uhhm.. so what is the real deal on transmission flush machine at lube places ?

[R72K5]

anyoen know ? i used to work at a greyhound penzzoil lube shop here in town and he has this fancy machine with a piston and cylinder and it puts in new fluid as the tranny pump pumps it out and into the machine, completely replaces the fluid

this would absolutely in no way harm or overwork a tranny pump right ?

what do you think of these tranny fluid replacement machines ?

worth it, or ? i think its 50 bucks to have done, maybe 55 by now vs. having it dropped and screened and drained and refilled for 95 at dealer
this is for the 88 caprice with 700r4 it needs new fluid badly and asap

and im just not sure what should do, i dont have time to drop it and do it myself, i need it done quick


what would you do, what do you recommend ?

maybe i should just drop it and replace screen and refill and also take it to machine ?

cuz its starting to get sluggish shifting from 1-2 or 2-3(im not sure which shift it is, its around 30 mph shift and with 2.56 ratio axle and about 28" tall tires

jsut cant tell which shift it is thats doing it, the fluid is old and worn out but not burnt, but not red either, more maroon than anything else,

definitely overdue i know

thanks

 

[kgblazerfive]

If you are not going to replace the filter then why bother to change the fluid? Good fluid with a bad filter still makes bad fluid. You would do better to keep the bad fluid and change the filter.

 

[dyeager535]

It's fairly common to see a tranny fail shortly after a fluid change, especially if the fluid is really old.

Tranny flush is the only way short of a complete teardown that allows all the fluid to be changed. I don't think you even get half the fluid out by dropping the pan. Torque converter is still half full, etc.

If changing the filter isn't part of the flush process, I'd probably pull the pan and change the filter, clean all the crud out, put it back together, top it off, then take it to be flushed. Kind of a waste of new fluid, but I don't like the idea of that stuff on the bottom getting stirred up (quite a bit I'm sure if the tranny fluids never been changed) and as mentioned, changing the fluid is a good idea anyways.

Around here the flushes I've seen are $75+, but part of that cost I'm sure is how much fluid is used.

 

[R72K5]

so the game plan should really be as follows then:

drop pan change filter clean out pan,.

put the 4 or so quarts back in and immediately baby it to the lube shop for the machine AT fluid exchanger

right ?

no ?

what you think ?

i really wished that ppl would take care of things like things like this when theyre supposed to, IE trans fluid changes at each 30k or less

but.. no one ever does, its rare they do,.
and then they wonder why their trannies and whatever puke on them




its not the vehicles` fault

but thats not how ppl see it,


thanks

 

[pauly383]

Which reminds me , I am due for another filter change . Damn thing ( 700r4 ) still shifts perfect and firm . Guess what I am doing next payday , and my engine oil and lube too .

 

[dyeager535]

That's probably how I'd go about it.

There are folks on here that have much more auto trans experience than I, but I know from pulling the pan on a few trannies, and having a 700 that apparently never had the fluid changed before me, that the pans are almost always full of sludge after being run for years with no fluid change, and that the filter usually has a fair amount of stuff in it. Really, I can't imagine one of those filters being plugged unless the tranny is throughly shot, but it's not hard to change, and if the fluid is getting totally changed, why not the filter as well?

Kind of like changing engine oil but never changing the filter the way I look at it.

The never changed fluid '83 I had made it to AZ from VA before it gave up, but there really is no way to PROVE the fluid change was the problem, and not the fact that it didn't have a cooler and was driven in OD the whole way fairly well loaded.

 

[R72K5]

Which reminds me , I am due for another filter change . Damn thing ( 700r4 ) still shifts perfect and firm . Guess what I am doing next payday , and my engine oil and lube too .

hell yeah Pauly, there ya go

take care of that chit

so uhh hows Mesa been ? whats it like out ther eright now, it been dry/hot or what ?

i hope so, even if you dont, hehe

and if its been dry then damn im jealous cuz it was no rain for months and then that damned hurricane brought us rain and now its crap hot and heavy hgorrible feeling air out there :O
it was great when it was just hot and dry as hell
im sad now


oh, and lol @ your first sig line hehe

thanks

 

[R72K5]

That's probably how I'd go about it.

There are folks on here that have much more auto trans experience than I, but I know from pulling the pan on a few trannies, and having a 700 that apparently never had the fluid changed before me, that the pans are almost always full of sludge after being run for years with no fluid change, and that the filter usually has a fair amount of stuff in it. Really, I can't imagine one of those filters being plugged unless the tranny is throughly shot, but it's not hard to change, and if the fluid is getting totally changed, why not the filter as well?

Kind of like changing engine oil but never changing the filter the way I look at it.

The never changed fluid '83 I had made it to AZ from VA before it gave up, but there really is no way to PROVE the fluid change was the problem, and not the fact that it didn't have a cooler and was driven in OD the whole way fairly well loaded.

yeh id be a tard not to drop pan and lcean it out and change filter at least, its just a matter of getting a chance to do it, i aint doing it out in 94 degree wet air weather, thats for damned sure, you stand out there and sweat pours out, its 80 at night, that would work, but damn i work 4pm to 1am this week, soooooo.......
hum
ive never had an AOD tranny die, ive had 200s and 700s both most all of them being 82-86 ones, ive have good luck with all of them for some reason,

hum

i dunno

cant say the same for those damned pos thm200c's though,

or 70s truck th400's


thanks

 

[dyeager535]

I guess if you were cheap and the trans external was clean (is that ever the case??) you could capture (most of) the draining fluid and just pour it back in when you were done. Drain plug of course would make this easier, but that would bring the sludge with it if it were in the bottom of the pan. You don't stir the sludge up if you remove the pan the "normal" way.

I've done that with a t-case that was overfilling itself (bad seal) just pull fluid from it, dump back in tranny. I sifted it through cheesecloth to make fairly sure it was clean though.

Tranny fluid is pretty pricey, I just can't see dumping new in for at least $1/qt (if you are lucky!) then turning around and paying someone to dump that brand new stuff out an hour later lol.

 

[sweetk30]

i use one at work. if the fluid has never been changed in 80k or less we will not do any work to it at all. if the fluid is clean and some brown then o.k. and last test is road test. if it shifts perfect then we will go from there. first is get warm and flush the system with the machine. then use machine to empty the pan (easy way to save from big spill) next is change filter and gasket. then top off and re road test.


reson for filter last is all crap in system will be in filter and after flush it will be changed.

and f.y.i on some new auto trannys there is no yes no filter in them. so the only way to service them is to flush them.

and make sure you look up the correct fluid for the auto. there is so many types now. and some are dealer only supplyed.

hope this helped.

 

[bablazer73]

It's fairly common to see a tranny fail shortly after a fluid change, especially if the fluid is really old.

AMEN!!
I can't tell you how many times that has happened!! I worked at a shop that pushed these deals real hard. They are fine to do a full fluid change on a regularly maintained vehicle, but if it's already showing problems, and the fluid is toast, DON'T be surprised if the tranny soon fails. I refused to do them on some cars. I didn't want to deal with the "ever since you did my tranny, I have these problems" type come-backs!! I did 2 free trannies!! Thats enough for me!!

 

[GM Man]

Dont know how new this is or not, but some shops use compressed air instead of ATF to flush out the tranny. I had this done on the wifes Envoy and it seemed to run fine afterwards. Anther thing, look for the ATRA sticker in the window of a tranny shop. It stands for Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association. Most of these shops are reputable (SP?) and are held to a higher standard.

 

[CyberSniper]

The problem with a transmission flush is that you get all that new fluid and an old filter. Combine that with the fact that by the time people go to get a fluid flush their transmission is on their last leg... and it spells disaster. Usually by the time someone wants to do this they've already glazed the fibers and the new fluid will usually eat this off... then they have no fibers.

I, myself, have just done the "drop the pan, change the filter, add 4.5 quarts" thing to a great many transmissions with burnt fluid without any ill effects. A truck 700R4 with the deep factory pan and the large torque converter takes like 14 pints/7 quarts.

 

[BigOrange90Jimmy]

I don't believe in these machines at all. I too have seen many trannies fail after having the fluid exchanged.

My biggest reason is that if you change ALL of the fluid, then you have effectively "washed" out all of the friction material that has come off the clutches, then you have an even worse transmission then you had to begin with.

I'd do it backyard style also, drop the pan, change the filter, fill with fresh fluid.

 

[gambit420s]

i worked at a quick lube and a sales rep from wynns(?the company with the very homosexual logo?) came and tried to sell my boss one of these machines.

he arranged a demo and the salesman and his manager came out with a machine. in the time i could have dropped 5 H2 pans(why do you need 2 skidplates and a seperate frame on a minivan? ) they flushed one of our customers cars. aside from taking 1.5 hrs (salesman are not mechanics.) which would prob end up being 15-20 min, it did what it was supposed to, completely change all the fluid. after doing some math my boss figured it wasnt worth it, after fluid,labor and the machine he'd need to do about 250-300 changes to pay for the machine. so we didnt buy it.

it would have been nice if that was the end of the story, but...

the next day the customer called and said his car wouldnt move in forward, just reverse. so after having his trans rebuilt, we talked to the builder and he said the filter looked like a chia-pet, and the packs were toast.

so while the machine itself didn't actually cause any damage, flushing all the fluid did remove any dispersed friction material that was allowing it to still function, or dumped it in the pan, causing the filter to clog.

The trans should not have been touched, maybe a drop and fill wouldn't have caused total failure, maybe not.
either way if you dont service it regularly dont service it at all. even better yank it and put in a stick

i guess what i'm saying is if you do have it done, have them drop the pan too shouldnt cost that much more,(after the flush like sweetk30 said) but no matter what you do, change the filter, i think thats why there are usually no drainplugs in the pan; to force you to drop it.

on a different subject i know a guy that had a chevyII and because of his headers you couldnt change the oil filter, he ran it like that for a few years and it was fine. then he changed the ex gaskets and the oil filter since he had it off. a week later the oil pump locked and broke the cam gear and dist gear. i dont think it had much do do with the filter since it was prob just going thru the bypass. but it was very coincidental.

Mercedes has "sealed" trannies now too. You dont do anything, no fluid change no level check; just run em till they puke...

 

[R72K5]

whgata bout the stick, you said

you lost me there

and booooo @ mercedes trannies then

thats pretty crazy,

thanks

 

[R72K5]

ok after reading new reponses it sounds liek i should drop pan and filter

thi sis a car 700r4 BTW, so not deep pan(if ther erally are factory deep and shallow ones ive never noticed any difference personally, but,,.)

another thing is that my TV cable is melted just in front of the intake bracket
so i have no way to `properly' ajust the cable and i knwo it needs adjusted, so..

i need to get a new one for 88 caprice 700r4 305 4bbl carb

anyoen know of one and how much for one and where ? auto zone napa oreily?
those are my three choices other than chevy dealer

maybe my whole slip 1-2 or 2-3 shift problem is cuz of the TV cable being set all wrong in which im like 99% sure it is especially since i just stuck a 72 Q jet on it lol(i bet youre all saying "ohhhh now the details all come out, a-haa!)

im officially parking the car not driving it til i can get to this and drivng the 81 pickup and the yota til then

next day off work(if ever lol) ill drop pan and yank the cable and go get cable and put it in then put new fiter and gasket on and fill er up and adjust cable right and then go run her good and hard


thanks

 

[surpip]

filter comes with a gasket and is uasually around 10-15 bucks
if the TV cable isent set right you will fry your tranny

 

[R72K5]

filter comes with a gasket and is uasually around 10-15 bucks
if the TV cable isent set right you will fry your tranny

yep and yep

for sure

thats why it is sitting out here on the lot and not moving til after i drop pan and remove the fried cable

thanks

 

[Blue85]

If you want to do the flush, you don't have to have the special machine. You can disconnect a tranny line and run about a quart at a time out into a jug. You just start the engine for 20 seconds and turn it back off again. Then you pour new fluid down the dipstick tube - about the same amount that you took out - and repeat the process until everything coming out looks clean. The only cost is the fluid.

Probably takes an hour, but you might spend that driving to the oil change place, waiting in line, filling out the paperwork, paying, etc.