Tranny fluid change?

[jasper10101010]

Guys, I came over from thforum and wanted to get some guidance. I recently hit 100k and started doing some tune up maintenance. I have so far changed the plugs(ac delco, which I will be pulling to re-gap to .040, as I followed the owners manual and went 10 .060), plan on new wires as well. I changed out the pcv, oil/filter, air filter, diff oil, and replaced an o2 sensor due to a code.

I have a fuel filter, but need to buy the QD tool for the flex fuel line...pita!

Now, I'm looking at doing the tranny fluid and filter, it's been a long while since I've done this to any vehicle. Looking at the pan, it has a drain plug, which is nice, I remember being dowsed in tranny oil the last time I done this to a vehicle! This may seem like a stupid question, but is there a fill plug on these tranny's? I think I saw a small plug but am not sure if that's it! I don't want to drop the pan and not know how to get the new oil in! Also, I saw on Autozone that there is two different options for the filter type, one for a shallow pan, one for a deep pan...I have the flex fuel apparently(did not know this until I got the wrong belt and fuel filter!) I assume it has the deep pan, it looks deeper than a standard pan.

Help! I need to know if this is something I can easily replace the fluid in or if this is a complete pain! Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Big Tap]

I had my tranny fluid replaced during an oil change. I usually do these types of things myself, but the flush that they do is something I don't have the equipment for. They ended up doing a complete tranny flush for me, along with the filter replacement, and it did wonders for the shifting. It's just something to consider.
When I change the fluid on my '89 Chevy truck, I usually just add the fluid through the dipstick tube and it seems to work ok.

 

[tybardy]

yes i recomend spending $100 and having the full flush done by the shop, you do not have the ability to do a full flush yourself... and i would also request Dexron VI instead of Dexron III

 

[Drgnblood]

yes i recomend spending $100 and having the full flush done by the shop, you do not have the ability to do a full flush yourself... and i would also request Dexron VI instead of Dexron III

what do you think of the royal puple atf....do you recommend it....its 11.99 a qt on post...just curious if its any different than the others

 

[tybardy]

RP fluids are top ******* notch, there gear oil is unbeatable IMO.... however RP doesnt make a Dexron VI product, and IF you tranny requires Dexron product which is what is reconded and "required" for GM trannies... now, that being said RP will also tell you if your vehicle requires Dexron VI (i dont think our does but dont quote me on this) not to use RP ATF. however they do make a substitute for Dex III... I was going to have the shop order me some RP and use that as well untill the Tech called me and told me to contact RP about it because he "didnt recomend it"

i use RP motor oil and plan on using the gear oil when that day comes as well

 

[Drgnblood]

RP fluids are top ******* notch, there gear oil is unbeatable IMO.... however RP doesnt make a Dexron VI product, and IF you tranny requires Dexron product which is what is reconded and "required" for GM trannies... now, that being said RP will also tell you if your vehicle requires Dexron VI (i dont think our does but dont quote me on this) not to use RP ATF. however they do make a substitute for Dex III... I was going to have the shop order me some RP and use that as well untill the Tech called me and told me to contact RP about it because he "didnt recomend it"

alright i will contact them and find out.....i dont want to f anything up...i was thinking of doing the flush cuz im getting my vette servo soon....im at 86,351 mi so i figured the original owners prolly didnt do much to it....

---------- Post added at 12:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 PM ----------

Guys, I came over from thforum and wanted to get some guidance

Oh and Welcome to the Forum....Wealth of knowledge over here.....

 

[jasper10101010]

Thanks guys, I've read differing opinions on the tranny flush with a high mileage vehicle. I'm on the original owner and don't know how often the fluid was changed, if ever! I read a full flush can stir things up and really screw up the tranny. I read it's best to just change the filter and fluid. What are your thoughts on that? The shop down the street quoted $125 or so to just do the fluid and filter change, not sure if they even do a flush. I'll call shortly and see what they offer. What about the refilling of the fluid if I decide to do it myself. The dipstick hole the only option?!?!?

Thanks guys!

 

[tybardy]

to my best.... i think its the dipstick hole and youll lose about 5 quarts when you drop the pan and di it yourself. Also, $125 seems high, ESPECIALL if they arent doing a full flush. I have a reputable shop up the road quote me $108 and that with Dexron VI (which is a bit more $$ per quart)

I have also heard about doing this stuff to your tranny after high milage... but i wonder what is worse...

 

[Nappers]

I've read that backward flushing of tranny pushes debris backwards in places it shouldn't be which is not good.....With that....I drain the pan (I have the deep pan) every year and get about 5-6qts every drain and have done so since 2005 and have 138,000 miles on the clock.

 

[road1will]

I paid the 100 or so dollars at the dealer for a flush and filter change at around 60k miles and transmission definitely seems to shift smoother and feel tighter now...

 

[jasper10101010]

I believe I'll do it myself, seems easy enough. There has to be a better method to refilling the pan though...right?!?!?!? I will drain, drop pan and filter, replace filter, bolt back up and figure out how the hell to get the fluid back in!!! If it's down the dipstick, that's crazy...surely there's an upper plug to refill it...Thanks for all the input. I'm a little nervous about the flush deal though...don't want to have the trans rebuilt just because of a tune up!

 

[Nappers]

On my '00 it's filled through the dipstick tube.....

I'm leary on a flush.....That's just me, seen some good results and praise them and seen some bad results and felt bad that a new tranny was needed.....probably needed one anyways.

"Don't change the oil, it'll blow up" LOL

 

[Max]

I just keep trying to blow up my transmission, no luck thus far. Drain and fill is usually a better idea than a flush with higher mileage.

 

[withac]

I would run RP in every place it could go if I could afford it.

Here are some email exchanges between an RP rep and myself. His replies are in red.



A flush is forcing fluid in to push the old out.

A pan drop is just what it sounds like. Your drop the bottom part of your transmission and change the filter/ clean the screen. Then you put it the pan back on and fill up with the amount needed.

Drive a few thousand miles and repeat the pan drop to get more of our fluid into the transmission. Dealers usually do not recommend a flush as they do not have the equipment to do it.

Have a great day.

This is really helping, thank you. If I may continue. If I just do a pan drop then i'll be mixing the RP with what's left in the tranny and from the numbers you indicated, the RP will be diluted/mixed with what's still in there. Is that bad/do you see any benefits from that or does RP recommend a flush when switching to ensure the full benefits?
Thanks.


The pan drop is fine, our will over power what ever oil it mixes with as our film strength is 400 times stronger. With the mix we also recommend doing another pan drop at 5,000 miles to get a high concentrate of our oil in the tranny.

MY PERSONAL opinion-
A flush is like a empty glass with sugar in the bottom of it, then you pour tea into it. The sugar is stirred up and not is floating all around. What if the sugar was metal shavings in the pan and you flushed the transmission? Well the shavings will stir and go all over the transmission and could give you problems later. I know a lot of people who have never had a problem with flushes, but I myself would never have a flush done on my person car/truck. It is your call and this is my opinion not Royal Purple’s.


Have not seen that site before. One of the guys talks about Mobil 1 and how it is $5 and RP is $7. Here is an article that show the hp gain and torque gain over Mobil 1 from an independent 3rd party- http://www.royalpurple.com/corvette_enthusiast/corvette_enthusiast.html. Also Mobil 1 has to be changed every 4,000- 5,000 miles while our oil can go 12,000- 15,000 miles with a filter change and oil top off every 4,000- 5,000 miles.

Dodge with 5 quarts-

Mobil 1- 5 quarts x $5= $25+ tax and a filter
4,000 miles later $25+tax and a filter again
8,000 miles $25+tax and filter
12,000 miles $25+ tax and a filter

$100+ tax and 4 filters

Royal Purple- 5 quarts x $7= $35+ tax and a filter
4,000 miles 1 quarts to replace the quart lost by filter change $7+tax and filter
8,000 miles 1 quart $7+ tax and filter
12,000 5 quarts x $7=$35+ tax and filter

$84+ tax and 4 filters

That does not count the fuel savings since we are increasing the power on the car by reducing the parasitic loss. Here is a Dodge Ram that gained 24 lbs of torque by changing all of the fluid over to our oil on “TRUCKS”- http://www.royalpurple.com/video/video.html


Hope this helps

 

[dec322]

I have been thinking about changing the tranny fluid in my Yukon. It has 97k on it and the manual says to change the fluid/filter at 100k (if it was not used for towing). I talked to my local express oil and that guy told me that I should not touch it if the fluid has over 75k on it. It had something to do with the gears "glazing". He said they would do it but I would have to sign a waiver.

He also told me that you should never change the brake fluid...unless it get contaminated.

Sounds weird to me...what do you guys think?

 

[hapyspaz]

Been doing the preventative maintenance service game for about 12 years now; here's the skinny on flushes .

If your fliud is not broken down (thinned out and/or discolored) and you are at the recommended service interval, flushing the system is good for it. Don't be scared off by the fact that it has 100k on the fluid, the same fluid was recommmended every 30k until they started making transmissions that ran cooler than NASA rockets. Cooler running transmissions make for longer lasting fluids (hence why GM leads the field as one of only a few manufacturers that have a 100k interval)

If the fluid is broken down, then pan drop, replace filter, refill, run for 5k, rinse and repeat.

Theory behind this (and I've seen it happen). If your fluid is in good shape and you are at the rec. interval, it is good to perform the service, the interval is in place to keep your fluid from getting bad.

If you have gone past the rec. interval, or you fluid is in poor condition, flushing the system will shock the gearbox. Over time, your transmission adjust to the fluid as it slowly breaks down, similar to how most people dont realize their shocks are worn out because they have adjusted to them as they have worn out. If you flush out your thinned out fluid with completely new fluid, you are going to shock the transmission because it doesnt know how to perform with the good fluid, causing problems. Instead of changing all the fluid, do 1/3 of it, and let the transmission readjust itself as it gets used to the better fluid.

Another thing that I notice on the first post.

I have so far changed the plugs(ac delco, which I will be pulling to re-gap to .040, as I followed the owners manual and went 10 .060), plan on new wires as well.

Maybe Im thinking of a different year/engine, but I thought this engine took irridium spark plugs, which you do not want to regap.

 

[Nappers]

Another thing that I notice on the first post.



Maybe Im thinking of a different year/engine, but I thought this engine took irridium spark plugs, which you do not want to regap.

I thought the same......I have GM Iridiums and my parts guy said just throw 'em in and don't gap them and I think the box said not to gap.

 

[hapyspaz]

I thought the same......I have GM Iridiums and my parts guy said just throw 'em in and don't gap them and I think the box said not to gap.

The iridium center electrode is very thin. Unlike a conventional plug, you cannot gap the plug by sandwiching a gap tool between the electrode and the ground strap, then pushing on the ground strap. The hard electrode will dig into the gap tool, and when you remove the gap tool, you'll break the electrode. Instead, adjust the ground strap by tapping it on a hard surface, or by pulling it gently with a tool; then measure the gap using your gap tool.

 

[dub02gpgt]

i wasn't aware of the specifics on this, but i switched all of my fluids except for the transfer case to RP. i also run RP in my grand prix and my dad runs it in all of his vehicles. i've never noticed any issues with having RP in my transmission either...

 

[jasper10101010]

Plug gap!!

I thought I was losing my mind regarding the plug gapping...I knew I read that they should be gapped to meet engine spec...so I had to go look at the plug box. So, I bought the damn ac delco iridium plugs...was a it scared to gap them, but it specifically reads on the box to gap them to meet engine specs! So, I have one of those round plug gappers and that;s what I used to get them to .060, it did scratch up my gapper, but did not appear to cause any damage at all to the super hard iridium tips! I will be pulling the plugs and gapping them back to .040 this coming up weekend.

I just thought I would let you guys in on the plug gap instructions on the ac delco box! I can post a pic of the box for reference if you'd like! I thought I was losing my mind...