Automatic transmission flush

[Paul Gagnon]

I just went to Mr. Lube and had my automatic trnasmission flushed and had new fully synthetic ATF put in. They hook you up to this little machine and flush out the old fluid. Well after I left there I noticed immediatley that my shifts were firmer and there seemed to be less lag when accelerating. Also up and down shifts were much quicker. I can't say that it is because of the synthetic but I did suspect that there was water in the tranny fluid. Very expensive to do but seems to be well worth it so far. Also had synthetic put in the transfer case at the same time and removed the coffee(with cream) from both the front and rear diffs but used regular 80w90.

[Edited by Paul Gagnon on 09-10-2000 at 08:11 PM]

 

[FlyAU]

Yeah, I did that a couple of weeks ago when I had the oil changed. Drives like a new car! I'll second that on it being expensive...cost me $160, but I figured it was a good expense, since I do so much interstate driving. I had this nagging thought that maybe I got ripped off, so it's good to know someone else had this done.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

LOL... Man and I thought I paid a lot. It cost me $189 Canadian. I think it was definately worth it.

 

[FlyAU]

Well, lets see...$189 CDN is, oh, $127.44 US (as of 9/4/00)...The $160 included the oil change & various taxes. But I digress, lol. I agree, it's worth it...considering I can't remember the last time that stuff was changed. How long is tranny fluid supposed to last, anyway?

 

[BarryM]

Mr. Lube

The only thing Mr. Lube doesn't do is drop the pan and change the filter. Another $100 and National Transmission does that. But when ATF is $10 a litre and you need 15 of 'em..

b

 

[BigDave]

I had the same thing done at a Jiffy Lube in Chicago. I had them put in regular ATF and it only cost me $80.00. They don't drop the pan when they do this. I too noticed that it drove better. A year later (last January) I had them drop the pan this time to change the filter, but I didn't have them replace all the fluid.

Does anyone know a place in the Chicago area that will do the ATF flush (i.e. change all fluid) with Synthetic ATF? I don't know where I can get it done that way. If I could get that done, then I would replace the filter on my own and fill it with ATF that way, probably will be a little less costly that way.

Dave

 

[Paul Gagnon]

True enough Barry but my filter has a little over a year and about 10,000km on it so there was no need to change it.

 

[mike91]

BigDave - there's a link under the Explorer Resources section that references maintenance tips. One of them details the process to flush the transmission fluid. It is a fairly safe procedure if done right. It will require two people at the least, but I had three (one to guide the fluid out of the transmission cooler line, One to shut the car on and off, and one to get beer.... well, actually to pour new fluid into the tranny. I did this 20k miles ago and it was a sight to see all the dark fluid coming out and all of a sudden seeing bright red ATF coming out.

 

[FlyAU]

Originally posted by Paul Gagnon
True enough Barry but my filter has a little over a year and about 10,000km on it so there was no need to change it.

BP changed my filter while they were at it...

 

[William Schumacher]

tranny capacity ???

I'm going the let the jiffy lube guys do this,they quoted me $79.for the flush,$89. for the filter change,and $24.95
to do each diffy and the transfer case ($75.)
I'm getting ready to order the new Amsoil atf synthetic,and I need to know,how many quarts will I need to get,and does the transfer case use a different fluid than the tranny,
my truck is a '99 sport ,sohc,5-spd auto,
thanks,

 

[mike91]

Will - be sure that they are going to use your fluid for the tranny and if possible, physically observe them doing so. I am saying this b/c the machine that Expressway (and Jiffy Lube I believe) uses, is already hooked up to a line that feeds transmission fluid. The fluid is not done by hand, but rather through the machine.

 

[William Schumacher]

thanks Mike:, but they did tell me that they would have to fill the machine with my fluid first,( that was my concern as well)I did find out that the tranny once flushed will take 10.2 quarts,and the transfer case will take 2.5 pints
thanks,

 

[Bigcheck1]

my mom had this done on her 97 chevy 2500 conversion van with 50000 miles on it and an auto tranny at a local lube through in Pa before we left for florida. it drove fine for the thousand miles down there but the second night there i was driving back from dinner when the check engine light came on and we took it to the dealer the next day. turns out there was a failed solenoid for the shift between first and second. since the lube through doesn't drop the pan and change the filter, do u think they could have messed something up? it never had any problems with the tranny before but i told my dad it probably wasnt worth the aggravation to take it to the lube through when we got back. after spend 100 bucks for new fluid before we left only to have it replaced 1000 miles later really pissed him off. any thoughts?

 

[NickD]

I had this same service done on my truck and 2 months later my transmission went out. I dont know what the significance is but i think there may have been a connection.

 

[William Schumacher]

they overfilled my tranny at jiff -lube ?

I just had the tranny flushed with the T-tech machine at jiffy lube,and had them fill with my own Amsoil atf,however they seem to have overfilled the tranny a few inches above the cross-hatch pattern on the dipstick,I have a hand pump,and was thinking,can I just pump out some thru the dipstick tube ??,or will that not work ?,also had the transfer case done as well as the diff's done with the amsoil synthetic.have not driven it much since the flush,
shifts much smoother now though. !!

 

[Goober]

Yes, you can pull the excess out the dipstick hole. I used a 2 cycle mixture syringe( from a parts store~1"x4" ) with some clear tubing to pull out about 1/2 pint overfill( my bad ). Slow, but works well and very minimal mess.

 

[William Schumacher]

Jeff :, thanks,I'll give it a try !!!!

 

[CHH777]

I picked up a generic drain plug and installed it in the lowest part of the tranny pan (looks like it's made for this). It really makes ATF changes a breeze. I also took two hard drive magnets and stuck them to the pan to pick up any metal shavings...

 

[Goober]

When getting the tranny flushed and new fluid in, what is the amount they remove?..100%, 95%,... I just changed the filter and replaced the fluid from the pan, but still running the same in the torque converter. Does the flush need to be done at certain times/intervals or just when it gets bad? Thanks.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

The pan only holds a small part of the fluid in the transmission. When you drain the pan you are leaving all the old fluid in the torque converter.