Thread: Question for Trannyman On A Transmission Remedy

Dave, I read today an odd remedy for transmissions today. The information stated to add 8 - 12oz of brake fluid to the transmission and let it run or drive it for an hour then change out the fluid.

The point to the process was to cause seals to swell and thus help restore any marginal seals in the transmission. Have you ever heard of this before? Even if its plausible, 8 - 12oz's of brake fluid seems like an awful small amount to have the effect proposed by the remedy.

Anyway, just curious if you had ever heard or tried this before and what the results were if you have.

If someone told me to put brake fluid in my tranny, I'd smack them so hard they'd be seeing $0.99 gasoline.

Originally Posted by agrazela

Did you read that on a used car dealer's "dirty tricks" forum?

No, it was actually on a transmission forum of sorts. I was just searching for information on our tranny and ran across that. On the one hand I can see it working as some lubricating fluids have additive packages that condition the seals specifically to cause them to seal just a tiny bit. But on the other hand, other than the obvious concern with pouring brake fluid in the transmission, it didnt seem enough (8 - 12oz) with the total capacity of our transmission.

I was just curious more or less as it seemed a viable thing, just didnt know if it was something commonly done.

That is a very ooooolllldddd trick that some guys have done back in the day to save a dying trans or to hope it will work good enough after this to dump it off on someone. Brake fluid will soften seals up, but keep in mind that soft seals can fall apart and roll over which is a worse problem. You might as well buy some Snake Oil or save a trans in a bottle lol. NEVER add this to trans fluid. If it is in good shape then why risk causing more problems by damaging seals from making them soft? If the rubber seals got hard from heat or old age then they need replaced period, seal swellers are only a bandaid to get you by in a pinch at best. If the trans isnt working right or is aging then the only fix is to repair the problem