take a look at it here in a couple hours and ill call you and let you know what i think it is, and i said ok and left. Now if he tries telling me that its not the transmission im going to laugh and say then why is the torque converter making noises whining noises? and if he says its going to cost me anything im going to say well it was my understanding that this transmission came with a 2 year warranty and my recipt says the same thing, and ill say so if you dont wanna stand by your warranty on a re-build that does not even have a thousand miles on it yet, then you can give me my money back and ill take it to somone who will fix it, this is if he gives me any crap or says i have to pay for anything? not saying he will, he may jump right on it and be more then happy to fix it for free idk im just preparing for worst case senario.

[Bryan59EC]

I despise automatic trannys with a passion.
Have only had one car with an AT make it birth to death without a trans issue.

Recently (about 2 years) had the trans in my Windstar rebuilt.
Took it in to fix a random and irritating downshift to second gear from cruise.
(quite interesting to be tooling along at 70 and just have the trans drop into 2nd gear for no reason.) Did not want to shift out of second at all -- at any speed.

After the tranny guy saying it needs a total rebuild (and almost $3000) the silly van started doing the same thing within a week.

After the tranny guy had to pay for a very long tow, he then found the cause of the original problem.
Seems an expensive electrical switch was shorting out causing the car to shift into second and stay there.

He then told me his trans warrantees did not cover electrical items.
This did not go over too well with me at all----and I let him know it.

Told him I brought the car in to FIX the 2nd gear issue
Rebuild trans was at his suggestion.
I had no intention of paying an additional $400 over the cost of the rebuild to repair what I took it in for in the first place.

He bi***ed a bit about paying for the 100 mile tow and the pricey switch, but it really was not my problem.

Now about 50,000 miles later------trans being stupid again.
Cannot decide if it wants to shift into 1st or stay in second at slowdowns without stopping.
When it decides finally that it wants to be in 1st---it shifts real hard.

Just ranting here---have no constructive input at all on your issue.

(other than tossing that AT and using a manual trans )

[pjc360]

well let me rant about my expierence today....
I brough my truck to the shp that re-built my transmission yesterday afternoon, the owner said he would take a look at it and call me back later in the afternoon and tell me what he thinks, well he never called yesterday....
He called me today at 1 in the afternoon and i said so whats the verdrict? he said my guys looked at it and said they couldnt find anything wrong with the transmission, i said REALLY?!?!?! I said so whats going on with it, he said the reason its vibrating in park and nuetral is cause your engine is not firing on all 8 cylinders, i said well it has brand new plugs, brand new plug wires, brand new cap and rotor i said maybe i have the firing order off but i dont think so...
I said well whats causing the wind up whining noise, he said its your rear end, i said relly? well how come when i hear it its coming from the front of the truck not the back? he said i dont know but your rear end must be getting ready to go out.
I said i really dont think soo. i just had the cover off that rear end a couple months ago and there was hardly any shavings on the magnet and there was no shavings or metal debree in the gear oil because i filtered it looking for metal debree, i said the oil looked pretty bad and old but i no metal debree in the oil and very little on the magnet, and i said i refilled it with synthetic gear oil too, did the exact same thing to the front axle popped cover off and couldnt find any metal debree in the front axles oil ether.
So after i told him that he says well i have a few minutes right now so i'll go out there and look it over real good and call you back, i said ok.
!5 minutes later he calls me back and he says im going to keep it for the night and tommarrow im going to pull it up on a rack and take a closer look, he said there is deffantly something going on but i think its your engine and whatever it is could burn up the transmission.
Let me ask this, what could possibly be going on with my engine to burn up the transmission? i think he knows there is something wrong with my transmission and is trying to blame it on the engine so that he can charge me for fixing it. The noises this is making is deffantly coming from the transmission im 99 percent sure, and none of the ever happened untill i changed the bottom transmission mounts, another thing that makes me think its the transmission. i lifted the transmisssion and transfer case up together just high enough to get the old transmission mounts out and the new mounts inn and ever since i did that is when this vibration and whine noise came about? so i have asked this before and did not get an answer, what could have happened from changing the bottom mounts on that transmission to bring about this problem? is it possible while i lifted up on the trans that it threw the converter off course? could i have damaged a shaft of some kind? or bent a bushing or threw out a bearing or what?

[pjc360]

nobody has any advie for me on how to deal with this transmission shop? come on somone has to have some ideas, the owner was trying to blame it on everything else but the transmission, and when i told him i think him and his techs are wrong he said well i have a few minutes so ill go out there and check out and call you back.
He calls me back twenty minutes later and says ya there is something going on but i think its your engine? and i said how could the engine cause the torque converter to whine? i felt like saying well i think its the transmission.
All he said was ill pull it up on a rack tommarrow and check it out and ill call you and let you know what i think is going on. i know its the transmission and nothing else and if he tries telling me its not im going to freak out, or if he tells me i have to pay for any of it im going to freak out because i paid for my re-build with cash and he gave me a 2 year warranty so they have to fix it, they messed up upon installing it so they can live with there mistake and fix it right this time.

[tnsmith10]

Originally Posted by pjc360

nobody has any advie for me on how to deal with this transmission shop? come on somone has to have some ideas, the owner was trying to blame it on everything else but the transmission, and when i told him i think him and his techs are wrong he said well i have a few minutes so ill go out there and check out and call you back.
He calls me back twenty minutes later and says ya there is something going on but i think its your engine? and i said how could the engine cause the torque converter to whine? i felt like saying well i think its the transmission.
All he said was ill pull it up on a rack tommarrow and check it out and ill call you and let you know what i think is going on. i know its the transmission and nothing else and if he tries telling me its not im going to freak out, or if he tells me i have to pay for any of it im going to freak out because i paid for my re-build with cash and he gave me a 2 year warranty so they have to fix it, they messed up upon installing it so they can live with there mistake and fix it right this time.

if you have any doubts at all, pick up the truck and take it to another shop for a second opinion and, see if they say the same thing.

[pjc360]

well its 2 p.m and the owner has not called me back today so im assuming that means he has not touched it yet or he's already got it torn apart and is working on it...
If the owner calls me and says its anything but the transmission then im going to tell him that i'd like to take it to another shop and get a second opinion.