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Hey guys you I want to warn the people using redline fluids in general. I recently purchased a bad batch of fluid not knowing it was bad of course, that I finally decided to use because I usually change the oil every other oil change.
Long story short the fluid has tinny bits of jelly in but is still in a liquid state! Sort of like the bottom of a red slushie when the ice melts! I didn't notice the bad fliid, because who ever questions brand new fluid of being bad!! So anyways I drain and fill with bad fluid then turn the car on to go cycle it but that's where THE PROBLEMS BEGAN MY TRANSMISSION WOULDNT ENGAGE INTO ANY GEAR!!! I then start hearing a whine coming from transmission and immediately shut the engine of to go check everything out but nothing I can see is wrong level is good, bolts good. Then I decided to go for another try; turn the car on, again the noise comes on and not engaging whatsoever. Decided to Drain the fluid all I see coming out of the drain hole is red fluid with clmups of gell like fluid one after another its wasn't metal thank god but I still couldn't believe my eyes! Let it drain all the way then I check the rest of the case of racing atf and pour a guart in a clear bucket to see the fluid better I then clearly see the GELLY FLUID! This is fuckin bullshit for the money i pay for this crap to bite me in the ass like this FML!
Call redline next day explain the issue the technician over the phone knows about the fluid issue and tells me to send him a sample or quart, so I did and he sends me another case of good racing atf. Fill the car with new fliud but nothing again its not making a difference, So I drained that and more clumps of gelly coming out of transmission not as much as the first but still coming out. Now I decide to fill it with LIGHTWEIGHT RACING ATF I have laying around because its thinner. Turn the car on and still nothing but a whine and no drive or reverse!
I did this for about another 3 times with the new flid they sent me and nothing coming from the tranny.I order new tranny filter next day and clean out my dinner solonoids the filter was not in horrible condition but I replaced it anyway. Turn car back on and still not a damn thing call my mechanic he says the transmission is gonna need to come out and rebuilt or replaced for 3,600 dollars. Now I'm calling redline but I can't get ahold of the manager to try and get some conphensation for the damage the shit fluid caused my tranny.leave a message every day for 5 days but nothing I then receive an email that I've attached below in a picture of the conversation basically IM NOT GETTING COMPHENSATED FOR THE DAMAGE BECAUSE I WAS SUPPOSE TO USE D4 ATF IN MY CAR!
ALL I HAD TO SAY IS WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IS MAKE IVE BEEN RUNNING THIS STUFF FROM 40K TO NOW 95K MILES! SHES SAYING I WOULDNT HAVE A PROBLEM IF I USED THE REDLINE RECOMMENDED D4 ATF, BULLSHIT!! I BELIEVE THIS FLUID WOULD SEIZE ANY TRANSMISSION IF IT WAS USED BUT NO TELLING REDLINE OIL ANYTING, BECAREFULL IF YOU DECIDE TO USE THIS SHIT FELLAS!
You were using a fluid that is not approved for your car, at the same time, the fluid in question was clearly defective and would probably cause transmission failure on any vehicle including those which are approved for that fluid.
I just changed my fluid 2 days ago using Red Line fluid shipped from Amazon (D4, Racing, and Lightweight Racing). I didn't notice any trouble during the pour. Looks like I dodged a bullet.
I never thought I'd have to use a soup strainer with my fluid, but after reading this, I think I will from now on.
I will be following this thread very closely. I used the same redline ATF bought from amazon. I had the *exact* same thing happen. (whine, not engaging gear, etc) Now I didn't think to look at the inside of the bottle like you did, because like you said, who would assume new fluid would have any issues? This was about 6 months ago.
I wonder if there is a batch number that we can reference to compare bottles. Unfortunately, I think I threw all my bottles out so I might be SOL, but will look at order history and check my garage when I can. I checked and I received the order of Redline ATF on October 11, 2014.
Long story short, I had to end up rebuilding my transmission, $2200 out of pocket. I had total transmission failure within 100 miles of adding the Redline. I was at 40% racing ATF (never exceed that) At the time I chalked it up to bad luck, and/or damage was done and the Redline just uncovered the issue faster, but now I am not so sure.
Keep in mind, this failure occured at 108k miles. I had changed pressure switches and fluids regularly starting at 70k miles and had no issues up until this point. I tried flushing it all out using only DW-1 to no avail...the damage was done.
That was why I had asked when the OP purchased it. I recently bought 3qts of the same type F from Amazon but it was about a month ago. Knock on wood no issues and I didn't notice any gelled fluid coming out of the bottle
You were using a fluid that is not approved for your car, at the same time, the fluid in question was clearly defective and would probably cause transmission failure on any vehicle including those which are approved for that fluid.
Hopefully you guys can work something out.
It's too late now but......Amsoil > the rest
Putting Amsoil above Redline is like saying Ford is better than Chevy or vice versa.
OP sorry for the situation you're in. That truly sucks. It's never good when you're hit with a huge expense you're not anticipating.
With that being said, I doubt the fluid caused the transmission failure. Did you touch the jelly-like bits? How hard were they? If it was 'jelly-like,' not entirely sure that's what caused the failure (I doubt it).
Have a qualified mechanic take a look at it in case you want to initiate anything further.
1) OP, of course you damaged your transmission- you ONLY PUT RACING INTO YOUR TRANSMISSION. If you did any amount of research (especially on this forum) about the trans fluid procedure with Redline, you will know that you can't put just Racing into your engine. The Redline representative is right- D4 is the "equivalent" to Z1. You were supposed to use a mixture of FOUR quarts of Redline Racing, FOUR quarts of D4 and ONE quart of Lightweight if you're doing the full fluid replacement. And even then, these amounts are misleading because you drain and fill three times, and on the last fill (that stays in your engine), you only have ONE (of three) quarts of Racing.
It's not that I'm trying to attack you, but your transmission is screwed up because you used the wrong product and you did the procedure wrong.
GRANTED--
That Redline batch is not acceptable either, and you were right to talk to them about it. At the end of the day, however, you didn't "dilute" the Racing fluid (or any effects of the "jelly bits" floating in it) by mixing it properly with D4 and Lightweight so it's again a problem not so much with the product as it is with the procedure you performed. One of the reasons you need to take the trans apart (rebuild) is because you've lost the ability to shift through gears, so there's no way to mechanically cycle that fluid out to make way for the correct mixture. It's not as a result of the fluid itself destroying the inside of the engine, so don't confuse one for the other.
2) Redline isn't responsible for your engine damage, as hard as it is to hear. They are right in that they recommend D4 for our engines so they can't be liable for your mistake. The use of other Redline fluids comes as a result of experiences from people on this and other forums, NOT from a company. Such ideas and suggestions are undertaken at your own risk, even though hundreds of people (including myself) have duplicated the results with no problems.
3) As with any fluid, it should be noted that that this is indeed a "bad batch"- this is NOT reflective of Redline quality. People need to avoid the knee-jerk reaction to crap on Redline because of a handful of bad experiences, especially ones like this one. Honda Z1 has been demonstrated to play a major role in premature transmission failure in Honda engines (including our TLs) compared to other ATF mixtures with less FM. Just because it is "recommended" does not mean it is best.
If people want to play it "safe" ("safe" meaning you just keep putting the same stuff into your transmission as it's already got in there), sure, use Z1. If you want your transmission to last as long as possible, you use a different fluid like Amsoil or Redline.
It's unfortunate that your batch was bad, OP, because clearly it's something no one should have to go through- you expected a quality product like others have had and you got the opposite. In that regard, I do sympathize with you, but it is irrational to blame Redline for this problem since you created it by only putting Racing in your car.
Also, please don't use exclamation points after every sentence.
Good luck as you try to work your trans and fluid problems out- hopefully it is taken care of sooner and easier than is anticipated.
Any updates? I'm about to do another fluid change with redline, but this news is still in the back of my head. I'm not sure if I trust their quality control now.
I just did another 1x3 of d4 I bought from Amazon. Inspected it before I put it in and all was nice and clean. No issues! Maybe It was just the racing batch OP got
Sorry for your troubles. I have been using Redline since 2011 and still have some bottles from then. I guess I'll check the contents before pouring into the tranny. Sounds like there was a bad batch of fluid made because it's way too soon for 1 year fluid to break down like that. I take it this was the first change using this batch of fluids?
I have done two TypeF only refills over these years and like the performance- guess it's time to start mixing now. I'm going to do a 2 qt TypeF / 1.5qt DW1 mix next time.
I got a new transmission now it's all over and done with Redline sent me a case of d4 for free but I never used it and don't plan on it honda atf is the only thing that's going in the new jester transmission! Everything you guys are saying has a point to the issue, I should've checked, I should've used d4, but hey I'm only human and I've been using the stuff since 2009 with excellent results. You just new know.
I just did another 1x3 of d4 I bought from Amazon. Inspected it before I put it in and all was nice and clean. No issues! Maybe It was just the racing batch OP got
I had a half empty bottle of Redline racing ATF that was fine when new, but developed gel bodies after sitting for a year. I will need to see if heating it will dissolve the gel bodies.
Bringing this back from the grave 10/29/18 checkin.
Purchased many bottles of D4 / Racing back in the 2012-2014 era.
I've done many 1x3 over the years and finally got to use some old bottles sitting on the shelf.
D4's wasperfect and flowing nicely.
Racing (30304) was globby as mentioned above!
My typical mixture is 2parts D4 and 1 part Racing... So that means 8 parts are D4 and 1 part of racing is in the system..
Wish I stopped pouring this in but your brain thinks how could a new bottle of fluid be deffective!!
I had no other options or fluids available at the time, so I guess I'll try to drain/refill and replace the filter.
Resurrecting an old thread. I just got some redline racing atf too try from a member on here with the pay it forward section. I went to put in a quart and I noticed after putting in a third of a quart that there are chunks. I immediately stopped pouring and finished 3.5 total quarts of a drain and fill with cooler install on dw-1. I am entirely nervous now to even start my car but it's all we have in the house right now as I sold our suv yesterday. So fml, is the half quart of racing atf being gelled going to destroy my transmission? Any other experiences with redline? Is this just old fluid but still good that's been sitting a while? 08 type s
