Posted on 11/25/2018 12:30:57 PM PST by OKSooner
One is finding conflicting information and recommendations regarding routine maintenance of automatic transmissions. We're talking regular automobiles and light trucks here.
Dealerships want to sell a "BG" flush package, where the transmission is supposedly flushed out with a pressurized system.
Others recommend a more conventional approach, where a technician drains the fluid, drops the pan, pulls the filter, cleans everything up without a high-pressure hose, checks for ugly stuff, and then puts it all back together with a new filter and seals, and of course tests it...
Others advocate just draining however much fluid can be drained out and then replacing it with new fluid, and leaving it at that.
TIA
My 97 Chevy Lumina has 208,000 miles. The filter was changed at around 20,000 miles then nothing except for very rare addition of fluid.
It works perfectly.
My late father in law was a transmission mechanic. He said if nothing is wrong, don’t bother
Full drain and flush. The body itself of the trans holds only about 3-5 quarts of fluid, while the torque converter holds more. Replacing only half the fluid is a waste of time and money, because as soon as you start the vehicle, you have nothing but dirty fluid, even with a new filter.
A fluids (trans, differentials, power steering, brake, t-case, etc.) change is a very good idea every 5 years or so, as vehicles last for many more miles now than they did in the old days, and while oil doesn’t wear out, it does get contaminated and the detergents and additives do end up being used up.
JMHO, YMMV.
Me, I wouldn’t flush. Tried that once and lost the Tranny 20k miles later. Drop the bottom and let the crap out no problem. A flush pushes all that crap around even more.
It is almost impossible to just drain and refill and then put on a new gasket and get a 100% seal and have all of the screws perfectly re-inserted. Best to do a flush and refill. Stay away from ever removing and replacing the gasket.
Some Fords had drain plugs in the torque converter. At the Ford garage we had a torque converter cleaner, you’d pull the plugs, lock it down, put a hose in the snout and hit the switch. It would pump solvent in and rock it like a paint shaker. Rotunda!
This^.
I always do a trans full flush and filter replacement on all my vehicles between 75,000 and 100,000 miles, even on my vehicle where the manufacturer declares the fluid is "good for the life of the transmission." Yeah, when the trans blows up at 175,000 miles then they say, "See, that was the life of your transmission!"
The tip here is not to wait too long to do a flush and fill. If you wait too long, your transmission could start slipping after servicing.
Depends on the tranny ,, old tranny’s had big clearances and no electronic components ,, I’d flush and fill those..
Newer transmissions have electronic actuators and much tighter fitting parts... They are difficult to flush... Best advice is not to abuse them.. overheated fluid will cause deposits and make plungers and actuators to stick. I have resolved serious problems with 4 newer auto’s with autorx.com ,, a very slow acting and safe cleaner that dissolves varnishes. A Taurus with 150k that broke completely out of gear in U-Turns (1st gear , high load) , a Mercedes that was very slow to shift until it warmed up and the fluid thinned.. a GM 4L30 that took ages to change from forward to reverse... and a Honds Civic with 400k+ miles that was simply screwing up in multiple ways... if it’s a sticking, gummed up issue and not failed parts autorx.com will usually fix it.
If it is broken parts .. good luck , most transmission shops are pretty spotty on their quality ,, I’d almost prefer a junkyard transmission to a rebuilt.
Through very expensive experience, I now have the Transmissions maintained to BG specs, with a flush and new fluids every 36,000 miles.
The book said they were sealed for life.
NEVER buy a Nissan with a CVT ... avoid CVT’s in general...
Just flushed and replaced filter with amsoil. Noticeable difference in shifting in my 8 speed GMC Sierra. I switch everything to amsoil even rear end and four wheel.
I’ve had good luck with backflushing the trans fluid through the cooler lines. To me it’s reasonable to clean the entire system this way as opposed to dropping the pan and changing the filter and fluid in the pan only. I had a 67 Camaro with a Turbo 350 that died. My brother in law gave me a Turbo 400 that had set in his shop for 35 years so I put a new filter in it, installed it in the car where it immediately began hesitating shift points. Took in in for a back flush and it ran perfectly after that. Also had a Buick that began to give trouble despite routine fluid/filter replacement. Had it backflushed and fixed the problem. Dropping the pan fluid/filter replacement works most of the time but backflushing should be considered if the cheaper method doesn’t work.
it’s AUTO-RX.COM ,, need the hyphen , great stuff..
Don’t flush. I’ve heard of too many transmission going haywire because of it, including my daughters 1985 F150.
The seals and other parts cannot take it, especially if there are additives in the flush that wreck the seals. There is some sludge and dirt in the seals/bearing/bushing areas that become dislodged and do not make it out of the transmission or get trapped in the filter. They will ruin bushings and valves.
Just do a simple oil and filter change.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
While on the subject of flushing, I worked for a lunatic once that grew up flushing engines with a quart of diesel before the oil change. For engines of the pre 1970’s era, maybe that’s OK.
But this jerk did it to brand new Honda’s that used 0W20 which is like water to begin with. A modern engine capable of 200,000 miles or better between overhauls cannot take that kind of abuse. I suggest that modern transmissions with the newer special fluids should be treated similar. Just follow the manufacturers recommendations only.
If you haven’t been pulling Yuge trailers up steep grades in Death Valley in August and cooked the oil, just make sure it is full.
Pressure systems are for vehicles that have no drainplug in the torque converter.
leaving fluid in the converter can bite you in the ass down the line. Otherwise Do whatever the factory recommends.
I have cleared 300k on two GM trucks with NOTHING done to transmissions. Just checked the levels occasionally.
Several important pieces of information missing.
1) Is it a Chrysler product? If so, how many tens of thousands of miles does it have on it?
2) If it is not a Chrysler product, how many hundreds of thousands of miles does it have on it?
Hmmm, I have bought at least 8 3/4 ton Chevy Silverado Trucks, every last one went over 250,000 without ever Touching the transmission. or anything else but regular maintenance, brakes at 150,000, oil change,...
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