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Troublesome Trickshift?

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Old 06-06-2004, 11:39 PM
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Default Troublesome Trickshift?

I searched and read the posts on trickshift but have seen mixed opinions. Will running synthetic trickshift in my A4 cause problems down the road or reduce the trannys life?

Thanks!
Old 06-07-2004, 11:31 AM
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Several claims and one personal experience
say, don't. Others seem to have gotten by.

Some say that the Trick Shift friction modifiers
mean your plastic bushings will wear faster
(modifiers increase organic friction surface
"grab", the bushings are not supposed to be
a friction surface but might be increasingly so).
Trick Shift is a formula from "back in the day"
when men were men and bushings were bronze.

TCC clutch - similar story, or the flip side. The
OE clutches seem to get by OK. My TCI converter
commenced to squeal and chatter very badly after
install w/ Trick Shift and I had to get it power
flushed, and several subsequent drain & fills, to
get the slippage to settle down and the thing to
stay quiet.

If you are trying to improve shift performance
by pouring in magical goo, best to get your
"mind" right - PCM programming is what makes
the tranny perform, not ancient folk remedies.

BTW, this is all about the "old school" Trick Shift -
the new synthetic says on the bottle, not to use
it on post-2000 transmissions and synthetics in
general seem to have a poor opinion / history
for this tranny.
Old 06-07-2004, 11:34 AM
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My tranny guy likes Dextron III
Old 06-07-2004, 02:18 PM
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Hmmm...I use F-type which is very similar to regular Trick Shift (which is just F-type with anti-foaming agents added I've heard.) It has worked well for me with my TCI converter and now this Yank converter. I dunno, maybe having a shift kit keeps the lockup clutch working fine for me. All I can say for sure is that this tranny has 30,000 miles now, 10K of which have been at the 423 RWHP level, and shifts absolutely perfectly. Stock clutches, stock band, etc...with only a TCI shift kit and cooler added.

However, don't do it just because it works well for me. I'm fond of experimenting and I'm quite willing to pay the price when experiments go wrong. For instance, I had my rev limiter set at 6600 with an internally stock '00 way back when. People said I was nuts. Nothing bad happened but I was fully aware that it might.

If in doubt, just stick with Dextron III.
Old 06-07-2004, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Colonel
If in doubt, just stick with Dextron III.
i'd have to agree...
Old 06-07-2004, 09:34 PM
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Do not use B&M Trickshift in these units. According to Borg Warner, Raybestos, and Alto, the dynamic (shifting clutch and or band, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gear) clutches and or band will have about 7-13% less holding power than with a good quality Dexron III. From personal experience, I have never seen B&M Trickshift help.
Old 06-07-2004, 09:45 PM
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I already have had trickshift in my tranny for a few days but now I want it all out. When I get it powerflushed will it be neccessary to have the pan removed and the filter or will the flush be enough?


Thanks!
Old 06-08-2004, 08:23 AM
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The flush will get almost all of it. However the
clutch surfaces will have to scrub for a while
to clean the friction modifier entirely out. It
took me upwards to a month and a couple of
follow-on driveway changes before it settled
down from the squealing. The quicker you get
it out though, the less problem you may have.
I put 400 miles on mine right after, before the
hassle kicked in, and by the time I got to
where I could do anything about it, it was
about 800 miles worth of bed-in of cheese.

The power-flush places like to abuse you on
fluid price. I would say to get the flush done,
drive to the AutoZone, buy yourself your own
filter & 6-8 quarts of Castrol DexIII, and change
it again when you get home & up on ramps.
That will have given the new fluid time to
have washed through everything, more than
the few minutes w/o shift cycling that the
pump-n-dump place takes.
Old 06-08-2004, 10:19 AM
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Mike @ Yank does not reccomend 100% Trick Shift because it's hard on that plastic bearing. Older transmissions have metal bushings, copper I think.

I think he said he would run a custom brew of 1/2 Trick Shift (or Type F) and have Dextron III. I think he said he would throw in a smidge of Lucas oil too.

I am running full Trick Shift in my T400, and while it has no passes, it has 20 dyno pulls and it shifts into gear like THUNDER.




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