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14056
Joined
1/3/2010
Location
Norwich, KS
US
Way back I've changed tranny fluid and filter in high mileage vehicles and had slippage bad enough to get rid of the vehicle.
I'm sittin' at well over 250K on my truck and car. Never touched the fluid or filter in either one.
My question is for those that have done the first change with this many miles...am I flirtin' with disaster or will they love me for it? I know modern stuff ain't the same as my old 428CJ but looking for experienced advice.
If it’s running fine I wouldn’t touch it. I’ve heard you either change it regularly or don’t change it at all, for the very reason you listed in your first paragraph. 225k on my wife’s 2016 4Runner. Haven’t touched it and don’t plan on it. What vehicle(s) so maybe more knowledgeable people can chime in?
I've heard this also. I went 20K past where I was supposed to due to other things that required $$s
First tranny service on my truck is over $1K sooo. But now I'm going to take it in and git r done. My
regular mechanic said "not me, take it to the dealer in case something goes wrong"
I'd do a simple drain and fill. Seems a full flush in these situations is where the problems start. But replacing what's in the pan and giving them a new filter is wise.
2006 F150 4.2L. Fluid still nice and pink but I'm towing a travel trailer now so wanted it to have the best chance of survival.
2008 Mazda 3 hatchback, 2.3L. 6 trips from KS to Cali in the last 3 years. Think Hidalgo...I pushed her VERY hard every mile. Fluid looks a little toasty.
Both vehicles will remain in the stable till I kick it even if that means rebuilds to engine/tranny's but I'd like to keep 'em healthy if possible.
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
That's the plan... fingers crossed. Unless someone screams...NO.
My truck is the cheapo XL. No towing package. I'm thinking about a 2 or 3 row radiator instead of the stock single and external trans cooler. Anyone done this? Anything over 55 with AC running and my 2000lb trailer makes the temp rise alarmingly.
My advice?
I fix broken shit, but I'm not an auto mechanic but I know a few.
Leave the pan alone, drain and change fluid only.
You stand a great chance of sending something fatal into the system if you've waited this long by flushing.
That term "flush" is more than loose. I believe it is a way to gather another C-note, but doesn't help the customer.
I had this weird clunk in my driveline on a 2004 GMC 1500 2WD.
I heard so much shit, I didn't know what to do. It sounded like a U-joint, but it wasn't. It happened at weird times.
I called the dealer here, and he said "Yeah, we know what that is, you can't fix it, it's 2 days and $175.00".
I thought WTF? So I called my buddy Luke, some of y'all may remember "biscuit". He's a service writer for Chevy.
He said "Dude, drop the drive shaft and grease the piss out of the splines, re-install and carry on. We do 5 of these a day".
That was in like 2008, it's still good.
I have a Toyota Tacoma 2001, when it’s warm it works fine but when cold it slips slightly and will take a couple minutes to engage reverse, lol I have made it work for me but after running like this for a year hahah I want to fix it..
Yeah...I've heard that flushing one with this many miles is not good. I'm hoping just a filter and new fluid won't stir up sludge and block things up.
I've done trans coolers on several vehicles over the years, most recently on my 04 Silverado 1500. Check Amazon for a 40000 GVW cooler, about $75. Rest assured there are videos on YouTube showing how to mount it up.
If you live in an area that gets really cold during the winter, run the fluid through the radiator like OEM, then out to the aux cooler. If you live in an area that doesn't get all that cold, running it straight to the cooler and bypassing the radiator works fine.
I just changed fluid and filter on a 2009 Ford F-150 6R80 with 140k, first pan drop, and filter change she has ever had. The fluid didn't look terrible, seems to shift better now.
I'm not scared of pan, filter, fluid change. Those shops that use the T-Tech fluid machines are the ones that scare me.
Thanks for the info fellas.
If you never changed the fluid & your at 250k. Don’t do it now. It will slip. The alum particles from the disk r mixed with the fluid. The alum paricles r giving the disk grip. I used to change trans fluid on old vehicles when I bought them. A mechanic said don’t drop the fluid . The clutches r thinner they need the alum particles to grip. They all slipped after the fluid change. I,m having a shop queen g20 with 101k trans rebuilt now. The reverse clutches dries out from sitting for yrs. I bought it then the clutches start chipping or cracking. 15 times it been in the shop a lot for brakes. No one can figure out how to get the air out the system & the early abs system. Extremely flustrating. 4 maser cylinders ,etc
I had a hell of a time bleeding the brakes on my little Mazda. Had to buy a new reservoir cap...drill and install a barbed nipple...used a garden sprayer full of brake fluid attached to the nipple. Basically, just "over pressured" from the reservoir.
Poor boys got poor ways.
Lol...I had heard the same advice about "old fluid" back in the day. Wasn't sure it still applied to more modern stuff.
Ingenuity
Nice!
I spent 30 minutes crawling around our 2012 Sequoia searching for the transmission dipstick. Finally gave up and consulted Google, to find that it doesn’t have one. So any transmission servicing requires a dealer’s delicate touch. And a bunch of money.
The average back yard mechanic has to be a lot smarter these days....and have more money
Pit Row
I'd be lying if I said that I thought that one up by myself. We had collectively come to that method on some experimental aircraft that were being ornery.
YouTube is your friend.
That is my new mantra. Some problems can still be a pain but I can't imagine how much money I've saved in just the last 10 years. If the internet has ONE redeeming quality...it's "how to videos".
The first time I used my 08 1500 silverado to tow our 20' travel trailer in 55 degree weather i was shocked at how hot the transmission temp got going over the pass, 225 or so. I was equally shocked at how much of a temp drop plumbing in another external transmission cooler in addition to the one the truck came with with the towing package. Its easily running 25-30 degrees cooler.
On topic, I'd never flush a transmission. I drop the pan and change the filter every 50k miles on my vehicles, top off fluid.
I have 291k miles on the stock transmission in my 03 Chevy s-10. It holds 11.2 qts total. Dropping pan only drains 5qts, which I believe you want to keep some dirty fluid in it to mix with the new stuff you add back in.
There was a mom and pop trans shop around here ( now retired)
They had a display case of every make and model it seemed
Mangled, pulverized....like an airplane crash lol
It was from back in the day when you would be " Rocking your car stuck in the snow etc."
Drive vvvvv throw it into Reverse Clunk vvvvvv , Drive vvvvvv
Just paid $3,999 for a front wheel drive trans ...
Hate automatics....
The reason almost all of my vehicles have been manual trans. Sadly, a dying breed.
Tell me about it. Standards are pretty rare nowadays.
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