Tranny flush question.....

Its tranny fluid change time again. I have previously used Jiffy Lube to do the deed, but am going to DIY this time.
I came across the following procedure at Dead Link Removed .
Opinioins soight……..

So, here is what I do. I attach transmission hoses to BOTH the "from transmission" and "to transmission" connections at the auxiliary cooler. I use about 10 feet each since I do this all by myself and can keep everything near the driver’s door.
The difference is you use two 5-gallon buckets instead of milk bottles. In one, which is carefully cleaned and dried, I put 16 quarts of tranny fluid (Amsoil, naturally). The other is used to collect the old fluid.
Put both buckets near the driver's side door of the vehicle so you can watch them. Make sure you know which line is "in" and which is "out". If in doubt, tickle the engine with both hoses attached and the outflow line will shoot t-fluid.
Now put the "in" hose into the bucket with fresh fluid so the hose is near, but not touching, the bottom of the bucket and secure it to the handle with duct tape. Put the other hose into the empty bucket and tape it to the handle, too.
Now, start the engine. You will see the dirty fluid flowing into the empty bucket and the new fluid being sucked into the tranny. No pressure changes anywhere in the system!!! Run the engine until the new fluid just starts to pull air (about 2-2.5 minutes) and shut it down. Reattach the connections. Check the fluid level, check for leaks and you are done!!

Sounds like a good plan if you are not going to change the filter. Real clean and easy! Even if you put too much in you could open the line and let some out. Thanks for the idea. I'll use that next time i do a flush.

We discussed this in another thread

I think we came to the conclusion that you wont suck in new fluid this way, the fluid in the return line is "pushed" back into the transmission, not 'sucked' into it

Dead Link Removed

Thanks, that is what I thought.

Dogfriend is correct. You will end up pushing your old fluid out both lines which means you will contaminate your new fluid with your old fluid. I'm doing mine again Sunday (with Amsoil for the first time - Thanks AGExplorer!). Pull the hose off the bottom of your cooler that goes to the fitting that goes back to the transmission and not the radiator. Plug this end. I used a bolt stuck in the end and tightened a hoseclamp around it. Put a piece of tubing of the same diameter and about 1'-2' long (depends on how high your Explorer is ) so that it reaches easily into a bucket or other container that is marked in 1 quart increments. I'm using empty one gallon milk jugs that I have marked off in 1 quart increments. Start your engine and wait about 4-5 seconds for 1 quart to drain. Shut off your Explorer. Poor a new quart back into the transmission fill hole. Repeat process until your fluid is coming out looking almost as clean as the new fluid you are putting in. The last time I did this, it took 19 quarts before I was satisfied with the cleanliness of the fluid coming out. At that time 3/4 of my transmisison fluid had 80K miles on it. I did a pan drop and filter change at 50K. The fluid that didn't come out the pan stayed in there for 80K. Now I have 104K so all of my fluid in my transmission only has 24K on it so I expect that it will look a lot better than last time and require less fluid.

Will this work?

Since I have a external tranny filte, would it be possible to simply disconnect the “from filter to tranny” line at the filter and add new hose with a clamp here and leave everything hooked up?

Thanks

Yes. I think what you are saying is that your remote filter is installed in the line between your tranny cooler and tranny. If that is the case, then yes, you can to it at your filter. If you do it between the filter and tranny, don't change your remote filter until you are done or else all you'll be doing is pumping the used fluid right through the remote filter only to be discarded into a bucket. If you do it between the tranny cooler and remote filter then it won't matter when you change your remote filter.

I used the method that most people use (start, stop, poor, start, stop poor...) for about 15 or so quarts the other day, but I was wondering what if I were to use a pump to pump the new fluid in as the transmission pumped out the old fluid? How much pump would I need to keep up with the transmission? I'm assuming that this is how the oil change places do their tranny flushes, but with fancier machines.

Many shops use a bladder tank

Like they sell for water wells. They fill it with new fluid on one side and the old fluid pushes on the neoprene bladder from the other. A simple one to one exchange. You can put a pressure gauge on either side. When done it will spike up on the old fluid side or on the new fluid side it will drop.

Hmmm, that's interesting. I never thought about a bladder tank, but it should work nicely.

I did 2 flushes using the advice in that post, (one on a 93 Sable with a AXODE and my 92 Explorer with an A4LD ) and I discovered that sure enough it does NOT suck in the new fluid... For the Sable I started/stopped added etc... went through about 15 quarts but ended up with nice clean fluid. Then changed the filter and had to add even more.... but it all seemed to work.

On the Explorer, I had a graduated pail for the outflow, and had a friend at the igniition to stop it if I needed him to. I poured and tried to match the outflow rate with what I was adding. MUCH easier - not perfect, but it worked nicely.

HTH

Chris

I flushed my tranny tonight using Robert’s suggestions.

I disconnected the “to transmission” hose from my remote filter housing. I plugged and clamped the disconnected line and added and hose clamped a 6 ft length of 3/8” line to the housing. The other end went into a calibrated water jug ( 1 gal size ).

We used 15 quarts of Mobil 1 ATF.

Even though this ATF ( Mobil 1 ) has about 40 k miles on it, it still looked remarkably good, slightly darker in color.

After the flush/fill was completed, I added a new K & N filter to the housing and reattached the hoses.

The procedure took my son and I about 20 minutes to complete. There was no mess since we were well prepared for the flush; nary a drop was spilled.
This procedure is so simple that I can hardly believe that I used to pay Jiffy Lube to do it.
__________________

does any aftermarket company make a tranny pan with a drain plug????

www.yourcovers.com has two (maybe) They made one for the A4LD thru 5R55E and then found out it was two shallow for the long pickup tube filter of the 4WD. The filter can be cut down a little. The deeper pan one is supposed to be available now. If you read their explanation it may be still backwards. I would really check the depth if you have a SOHC for interference. This pan adds two extra quarts.

Opera House said:

I would really check the depth if you have a SOHC for interference. This pan adds two extra quarts.

Click to expand...

It says 3 quarts on the website for the 5R55E. Anyway, The pan will come close to hitting the exhaust on the passenger side, but I belive you can snake around it.

-Drew

So does anyone know of a similar solution for the 2002+ "sealed" transmissions without a @#^%$ fill/dipstick tube?

Well, in some ways these transmissions are easier. You drain and fill rom he same plug. Plug has a tube that sets level. Basic procedure is drain, overill, warm up to proper temperature, drain out excess with engine running and perfectly level. It just requires some adaptors and a suitable pump. Beats dropping the pan!

I saw this tool on EBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/FORD-ROTUNDA-Ex...610971343QQcategoryZ43998QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. Maybe this could be of some help.

I feel kind of guilty... I have that tool laying around and just cannot locate post move.... why guilty? because in reality all we all need is to know is the threads.... like is it 1/8" NPT or something, then we can improvise. I promise when I find it I will post what I find and a work around.

1/8 NPT is pretty small, I'm guessing either 1/4 or 3/8 NPT. You could use a barb fitting which are available at most hardware stores - for $2 or $3 you could pick up one of each.