Changing tranny fluid

[Savage_Messiah]

So I picked up the filter, which came with a pan gasket... gonna go pick up the fluid and change it soon.

Now here's what I've gathered: I should pick up about 5 quarts. Drop the pan, change the filter (using the old o-ring or whatever... this didnt come with one), bolt the pan back up (criss-cross, and my lack of a torque wrench is not gonna kill me), add 3 quarts right away, then with it running at around 2500-3000 RPMs (to get the fluid circulating thru the TC and valve body and all that, and mixing the old and new fluid together) then add as much more as necessary till its reading a good level.

Anything else?

[The Fixer]

Sounds good, but if you know dropping a 4L60 pan takes ~5 quarts, you should let it drain off for a while (trannys seem to drip forever!). Then, put on the new gasket and re-install pan, add 4 quarts, then get the car up to operating temp and take it for a casual spin around the block. Let the car idle, and then check fluid level. Add as necessary. And, IIRC, the "ADD" line on the automagic means add a pint, not a quart.

[Slow Z]

yeah make sure its warm and has been run through all its gears before you top it off. Its very easy to overfill transmissions - I do it all the damn time.

[Savage_Messiah]

On another board a guy said that after I change it I should do it again since only about half the fluid will come out, what do you guys say to that?

[Slow Z]

Convertor does hold a lot of fluid and there are a lot of little cracks and crevices for fluid to stay in... I'd recommend installing a drain plug on the pan if you wanna change it again. Everytime I pop my pan off and make a huge mess all over the garage floor I tell myself to install one.

[89 Trans Am WS6]

that was always a topic that i argued with one of my teachers about..

His theory was no matter how many times you flushed it you would never get it all out, simply because its old fluid mixing with new..

I disagreed and felt that you would be diluting the dirtyness with clean fluid if nothing at all..and would eventually be clean..

I think he was biased because he owned a trans flush machine in his home..lol

Regardless yeah..its a easy job but i see one prob..

You need a new oring.

What brand kit did you get? I used ATP and it had a new one..

Alot of times..including when i did my trans service not very long ago you will pop out the filter and the dried up nasty o-ring will stay in the bore..

I had to use a pick to breaks it up and pull it out..

Definitly worth getting the oring..mabe your kit is defective..lol

[Savage_Messiah]

Honestly I went to autozone and had then grab it for me otu of the back... ther's no brand name or anything now that I'm looking it all over. I should probably take it back and get an o-ring then?

[badzracing]

You'll only need a new o-ring if the old one is hard and/or brittle. If it's soft and pliable, you can re-use it.

[ALLMACK]

well for my 2-cents I think you should get a new o-ring and go ahead as planned, and drop the pan and refill. But as soon as possible I would take it to a aamco and get them to do a full trans flush (had mine done last year and was happy with the service) It used to be $99.00. Im not sure if price has changed.
Its good piece of mind for the price

[Savage_Messiah]

I've heard WAY too many things abotu flushes, esp. on high-milage trannies, to go with that. Thanks for the input tho

[ALLMACK]

yes savage you are right, i didnt take into account the milage on the tranny.
are there other negatives you have heard before I take mine back in a month or so?

[foff667]

I've personally never done a flush...ive always just drained the pan & filled it up & replacing the ring can be a real pita.

[Silent Z]

I did a flush on one of my older cars with 138,000 miles and that was the kiss of death! But thats just what happened to me. The car shifted fine before the flush and then the 1st to 2nd gear shift felt like a 2000rpm neutral drop. I would do it if the tranny was low mileage. Just my .02!

[89 Trans Am WS6]

If you have the option to flush, then flush it.

Not that dropping the pan and changing just the fluid there is bad, but if you can flush, always flush.

Trans fluid isnt designed to last forever..or even anything close to that...why do spend money on your car racing it, modifying it, upkeeping it and doing all of the maintnaince when your just going to skip over upkeeping the trans?

"oh you cant do that, it will kill the trans"

Or

"You will get leaks that you wont even know you had"

Well my instructor from LT1 said it best..

"If you dont maintain it, its definitly going to fail, so why not take the chance?"


Betcha ya thought that switching to a synthetic is a no-no too huh?
God forbid back to dino after that!

lol, just my 2 cents

get a brand name kit with o-ring
maintain ALL your cars systems and enjoy it

later
joe

[BigAls87Z28]

I like the idea of that trans flush for 100 bucks. Very cool idea. I have also heard the horror stories of people replacing the fluid, only to have the trans bite the dust not to long after. I can only assume it was done incorrectly.

[JL8Jeff]

I've never had a trans flushed, I just drain, change the filter and gasket and refill. Never had any problems. If your car has been flushed at regular intervals then it's a great idea to keep up with it. But if it's never been flushed and it's higher mileage, I wouldn't flush it. There could be debris hidden safely in corners that will suddenly get moved around with a flush. Then if it ends up clogging something the tranny is toast. Just do the drain and refill. Yeah, there will be some old fluid left in the TC but it's not that big of a deal. If you're really bored, then drain it again after driving it around to mix it completely. Believe me, you won't want to drain and fill it twice.