# A new snake oil! Only time will tell **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [April 8, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585 "2015-04-08T00:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/1 "2015-04-08T00:29:58Z")
I bought my old '91 F-150 several years ago at near scrap iron price due to several annoying problems the greatest of which was that overdrive could not be used due to the lock up clutch sticking. I was pleased when changing the fluid and adding Trans-Medic quickly resolved that problem but now, a few years and 20,000+/- miles later the transmission developed a shudder when pulling away from a stop and it worsened significantly in just a week or so. Yesterday I dropped the pan, drained the torque converter, replaced the filter and refilled with Mercon II. Today the shudder appeared to have worsened and driving home I was considering whether to sell the truck for scrap or get the E4OD rebuilt at double the price that I paid for the truck. There was an Advance store ahead so I pulled in thinking I would try Trans-Medic again but noticed this product [http://www.autobarn.net/inshudfixbyd.html](http://www.autobarn.net/inshudfixbyd.html) and thought what the heck and bought it and squeezed it into the dip stick tube in the parking lot like any good redneck. In the 2 miles of stop and go traffic home the shudder did actually disappear. I tried to make it shudder in the final 1/2 mile of driving when there was no traffic to interfere with my stopping and pulling away with a heavy foot. So far I’m amazed. Hopefully I won’t soon be diappointed. ---
**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/2 "2015-04-08T03:08:29Z")
If anything in a bottle is going to fix your Ford transmission shudder that stuff will. It will also help chattering viscous couplers in GM transfer cases. ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/3 "2015-04-08T03:19:06Z")
I’ve never used that product but if it works then it was worth the risk. Thanks for the info and shame on **jdmere** for flagging this as spam. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/4 "2015-04-08T03:46:38Z")
Yep! Stuff works doesn’t it? I’ve recommended Shudder Fix for years. Tester ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/5 "2015-04-08T03:57:29Z")
Great!, my snakes have been getting a bit squeaky lately! Sometimes stuff like this actually works. If your 200K+ car/truck/minivan is on its last legs, why not? May add a few thousand more miles for a few bucks. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/6 "2015-04-08T04:43:23Z")
Keep us apprised, if you would. Hopefully my aversion to additives will be proven wrong this time. You know, if it were anyone other than someone I respect as an experienced and knowledgeable professional mechanic, I might go into my brain dance, but all I can do here is hope to learn something new. ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/7 "2015-04-08T08:51:04Z")
Why would @jdmere flag spam . . . ?! Shame on him Perhaps @jdmere should not attempt to make any recommendations. Could be somebody will flag it as spam . . . 😰 Rod Knox is a regular and doesn’t fit the profile of a spammer In any case, I got a good recommendation for a product, and I’m thankful ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/8 "2015-04-08T09:08:57Z")
Not all chemicals are snake oil and many have a legit place in the automotive field. I’ll keep the product in mind as I can’t say that I’ve ever seen or heard of it in these parts. Of course about 15-20 years ago SeaFoam was an unknown product here also. ---
**Author:** ![oblivion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@oblivion](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oblivion)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/9 "2015-04-08T14:23:20Z")
I hope it keeps working. I used similar stuff years ago and the benefits slowly disappeared over about 1,000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![cdaquila](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cdaquila/32/18089_2.png) [@cdaquila](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cdaquila)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/10 "2015-04-08T15:11:56Z")
good morning – I removed the spam flag. ---
**Author:** ![jesmed1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/jesmed1/32/2097_2.png) [@jesmed1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jesmed1)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/11 "2015-04-08T21:20:47Z")
Transman, who was/is a transmission specialist, recommended ShudderFixx to me in this site a while back when I was having a similar problem. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/12 "2015-04-08T23:02:30Z")
Thanks Carolyn. My reputation needs all the help you can offer. ---
**Author:** ![irlandes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5e925/32.png) [@irlandes](https://community.cartalk.com/u/irlandes)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/13 "2015-04-12T05:37:18Z")
Reminds me of Yahoo Questions. When they first came online some years ago, I found I could answer a lot of the questions from personal knowledge. Including at times actual recommendations of things to buy to solve the problems. A majority of my postings were voted best answer. Little kids kept flagging me for spam, and the moderators apparently never actually read the flagged posting to see it was not spam as such. Or, else they didn’t understand the difference between spam and recommended items to purchase. Finally, I got threatened with being banned for constant spam. I bailed. they lost a lot of good answers. A man told me later that most of the posters were little kids, which certainly made sense. ---
**Author:** ![Frisbee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a5b964/32.png) [@Frisbee](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Frisbee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/14 "2015-04-16T20:22:22Z")
This is good information. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/15 "2015-07-11T01:57:14Z")
The snake oil wasn’t up to towing a boat. I loaned the truck to a friend who towed a pontoon boat over the weekend and since then the shudder has reappeared. In disgust I disconnected the lock up clutch solenoid and of course there is no shudder but at the loss of lock up. All I can guess is that towing increased the heat and load on the transmission which resulted in the return of the problem. It was good while it lasted. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/16 "2015-07-11T02:09:00Z")
**:-((** ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/17 "2015-07-11T02:25:12Z")
You do realize when towing anything with this vehicle, the transmission should placed in a position that prevents the lock-up torque converter from engaging? Tester ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/18 "2015-07-11T02:59:56Z")
There is a lock out for overdrive @Tester. But no lock out for the lock up clutch. Go figure! ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/19 "2015-07-11T03:30:20Z")
Okay! How many miles does this 1991 Ford F150 have on it? Tester ---
**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585/20 "2015-07-11T04:02:30Z")
> You do realize when towing anything with this vehicle, the transmission should placed > in a position that prevents the lock-up torque converter from engaging? Tester: I’m curious about your reasons behind stating this. Can you explain? [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-new-snake-oil-only-time-will-tell/89585.md?page=2)