Get most miles out of dying transmission

[Impala131]

Good afternoon all,

Last Monday, I picked up a 2004 Impala SS for pretty darn cheap... 177,000 ish miles with a 25K L67 installed when the previous owner destroyed the first motor by overheating it somehow. Car has NOT been well taken care of, needs a lot of attention in general, but mostly easy stuff.

The exception is the transmission. Thing has the typical slip/bang into gear, slip/bang into reverse, slips like crazy at WOT (makes the car shake pretty good too). Very clearly it needs a new transmission, and I am saving my pennies for a rebuilt one. In the meantime, how can I reduce the symptoms and get a bit more life out of the car?

The fluid is a bit brown (not burnt) so I was thinking a pan drop/ filter change would be an okay start. Do any of the seafoam/lucas trans fix fluids do any good for squeezing a bit more life, or are they simply a waste of money?

Thanks in advance.

[nos4blood70]

Stopslip works wonders in these transmissions. Might as well drop in a homemade shift kit to help it out, it's cheap!

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

I wouldnt even drop the pan, whatever is left inside there is what is holding it together.

Suck some fluid out and add a bottle of lucas, thats the cheapest and easiest way to do it. It's already dead in the water and not worth the 100 bucks for a new fliter/shift kit and fluid.

[stocker]

Step 1: Ask yourself "why am I doing WOT runs with a dying transmission?"

[Impala131]

Step 1: Ask yourself "why am I doing WOT runs with a dying transmission?"

So you don't ever go WOT when you test drive a car?

[BillBoost37]

Step 1: Ask yourself "why am I doing WOT runs with a dying transmission?"

Step 2: realize..it's fun and keep taking the chance. Tell friends that you are checking for consistency

[gojo83]

Ive milked a dying trans for 9 months delivering pizzas 4-5 days a week, so it can be done but I am on extreme borrowed time now. Lucas stop slip is magic with these. The key for me was upping the line pressure and dropping the shift times and staying out of anything more than 70% throttle.