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Maintenance & Repair Maintenance & Repair - Archived Discussions Transmission fluid change-which method is better? 
99 messages, Last post on Jul 10, 2002 at 6:37 AM
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| The reason no one does it properly is cost. After flushing the tranny with their solvent they refuse to drop the pan saying it is not necessary due to cost (and they claim the flush got everything out) . It would add more time/labor plus new filter gasket etc. and they already overcharge for the service and the customer does not wan tot pay more as well. | |
| Who's this "they" you refer to? | |
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$90 for a drop the pan, change the filter, etc. for our 93 Caravan at a Arlington, VA shop sounds good to me. A drain and refill at the dealership costs almost as much. For the Caravan, it's cheaper than a new transmission. |
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| Since in the past they have been a weak component, I drain the fluid, replace the transmission seal and filter every 15K. Since you've gone 30K I would recommend a complete flush in addition to the procedure described above. If I have full synthetic then I go 30,000. | |
| $90 is reasonable considering that Chrysler vehicles up to 1999 require the usually more expensive ATF+ (Type 7176) fluid. Btw, you should verify the fluid used, as DexronIII/Mercon may cause torque converter clutch shudder and/or deteriorated shift quality. | |
| Not all pans are on the bottom. The Nissans (we have/had) were on the top. The Ford I have has it on the side. Neither has a replacable, paper/fiber element filter, but a screen instead. I don't think the screen can be reached in either trans without a fair amount of disassembly (I know the Nissan can't). For transmissions like this, that have neglected fluid, a chemical flush is probably in order. When a flush agent is used the drive wheels should be off the ground, and the transmission shifted through all the gears so all the solvent gets to all the parts of the trans. For DIY types, who don't have a flush machine, try putting 4 - 6 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil in the trans a few days before having a complete fluid exchange done. The MMO has a "gentle", slow acting solvent that will disolve the varnish. I wouldn't do this if only a drain and refill was being done. (I actually did the MMO on a 10 year old Maxima with 40k city miles and the shifting was quicker after a couple of days. Did a full fluid exchange after 3 days. Now with synthetic ATF and an added cooler, the trans doesn't get "mushy" after sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, in the middle of summer with the AC on.) | |
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Alcan- I do the same but I am the only one involved. I know what my capacity in tranny is and I do the cooler line deal but do one quart at a time. I have my cooler line into a 1-quart container. When it fills up (usually in 10-15 seconds,) I shut off engine and add 1 quart, then start the process over. I know it it tedious and slow but it works. Also I check each quart coming out in a big white styrophone cup looking for the cherry colored fluid from the first quart put in. Change at 10K. |
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| Yep, that'd work. Also gives you a chance to check cooler flow rate. General spec is minimum 1 quart/20 seconds. | |
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My procedure is similar to yours, Aurora. The flow rate is often too high for me to add new ATF at the same rate it is being discharged. Alcan, can you please clarify a point regarding torque converter pump-out. Isn't there considerable mixing of the old and new ATF as the new ATF is pumped in because the path through the converter is not one of First-In/First-Out? Isn't it necessary to put some 7 or 8 quarts of new ATF through a 5-quart converter to achieve a reasonable purge percentage of the old ATF? I am not familiar with solvent flushing but, if you are purging cleaning solvent from the converter with new ATF, what is the criteria for being assured you have "gone far enough?" Thanks. Am I the only one who misses having drain plugs on the torque converter as some had 30 years ago? |
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No you are not the only one who misses the drain plugs in TCs. Those thrilling days of yester years. I read somewhere in my Aurora 4T80 tranny had a drain plug in it... don't have service man. yet. I appreciate all who contribute to the board... What's the story on synthetic fluid and changes? I usually change trans fluid every 10K. |
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