Lubemaster, a lube/friction modifier question.
 

I have a Toyota fork truck here that the idiots ran dry on ATF burning up the clutch disks. I just had a tech out and he ran a few pressure tests which concluded to him that the disks were indeed worn. Answer is a $3,500 rebuild + a couple grand in labor:( The truck is only worth 80-90%% of that.

Sooo.........my cheap ass was thinking that maybe I could toss in some Posi style friction modifier or something to aid the disks in locking up and creep her through on occasional duty. What's the worst that could happen, the tranny is already jacked. So, might it work or am I wasting my time?

I thought this was going to be a more exciting topic.

Me too, heck I'll throw some sawdut in there if someone tells me it might work. I have nothing to lose.

I didn't know ATF was a consumable, ie you only had to add it if you had some sort of bad leak.

Agreed, either a slow 10 year leak or some idiot only did the first half of a flush as there was no sign on the shop floor or in the vehicle pan area.

"Slow 10 year leak" ?

Must be Clinton's fault.

Could be:D But I actually think the "half flush" is the culprit as I was paying for a service program for about 6 years where this crap was on the schedule. Good luck proving that now though.

lendaddy - first thing to do is get out a 2x2 board. Hold it very firmly with both hands and proceed to smack the numbskull on the backside with it till he learns a lil sump'n.

After the law leaves your shop here is what to do:

Provided the discs are still in some sort of shape and nothing has melted anyway, you can add fluid but I would not go with the posi fluid rather something else - but you do have the right concept.

If shouldn't take take more than a few quarts - maybe a gallon? Go to the local Caterpillar dealership and get yourself some TO-4 fluid. It is special oil used in Cat transmissions. It is rich in a certain type of friction modifier and also will provide some lubricity and wear protection (not tht you need that now).

TO-4 fluid is the oil that meets Caterpillars TDTO spec. To match your viscosity requirements go with the TO-4 SAE 10W. The fluid should come in 3 different viscosity ranges (10, 30, 50) - we have been fooling around with a multi-grade but yet to introduce it. Normally ATF is around an ISO 32 (about a SAE 10W) so the viscosity will be close enough for your fiasco.

Now mind you - this is a first. I claim no ownership or credit if this fails but expect all sorts of praise if it works!

I would get you some but we just make the stuff in 55gallon drums and 330gl totes and 8000gl tank cars - I don't think you will need that much!

The other thing is that if this is really monkeyed up, you may have a ***** load of debris. If it isn't that bad, you may be OK but if it is a mess you will be plugging up filters and valves all day long.

You may want to just part it out of better yet part ever thing out but the engine and turn that 4 cyl into a power gen and power your home!

:D

Thanks Mike, I'll give it a try! And that's actually not a bad idea on the generator as the truck is not worth the repairs sadly. I'll report back when I have a chance to try it.