My membership is still pending so I am unable to post yet; I just wanted to tell you how well arx worked in my transmission.
My 1992 DeVille had 295,000 miles on the clock. I installed a used transmission at 225,000 so I don't know how many miles are on that. Two years ago the VCC began acting up. It would repeatedly shift in, then right back out, toggling back and forth. Eventually the control module would disable it and the MIL would illuminate until the next stop/start cycle, at which time the process would repeat. The transmission was serviced regularly with Amsoil ATF and there were never any bad things found in the pan or on the magnet.
This is an old car so I was not interested in performing the somewhat daunting task of accessing and fixing the problem which likely was in the valve body, so we just continued driving it.
Then I discovered arx. I must admit that I didn't have high expectations, but the cost of arx treatment was low and I was confident that no harm could be done, so I did it.
30 miles after treatment began the problem vanished, only to return a short time later, but worse than before. Grrr!
At the end of the 1000 mile cleaning I serviced the tranny, purged the old fluid from the torque converter and installed new (cheap dino fluid, as I planned on selling the car). The old fluid looked about the same as that of previous drains.
Lo and behold, the issue vanished nearly immediately and it hasn't missed a beat since. This stuff is like magic! Arx must have cleaned varnish from a sticky spool valve and/or allowed an o-ring/seal to relax to a more correct shape. I may arx the engine too and keep the car!
I have junked several cars over the years because of transmission issues; I have to wonder how many arx could have saved.
Now I'm 300 miles into treating the transmission on a 1993 Audi 100 (227,000 miles) which seems to be healthy except for a 3-4 upshift flare after warm-up. Little or no improvement is noted there yet, however, I expect there to be when treatment is complete.
I'm also 300 miles into the cleaning phase of the engine in the Audi (2.8L V-6). It runs very well but was a big time smoker, both at start-up and during acceleration. It was burning an estimated quart to 700 miles. I replaced the valve stem seals, as they were quite hard. Some varnish but very little sludge was found under the camshaft covers. The engine has no external leaks.
The level on the dipstick dropped 1/2 pint in the first 100 miles of treatment, now it seems to have stopped or drastically slowed. I'm still seeing blue smoke at start-up but it clears more quickly. I am seeing little to no smoke now upon acceleration. We'll see how it plays out.
By the way, I established a baseline by doing a "before" compression test. All cylinders were somewhat lower than acceptable, some lower than others. My seat-of-the-pants dyno tells me the engine has a little more power, but that could be the placebo effect.
I think I may eventually purchase a case of this stuff not only for my own use but to provide to friends who would not otherwise give it a try.
Thanks for inventing this product... I sing it's praises at any and every opportunity!
Update: This transmission abruptly began working flawlessly after the fluid/ARX was drained, the torque converter purged and the filter changed. However, after 300 miles the problem has returned.
What do you make of this? Should I try another dose of ARX? Is this tranny perhaps too far gone for it to help? I bet that if I had installed ARX a few years ago as a preemptive measure I would not be writing this today.
No, I'm referring to the 4T60-E Cadillac transmission.
My original post is a bit confusing because I'm describing two transmissions.
To recap re; Cadillac transmission:
The used tranny I installed at 225k worked well for tens of thousands of miles, then the VCC engagement issue arose and we drove it for at least 15k that way.
I added 6 oz. of ARX. After only 30 miles the problem vanished only to return at around the 100 mile mark.
After 1000 miles I performed a complete tranny service with conventional ATF.
The tranny then began to work normally almost immediately, but 300 miles later the issue returned. The problem is not as consistent as it was before the ARX treatment... sometimes it works well, sometimes not.
I suppose it is possible that an electrical weakness exists, but the ARX obviously did something which indicates this transmission was suffering from an unclean condition.
Regards... Mike
Update: I added 6 oz. of ARX but the problem is worsening quickly. I think you are correct in thinking that the issue now is electrical and would require mechanical repairs. However, the fact that it's behavior changed earlier says to me that ARX did have a positive effect. Perhaps they were two separate issues.
Regarding the Audi tranny (yes, it is the ZF); I'm around 500 miles into treatment. The 3-4 upshift flare condition on that one gradually lessened and now seems to have completely disappeared. Yay!
