Wrong oil. Will it ruin it? 10W-40 in a car calling for 5W-30

[LTC8K6]

In gear only?

Or does it happen in Park as well?

Only when idling?

Could be the Idle control valve?

I recommend the TCCA for Taurus problems.

http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php?act=home

 

[CZroe]

I asked if they do a transmission flush with a tune-up and they said "no." 🙁

So, which should I go for? The flush or the tune-up?

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
In gear only?

Or does it happen in Park as well?

Only when idling?

Could be the Idle control valve?

I recommend the TCCA for Taurus problems.

http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php?act=home

If it does it in park, it's not as noticible. There's a short but frequent shudder in Drive, even when stopped. It's getting much worse. It seems to go away when maintaining certian speeds but it is pretty bad during acelleration. There is definitely a power loss during the shudder.

Thanks for the recommendation. We will check it out!

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox
When was the transmission flushed, if ever?

She just bought it about 6,000 miles ago, so we wouldn't know.

We had it looked over by a shop and they raised no concerns. I dunno if she had them flush the transmission fluid, but I doubt it. Knowing her, she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked. The two oil changes we've had both included checking/topping off trans fluid, but not flushing.

I would flush it just in case it's the tranny. Flushing doesn't cost a whole lot anyway.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox
When was the transmission flushed, if ever?

She just bought it about 6,000 miles ago, so we wouldn't know.

We had it looked over by a shop and they raised no concerns. I dunno if she had them flush the transmission fluid, but I doubt it. Knowing her, she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked. The two oil changes we've had both included checking/topping off trans fluid, but not flushing.

I would flush it just in case it's the tranny. Flushing doesn't cost a whole lot anyway.

The flush estimates I received so far ranged from $130 to $280! CrAzY, right? I need to shop around more. Anyway, I'm sure it's the transmission now. For the oil change I took it to the same place I took it to before specifically because they said that they check and top-off all fluids. It was clear last time that they didn't check the tire pressure, which may have saved us a tire (damaged on a curb), now it's clear that they didn't check the transmission fluid either. :| I FINALLY figured out how to check it myself and it has been below the "do not drive" level. My sister says that she was told about "two leaks" when she had the car checked out after purchasing it, but she doesn't know what they said was leaking (oil, for one 😉). Well, *shrug* it's her car.

The reason it took so long was because the useless manual didn't have an applicable contents section and I had to look it up in the index and the instructions for checking the "Transaxel Fluid" didn't even show where the dip-stick was. It was easier just to get the full service oil change considering that it needed oil, had three types mixed, oil may have been the root cause anyway, I couldn't find the dip-stick (unlabeled), and they would check many other things that may have been related.

Now, where do I go from here? Considering that it has been driven for a week below the "do not drive" level, should we just add transmission fluid and leave it at that if the problem goes away or should we get it flushed anyway? If we need the flush, what should we expect to pay?

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, you obviously need to add the transmission fluid right away first.

Does the fluid look and smell okay? Should be a translucent pink and not smell burnt.

If the fluid looks and smells okay, you can probably just fill it up.

If it were my car, I would change the fluid and filter and keep a check on the level.

I'd be paying attention for signs of trouble, too.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Well, you obviously need to add the transmission fluid right away first.

Does the fluid look and smell okay? Should be a translucent pink and not smell burnt.

If the fluid looks and smells okay, you can probably just fill it up.

If it were my car, I would change the fluid and filter and keep a check on the level.

I'd be paying attention for signs of trouble, too.

Thanks. I'm color-blind, so I'm going to need a little help with that. 😉 IIRC, it looked kinda dark. Sings of trouble liiiike... the slipping doesn't stop? 😉 Anything else should I be looking for? Thanks again.

 

[skyking]

My experience with swapping 10w-40 into a 5w-30 car;
Camry 2.2L with 120K on it. I mistakenly thought it would be OK. 4K miles later the lifters start gumming up and clicking. I put the right oil back in......2~3K later noise is gone. Lesson learned.

 

[LTC8K6]

There's really no reason a quality 10W-40 oil would have caused that problem vs 5W-30, imo.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox
When was the transmission flushed, if ever?

She just bought it about 6,000 miles ago, so we wouldn't know.

We had it looked over by a shop and they raised no concerns. I dunno if she had them flush the transmission fluid, but I doubt it. Knowing her, she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked. The two oil changes we've had both included checking/topping off trans fluid, but not flushing.

I would flush it just in case it's the tranny. Flushing doesn't cost a whole lot anyway.

The flush estimates I received so far ranged from $130 to $280! CrAzY, right? I need to shop around more. Anyway, I'm sure it's the transmission now. For the oil change I took it to the same place I took it to before specifically because they said that they check and top-off all fluids. It was clear last time that they didn't check the tire pressure, which may have saved us a tire (damaged on a curb), now it's clear that they didn't check the transmission fluid either. :| I FINALLY figured out how to check it myself and it has been below the "do not drive" level. My sister says that she was told about "two leaks" when she had the car checked out after purchasing it, but she doesn't know what they said was leaking (oil, for one 😉). Well, *shrug* it's her car.

The reason it took so long was because the useless manual didn't have an applicable contents section and I had to look it up in the index and the instructions for checking the "Transaxel Fluid" didn't even show where the dip-stick was. It was easier just to get the full service oil change considering that it needed oil, had three types mixed, oil may have been the root cause anyway, I couldn't find the dip-stick (unlabeled), and they would check many other things that may have been related.

Now, where do I go from here? Considering that it has been driven for a week below the "do not drive" level, should we just add transmission fluid and leave it at that if the problem goes away or should we get it flushed anyway? If we need the flush, what should we expect to pay?

$130 is a good price, a trans flush requires anywhere from 8-12quarts in a normal auto tranny and a pneumatic machine to flush it out. A tun up on the other hand really should be cheap, 4-6 spark plugs is about $8-15.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox
When was the transmission flushed, if ever?

She just bought it about 6,000 miles ago, so we wouldn't know.

We had it looked over by a shop and they raised no concerns. I dunno if she had them flush the transmission fluid, but I doubt it. Knowing her, she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked. The two oil changes we've had both included checking/topping off trans fluid, but not flushing.

I would flush it just in case it's the tranny. Flushing doesn't cost a whole lot anyway.

The flush estimates I received so far ranged from $130 to $280! CrAzY, right? I need to shop around more. Anyway, I'm sure it's the transmission now. For the oil change I took it to the same place I took it to before specifically because they said that they check and top-off all fluids. It was clear last time that they didn't check the tire pressure, which may have saved us a tire (damaged on a curb), now it's clear that they didn't check the transmission fluid either. :| I FINALLY figured out how to check it myself and it has been below the "do not drive" level. My sister says that she was told about "two leaks" when she had the car checked out after purchasing it, but she doesn't know what they said was leaking (oil, for one 😉). Well, *shrug* it's her car.

The reason it took so long was because the useless manual didn't have an applicable contents section and I had to look it up in the index and the instructions for checking the "Transaxel Fluid" didn't even show where the dip-stick was. It was easier just to get the full service oil change considering that it needed oil, had three types mixed, oil may have been the root cause anyway, I couldn't find the dip-stick (unlabeled), and they would check many other things that may have been related.

Now, where do I go from here? Considering that it has been driven for a week below the "do not drive" level, should we just add transmission fluid and leave it at that if the problem goes away or should we get it flushed anyway? If we need the flush, what should we expect to pay?

$130 is a good price, a trans flush requires anywhere from 8-12quarts in a normal auto tranny and a pneumatic machine to flush it out. A tun up on the other hand really should be cheap, 4-6 spark plugs is about $8-15.

Slipping didn't go away when I added tranny fluid. Would it be worth doing or isthe damage done? One of the shops I called for a price estimate asked if it was slipping and then said that they wouldnt touch one that was slipping. 🙁

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: sdifox
When was the transmission flushed, if ever?

She just bought it about 6,000 miles ago, so we wouldn't know.

We had it looked over by a shop and they raised no concerns. I dunno if she had them flush the transmission fluid, but I doubt it. Knowing her, she wouldn't know what I was talking about if I asked. The two oil changes we've had both included checking/topping off trans fluid, but not flushing.

I would flush it just in case it's the tranny. Flushing doesn't cost a whole lot anyway.

The flush estimates I received so far ranged from $130 to $280! CrAzY, right? I need to shop around more. Anyway, I'm sure it's the transmission now. For the oil change I took it to the same place I took it to before specifically because they said that they check and top-off all fluids. It was clear last time that they didn't check the tire pressure, which may have saved us a tire (damaged on a curb), now it's clear that they didn't check the transmission fluid either. :| I FINALLY figured out how to check it myself and it has been below the "do not drive" level. My sister says that she was told about "two leaks" when she had the car checked out after purchasing it, but she doesn't know what they said was leaking (oil, for one 😉). Well, *shrug* it's her car.

The reason it took so long was because the useless manual didn't have an applicable contents section and I had to look it up in the index and the instructions for checking the "Transaxel Fluid" didn't even show where the dip-stick was. It was easier just to get the full service oil change considering that it needed oil, had three types mixed, oil may have been the root cause anyway, I couldn't find the dip-stick (unlabeled), and they would check many other things that may have been related.

Now, where do I go from here? Considering that it has been driven for a week below the "do not drive" level, should we just add transmission fluid and leave it at that if the problem goes away or should we get it flushed anyway? If we need the flush, what should we expect to pay?

$130 is a good price, a trans flush requires anywhere from 8-12quarts in a normal auto tranny and a pneumatic machine to flush it out. A tun up on the other hand really should be cheap, 4-6 spark plugs is about $8-15.

Slipping didn't go away when I added tranny fluid. Would it be worth doing or isthe damage done? One of the shops I called for a price estimate asked if it was slipping and then said that they wouldnt touch one that was slipping. 🙁

An automatic transmission, doesn't ever engage gears, all 4 ratios in a trans are always touching, to select a ratio, the transmission selects a series of brakes and clutches to engage a gear.

A slipping trans means that the brakes and clutches are on it's last legs.

Now the floowing is purely mechanic logic, not engineer logic, but when I worked in the industry, we didn't flush slipping trannys because of this:

Auto transmissions use friction to function. With your old 85k miles trans fluid, it's dark, and probably full of particles that came off the clutches and bands. That roughness in the fluid may be the only thing left in the transmission from keeping it slipping completely and being undrivable. Replacing it could actually aggravate the problem. On a healthy trans, lubrication would help prolong the life, on a tranny on it's last legs, friction may help it struggle along just a bit longer.

You really have 2 choices here:

1. Add one of those auto trans "fix it" bottles you find for $5 at a store, it might fix it for a few thousand miles, might not, but it will be followed by a catastrophic failure.

2. Get a automatic transmission rebuild. This involves removing the transmission, disassembling it and replacing all the clutches and bands. This is a permanent fix but gets pricey.