Would this method of tranny flushing work?

[silver96]

I just got a new (to me) explorer. It has 60K on it and Im going though now and doing all the maintenance/tune-up stuff on it.

This is how im thinking of flushing the trans fluid, you tell me if you think it will work.

1. Unhook the cooler line, start the truck up and let it pump out untill the moment it starts showing signs of air then at which point I'll have someone waiting to shut off the car immediately.

2. Drop the pan, change the filter and clean it up.

3. Pour in about 2 quarts of Mercon V and start it up again, except this time Im just going to let it run and slowly pour in fluid at about the same rate it is coming out of the cooler line. I will do this untill im satisfied that it is clean enough.

I also have a remote filter and tranny cooler im going to install at the same time, but I wanted to get the old stuff out first to avoid flushing it though the new cooler.

Does anybody see any potential problems with this? The only ones I see are maybe burning the pump out if it runs dry for too long, and possibly not exchanging all the fluid. Since I don't know how the fluid flows inside the tranny, I don't want the new stuff im pouring in to just get pumped right back out without going though the TC.

 

[TheRookie]

You have realized the problems that come to my mind. I wouldnt do it. A real tranny flush uses a lot of fluid mre than the capacity of the trans. This is one thing you should just have done at a shop.

 

[BradE.]

What tranny do you have? I don't think the 96' V6 Tranny requires Mercon V. If you have the V8, with the 4R70W, that has a drain plug on the converter, so you can drain most of it yourself.

There was a TSB updating all 4R70W's to Mercon V, but I don't think the 96 V6 tranny uses Merc V.

 

[silver96]

Sorry, I haven't updated my info. Thats a 96 Mustang. I have the 5r55e in a 98 2dr sport.

 

[silver96]

Originally posted by TheRookie
You have realized the problems that come to my mind. I wouldnt do it. A real tranny flush uses a lot of fluid mre than the capacity of the trans. This is one thing you should just have done at a shop.

Yeah I thought about just letting a shop do it, but I really don't have anyone I trust around here. Plus it would cost about twice as much as doing it myself.

I don't know how much fluid a machine uses but I plan on using at least 15 quarts, or untill it starts looking clean.

My main concern is that it won't circulate though the TC and old fluid. I hope someone chimes in that knows the answer to that.

 

[MrShorty]

I think you have the right idea; I did my '92 A4LD in a similar way. Instead of running the pump dry (until you see air), just pump out 1 quart, then add 1 quart, then pump out 1 quart, then add 1 quart............It gets kind of tedious, and can get messy if you're not careful, but it works just fine. Don't forgot to plug off the return line; sometimes there's enough pressure built up to force fluid out that side, too.
I've heard some express concerns with this method, and, if it helps to alleviate those concerns, I saw this diagnostic test in a Mitchell transmission manual. It is a simple check to see if there is adequate flow through the cooler. You disconnect the line from the transmission at the cooler and, using additional tubing if necessary, route it over the top of the engine so it pours back into the dipstick tube. Start the engine and observe the flow to/through the cooler. This method of flushing the transmission does the same thing, only your not putting the old fluid back in, you're putting new fluid in.

 

[dogfriend]

I flushed mine the way that Mr. Shorty is describing and it worked ok.

The two problems that I saw in your initial post:

1. Unhook the cooler line, start the truck up and let it pump out untill the moment it starts showing signs of air then at which point I'll have someone waiting to shut off the car immediately.

I wouldn't let the tranny run dry if I could avoid it. I would just drop the pan first. You will drain out about 4 quarts from the pan. Its a little messy but manageable.

3. Pour in about 2 quarts of Mercon V and start it up again, except this time Im just going to let it run and slowly pour in fluid at about the same rate it is coming out of the cooler line. I will do this untill im satisfied that it is clean enough.

Again, you need about 4 qts to get back to full. Also, I'm not sure if you will be able to match the rate that you pour in to the rate that it leaves the cooler line. It is probably easier to measure one quart out, stop the engine, add a quart and repeat until satsified.

Here's a long thread covering flushing



trans filter and flush thread

 

[silver96]

yeah I should probably keep about 3-4 quarts in during the flush instead of two.

I read though a lot of flushing posts a couple days ago and I saw the "one quart at a time method". It seems like it would work ok, but I don't want to have to stop the engine after every quart. I would rather do it in just one continuous cycle. If I can get one person to man the dump bucket, I could slowly replace the fluid without ever stoping the engine. I could have my buddy keep his hand close to the neg. batter terminal too, just in case.

I found this, it describes sort of what I want to do.

http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/flushing.html

They're not talking about a 5r55e though, I think they're talking about an aod-e.

I don't think it will hurt anything for the pump to be run dry for a couple secongs at idle, but im no expert either.

 

[silver96]

I forgot to add, what do you guys think about working the trans though the gears while its flushing? Would that help to flush more fluid or would it just be pointless? Of course the wheels would be off the ground to take the load off the trans.

 

[Opera House]

Working it through the gears

would be bad while flushing. You wouldn't have enough pressure to keep the clutches engages and could cause burning. Most trannys you can overfill by two quarts while you are flushing. This will allow you to pump more out between refills and keep the pump from running dry.

 

[Glacier991]

I did pretty much what others describe to my 92 A4LD... except I had someone stay behind the wheel to kill the engine if necessary, and I put the outflow line into a graduated bucket. I was at the ready with 12 quarts of new fluid, and tried to pour it in at the same rate it flowed out. I had to stop the engine twice to catch up and to change my oil catcher, but overall it worked fine - much quicker than one quart at a time.


Happy Exploring

Chris

 

[njsjfonline]

sorry to inform you

But there is no converters with drain plugs.
There may have been on some old converters, say in the 50's.
But no late modal converters.
P.S. I work for a converter rebuilder and only seen one with a drain plug. And it was on a 50 something chevy
Hope this helps

 

[njsjfonline]

converter

here's what your converter looks like

converter

 

[silver96]

thanks to everyone for the responses. I started the flushing tonight, but stopped after I droped the pan because Im going to take it to a machine shop tomarrow and have a drain hole drilled. I don't know how old the fluid is, my guess is 60K, but it still has a red tint to it and the valve body looked clean.

Also to clear up something for future searchers: the line you need to tap into is the BOTTOM line that goes to the TOP of the radiator. That was kind of confusing to me when I was searching because I would see a lot of posts saying the bottom line, but I didn't know if they meant the actual bottom line or where it connects to the rad.

 

[Chris]

Is it necessary to flush transmission fluid?

I have a '00 XLT with 33K miles. Is it necessary to have the transmission fluid flushed or is that an unnecessary precaution? I'm wondering if I should stick with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" method.

 

[Brandons]

i love that method

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

[dogfriend]

I had mine flushed by the dealer at about the same mileage (33K) because it was recommended by the shop where I took it to evaluate the truck just before I bought it. The fluid was just starting to turn color, and the dealer recommended flushing to get that "new pink" color.

 

[silver96]

Well I finally took the explorer out for a test drive today. I drove it about 20 miles or so and everything seemed to be doing ok. Im keeping my fingers crossed though because of a bad trans experience with an s-10 blazer. I used about 15 quarts total with the flush and fill. I also added a remote filter, trans cooler, drain plug, and a temp guage while I was doing the flush.

The trans runs about 150 during normal highway driving and it jumped to about 200 when I was driving up a slow steep hill to my house. I have the guage sensor mounted at the remote filter housing though, so it is measuring the fluid right as it comes out of the trans.

 

[Glacier991]

People dop not realize how HOT trannie fluid gets.... 200 is not abnormal uphill or in hot weather FWY driving. Makes you think though.... more coolers = more life.

Happy Exploring

Chris

 

[Brandons]

yeah tranny fluid will get hot, if you think of it the truck is running on average 2500rpm, and there are many gears running to convert that speed to the wheels, this of course would need fluid, and the fluid at these speeds would be extremely hot. If you touch the cooler at the front, it will also be very warm. I just put new fluid and filter in my tranny, i guess i should have flushed it.