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Lucas transmission fluid trial/error 2002 explorer

nemothablak

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September 12, 2010
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City, State
oxford, alabama
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 xls
a lot of people wonder about lucas transmission fluid. i'll go into detail about my experience, feel free to posts some comments, i'm curious if anyone else have experienced this. Here's my story:

my tranny started having a small issue last month when the odometer hit 157XXX miles. While accelerating, around 42mph the tranny ALWAYS jerked a little, and after that, no problem. It didnt bother me in the beginning, but after a while it started pissing me off. i got the fluid checked by a local shop, and they said it was at a good level. a lot of mechanics recommended putting some Lucas in the transmission; even the guys at the transmission shops and ford dealership recommended it, and that's exactly what i did.
i added half a quart of lucas in it, and for 3 days the car was running and shifting smoothly (no jerking at 42mph). after that third day, it all started going to hell. Whenever i cranked it up in the morning, the worst whinning/scratching noise would come from the transmission, but only for about 3 minutes before the car warmed up. I drove it everyday for about a week and a half, until that noise started pissing me off, and not to mention the jerking at 42mph came back, and the whinning/scratching noise got worse, and lasted longer than 3 minutes. I knew something was up when one morning, the tranny started slipping on my way to school, and i couldnt drive faster that 30mph without the rpm guage needle shooting over 4, and 5 (like a constant acceleration), and the o/d light started blinking.

So, i took the car to a few local shops to get a complete flush, but they wouldnt do it, like they were scared to even touch it. one guy at the shops actually had the balls to say that ALL explorers are "pieces of *****", i almost kicked him in the nuts lol. i looked at his car on my way out and felt sorry for him, he was driving a damn prius lol....
So, i did the flush myself: drained the tranny through the plug first, dropped the pan, let the tranny drain for another 30 mins, cleaned the magnet, cleaned the pan, cleaned the gasket mating surface, put in new filter, guided the gasket and pan carefully back on transmission, and put in 5qts of transmission fluid (thats how much fluid the people at the ford dealership told me was in the pan).

Cranked the car up, first thing i heard was the sweet 4.0 sound, no noise at all coming from the tranny. i let it warm up for 10 more mins. I turned the car on and off a few times within half an hour, no sounds. I put that thing in drive, and first thing i did was to get on the interstate. i drove it at high speeds, and also at low speeds to see if the tranny would slip or make noises... NOTHING!!!!! the problem was gone. that was two weeks ago. the odometer now reads 161XXX, because i drive a lot of highway miles lol. no problem with it at all.

But, yesterday the transmission started slipping on the interstate when i tried to accelerate up a hill. luckily i hadnt gone far. i turned the car around, and drove it home (rpm needle was on 3 the whole way home at 65mph). I cranked it up about 5hours ago, and now the whinning/scrathing noise is back lol. i've driven it twice today, and i noticed that it wasnt as bad as the first time the tranny slipped. for example, the first time the tranny slipped after i added lucas, the rpm needle would go up and keep going up, it wouldnt kick back as it's supposed to, but the car speed would stay under 30mph; Now, i can go as fast as 50mph until the rpm needle stays at 3. From 0, the needle would go up as i accelerate, kick back (as its supposed to), goes up again, kicks back again, and then it stays up lol.

My plan is to flush it again tomorrow by myself (since the shops wouldnt touch a tranny that's already slipping with that much mileage), and take it for a drive again. the way i see it, it'll probably take one more flush after tomorrow to get all that lucas fluid completely out of the transmission. i will upload the results.

so far, i WOULD NOT recommend lucas transmission fluid for the 2002 explorer 2wd transmission.

has anyone else had this problem, if so, what happened?
 



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update

well, i did the flush yesterday instead of friday... the car is still drivable but it's still slipping. a friend of mine who works in a transmission shop told me that it's fkd and would have to be rebuilt. i didnt want to hear that, but oh well lol. so now i have to get a rebuild.

needless to say, anyone who has a 2002 or newer explorer should stay the hell away from Lucas Transmission Fix fluid, because even as small as half a quart can do some serious damage to you transmission. Pass the word!!!
 






chances are, your transmission was on it's way out and this was most likely a coincidence.

check out the servo bore o-ring fix, that may save you a lot of money and fix your problem at the same time.
 






I wouldn't blame the failure on the Lucas fluid. All it really is is a viscosity modifier/heavier fluid. It compensates for worn transmissions where the tolerances have grown.

In my opinion, all automatic transmissions are a poor design. They contain parts designed to wear, and are plumbed to pump those worn off bits right back in to the machine. No automatic trans will last forever. They all will have to be rebuilt or replaced eventually. 100,000 to 150,000 is the typical interval, so you're on borrowed time anyway.

I just put in my third trans at 250,000. My previous one was about 140,000.
 






+3 At 157K the tranny was slipping. Very unlikely the "snake oil" made it worse.
Correct me if I'm wrong, sounds like that was your FIRST fluid change at over 160K.
 






thanks for the replies.

DAT05EXPLODER someone has told me to check that out, but that means i have to take apart the transmission, and i have NO idea how to do that.

Kevlar7R i've always known that automatic transmissions are ****ty lol. i'm quite sure my next car will be a manual.

swshawaii the transmission wasnt slipping to begin with. it jerked a little. not a loud jerk, but more like a fast vibration. yes, that was the first fluid change.
 






My experience with it is that it does nothing. I had a slipping issue in my old oldsmobile, but in lucas slip stop tranny fluid but it didn't do anything at all.

Well I guess it wasn't that it slipped, it used to get stuck in between gears. You'd have to jump on and off the gas between first and second gear or it would just rev up.
 






I have 4 cars, 2 manual, 2 automatic. I baby my autos, and beat the piss outta my manuals. Time to change a clutch? Oh darn.... Lol

bottom line, Lucas products are all bandaids to hide injuries. Not saying there is anything wrong with that.... Just that no fluid can ever fix a mechanical issue... Just stave off the symptoms for a bit.
 












We all know it- you cannot buy a fix in a bottle. That being said Lucas does make some good products, i like the oil stabilizer and would recommend it esp. for preventing dry start issues and valve train lubrication issues like we have with the 4.0s. I would also highly recommend the gear lube they make.
 






i know you cant buy a "fix in a bottle" but i cant help to think that the Lucas fluid helped my transmission go to hell faster lol. i've always been suspicious of all additives, but that was my choice to make.
And now i have to ask the thousand-dollar question: buy a used transmission, or get mine rebuilt?
 






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