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Tans flush?

sled_dog said:
As I thought stated, ...run WITH the direction of flow.
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I was not disagreeing with you. Hey, my thoughts on this may be WAY OFF. It's just what I do and how I feel about it. I admittedly know NOTHING about the flush machines and you have given me food for thought. I am more than willing to change my opinion and may after this thread. Thanks for the info. Sorry for the confusion.

One thing I won't change my opinion about though... FOR MUD needs to modify the name of this thread from Tans Flush to Trans Flush. I would have figured that would have happened by now, but since it has not, I am forced to mention it and request that immediate action be taken to correct this error.
 
I just called AAMCO. The deal is $99.95, trans flush with cleaning agent, then fill with fluid. Then you can get it done once a year free. I think thats a good deal and I'm going to give it a try. He's also going to check and see if it's the same for commercial vehicles.
 
FOR MUD said:
I just called AAMCO. The deal is $99.95, trans flush with cleaning agent, then fill with fluid. Then you can get it done once a year free. I think thats a good deal and I'm going to give it a try. He's also going to check and see if it's the same for commercial vehicles.
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If that sticks it sounds like a good deal. If I didn't have the ability to do my own for the cost of fluid(when I bother to pay), I'd take that up too. I'd want to watch them do it once just to see it was to my liking, but even $99 for the first time is a decent price. That is half what we charge in my shop.
 
No flush for me....

I've seen far too many "borderline" trannies croak after being "flushed"...ones that would likely have gone a few thousand more miles (at least),if they had just had the pan dropped and filter changed..I'd only flush a newer vehicle's tranny,that has no provision to remove the pan or change the screen--yes boys and girls,there ARE automatics out there with NO dipstick,NO place to add fluid--in essence,a "sealed" transmission!..:doah: wonder who's brainstorm that was??...hence the need for "flushing" machines..just another ripoff,IMO..

My theory is many tranny's fail after flushing,due to several reasons..

First,sludge and chips and gunk get pushed through the entire tranny..

Second,much of the sludge and laquer that built up in the case, is the only thing sealing the old hard seals,etc..washing it out makes pressure drop,and rapid failure results...

Third--do they ever "change" the fluid the machine uses??...with just about every different vehicle that comes in for a flush using different tranny fluid, many do NOT use the same tranny fluid!..some use Dextron,some need "type F",or Type 7176 in a Mopar,etc..I often wonder if they "flush" YOUR tranny out with fluid they pumped out of a different vehicle,who's fliud may well attack the seals and clutches in YOUR tranny!...

Your tranny might be getting flushed with a mixture of several different types of ATF all mixed together!..I also doubt the filters on these flushing machines get changed often enough..and the chimps at the quick lube places seldom really know exactly what they are doing,at least around here--that alone is reason enough for me to stay away from them..

I'll stick with simply dropping the pan and changing the filter..and most of my tranny's with over 100K, I don't always change the fluid if it looks "iffy"--often doing so finishes them off...I have better things to buy with my $99.95!:crazy:
 
Alright let mer see what I can say here....

One- Every machine I've ever used, gets drained after every use. That means, NO fluid left in it when done. Anything left is a negligible little amount in valves and hoses. Now we just switched companies and machines(used to use BG machines, which I love, now Valvoline, ick). The Valvoline machine, is junk IMO. It uses a pump and does not have a differential pressure valve. The BG machines, you can't hook up wrong, they find their own pressure setting. Doesn't matter which line gets hooked to what. The Valvoline machine you have to determine flow direction. Also, the Valvoline machine always holds at least 1 quart of fluid, even after emptying. I hate that. I work on Mitsubishis, which take a different fluid than the Fords I work with. And then the Fords have up to 4 different kinds of fluid! (Merc, Merc V, SP, and Type-F).

Two- Every machine I have used has a seperation in it. Meaning the only place the new and old fluid mix, is inside the transmission. The BG machines use a bladder inside of a reservoir, the incoming dirty fluid pushes the new fluid out of the reservoir and into the transmission at an equal rate.

All that said, I can't speak for little jiffy lube type places. I bet many of them just use that "multi-purpose" atf, that makes me cringe. Saves them money, hurts the transmission.

Oh and who uses sealed transmissions? Give you a hint, its a four letter word... Exploders have "sealed for life" transmissions, that also have the thermostatic valve on the cooler lines so you can't flush them easily. I refuse to upsell a trans service on one of those things, too likely I'll leave it low and too much of a pain to do it right. Its going to need a trans sooner or later anyway.
 
thanks for the info!..

My experience with "flushing machines" is very limited--I only saw a few when they first came on the market..I was not aware they DO separate the old and "new" fluid,I was under the assumption all the fluid was simply pumped out and filtered..(which the older machines did, if I remember right)..I've never had the "pleasure" of using one!..

You are right about many places just buying "universal" ATF ,and putting it in just about every vehicle!..if they did not need "special" fluid in the first place,then why do OEM manufacturers reccomend them,and void the warranty if they are not used??..(I do suspect however,some of the "special" stuff is no different than anothers brand--but you MUST use the OEM stuff or face a voided warranty !..a good way for dealers to gouge people ,IMO)..

Oh,and the Exploder automatics??..yep--I've helped my friend put at least three of them in Explorers the past 2 months here..two were customers cars,one was bought at auction,they plan to re-sell it..we put 3 used tranny's in it,before we found one that didn't slip,hunt between gears,or have shifting problems!...he now tells customers to buy the tranny themselves and have it delivered--that way HE isn't responsible for it if its junk--the customer can deal with the junkyard if it isn't satisfactory,not him!..he just "installs" them..:crazy:
 
I had our parts department call the Nissan dealer to get a case for fluid for my Mom's 2005 Altima so I could do a flush on it. They said "eh forget that, its just Mercon/Dexcron"... I made them call a couple times to confirm it. They claim it is some special fluid(in service info and manual and such) but apparently its just merc.
 
No problem. My fault for not explaining the process. Like I said, I feel sorry for the guy in the pit 'cause it really looks messy. Oil on the oild work shirt is bad enough but tranny fluid? Yuck!
 
I could have sworn i read or heard somewhere though, that is was federally mandated that ALL fluids that go into automobiles were supposed to be compatible, meaning if you ABSOLUTELY had to use a type F trans fluid in your Dexron Chevy, it won't hurt anything,,,,and for the record, i have used type F in Chevy trans' before, nothing happened to it:p:

I know the manufacturers specify a certain type of fluid, this would be for best results by the way they made the components, to run with....
 
maybe that would be the case nowadays, but I wouldn't recommend using F-Type or some older design of fluid. If that is in fact tha case, it likely doesn't apply to old design fluids(which F-Type IS an old fluid, we don't even stock it in the Ford dealer).

I know Mercon V is reverse compatible to all Fords except those that take Mercon SP.
 
Well, i'm not saying TOO use it, i am just saying if you absolutely HAD to, if that's all you had available, and needed to get somewhere or whatever.

anyways, imma shuddup now:p: :D
 
hey fellas, lets get one thing straight.. atf is atf when it boils down to needing it asap (like if its leaking and you need to make it home or something), after ALL our rebuilts we put regular dex/merc in unless its the newer bmw's or mercedes that use the synthetic stuff... reason is, because theres NOTHING in a trans that requires special fluids, can you change to dex from hondamatic fluid?? NO, but after a rebuild you can... frictions are frictions and steels are steels.. only two types of friction materials (in a stock application, alto reds are excluded here) and they both work with dex just fine... Nate

p.s., dont let anyone tell you lucas, or any oil stabalizer will help your tranny, your just putting a bandaid on a soon to be big problem..
 
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