flushing the transmission fluids............?

[Jimmy]

I bought a used pickup with 88k highway miles, 2002 model. Will it be safe to flush the transmission, and refill with new fluid? Any and all input appreciated.
The transmissioin has never been serviced, and the fluid is not burnt.

[DanRealtor]

Originally Posted by Jimmy

I bought a used pickup with 88k highway miles, 2002 model. Will it be safe to flush the transmission, and refill with new fluid? Any and all input appreciated.
The transmissioin has never been serviced, and the fluid is not burnt.

Whatever you do, DO NOT get the flush with the new fangled dialysis type machine. They pull the two lines off the radiator and flush the tranny fluid til its red again. A few years ago I let them do it to my Q45 and then...

Tranny failure soon after. My tranny guy said that he gets a lot of business doing rebuilds foor people after getting that type of flush. According to him, that type of "Flush" forces all of the crap stuck in the pan & filter into the valve body and voila, tranny failure.

The ONLY way to do it properly is to drop the pan, change the fluid, filter and pan gasket. As long as you do it right, there is no downside and it should extend the life of your tranny.

[srt8danno]

Well here is a link from a discussion a while back about flushing tranny's. Even though you're not talking about one of our cars, I believe the same thing may hold true. Good luck!

Anybody Performed A Transmission Flush?

[kevenj]

Dan is right about removing the pan and changing the filter, but there is nothing inherently wrong with doing the flush also - - just don't do ONLY the flush.

You may run into problems since your tranny has not been properly maintained though. If your transmission is borderline now, putting new high detergent fluid could speed up its demise. But if it is sound then new fluid isn't going to damage it.

[II kings 9:20]

MB since 98 has a "never service" tranny as do some GM products.

On the Saab forum we do a yearly tranny service which is a simple drain-fill-Drive-RE DRAIN-and-ReFILL, this double procedure mixes the new fluid with the old in the torque convertor and gets most of the old fluid out. THis costs less than $30 for 7 total qts of Dex III and takes less than 20 min.

Since yours has been poorly serviced, I would agree with dropping the pan and going with a new filter/screen. Some on the Saab forum are leery of the flush since one joker wanted a signed waiver that if he dislodged metal from the internal magnets during the flush he would not be responsible.

Edit: Dan realtor is right on target, same thoughts with the Saab people.

Edit II: If your tranny is a 100K service type then all is good, I suspect it is a 30K interval.

[kevenj]

Originally Posted by II kings 9:20

MB since 98 has a "never service" tranny as do some GM products..

That is a sales gimmick; they get away with it because most buyers of new cars (particularly Mercedes) drive them for a couple years and then trade them in. There is no such thing as a transmission that truly doesn't need proper maintenance.

In high school I had a 1966 Ford Galaxie; the owner's manual stated "the automatic transmission does not require servicing" - - well sure, the warranty was 1 year and even without service the tranny would last way past the warranty period. Think about it; you could say that ANY part of the car does not require servicing for life. It's life will just be shorter, that's all!

[II kings 9:20]

I don't disagree KJ, funny the tranny needs no service but they have $9.00/qt special tranny fluid available, hmmm, I wonder what that is for if it never needs service? Assuming there is a bolt to drain it, I plan the same double drain fill on it too.

[Jimmy]

I had it serviced at a transmission shop, dropped the pan , replaced the filter installed new gasket and new fluid. So far so good, shifting better than new.
The pan does have a drain bolt, so after 30k miles i will just drop the fluid and drop in new.

[stevesrt8]

In a properly operating trans a B&G flush machine will do no harm. It forces nothing, it actually uses your trans own pump to move the fluid! It's really just two containers and a sight glass!

It will not fix a nearly dead unit, but it absolutely will not harm one either. I actually own one, very expensive, but so are modern trans! I have helped many friends with their trans issues and have many success stories with old cars with high mileage.

Changing the filter is an essential maintenance feature and also allows you to determine the condition of your unit. Oil analysis is also very helpful and will give you the real story on your trans.