Changing Transmission Fluid

[garyerrol]

I recently had our Caravan in the shop getting it resealed because of serious leaks. While picking it up, I asked about changing the fluid on my 2001 with 128,000 miles on it. They said they didn't recommend doing a complete flush on vehicles with higher mileage because it sometimes brings up new problems not originally there.

I'd like to hear from those who have had just a pan drop and drain versus a full flush. Has anyone had problems with the full flush on a high mileage vehicle?

I want to get mine changed this spring/summer and not sure which I should have done.

[Mean Green]

Originally Posted by garyerrol

I recently had our Caravan in the shop getting it resealed because of serious leaks. While picking it up, I asked about changing the fluid on my 2001 with 128,000 miles on it. They said they didn't recommend doing a complete flush on vehicles with higher mileage because it sometimes brings up new problems not originally there.

I'd like to hear from those who have had just a pan drop and drain versus a full flush. Has anyone had problems with the full flush on a high mileage vehicle?

I want to get mine changed this spring/summer and not sure which I should have done.

We alternate between a drain and fill and a full flush every 30k. My wife's '04 is now at 113+k and the next tranny service will be a full flush. I could understand that way of thinking if you didn't do regular maintenance and there could be a lot of crud in there, but if you've done regular maintenance I wouldn't worry about it. If you don't do a full flush you'll never change all of the tranny fluid because a drain and fill leaves a lot of older fluid in the tranny.

[garyerrol]

I brought mine about a year ago with 116,000 miles. I don't know the maintenance schedule done on it by the previous owner(s).

[nexium]

Just curious if you change the filter before or after a "full flush".

[oldcoach]

Mean Green, who do you have do the full flush, and how much is the cost????

[eldersptgt]

You were white Heat on the old pt web site? werent you?
anyways Like you said just keep up with your manitance and you should be OK! some fluch machince are more forceful than others. some force teh fluid through w/o the car running. others (like WYNN's) uses the car idling so teh tanny pupm itself is teh one doing the flush which is much easier on the tranny.

[slartyblarfast]

I'll tell you the reason. With that kind of mileage you are getting close to the end of the transmssions' life. If the shop does the flush and then a few thousand miles later the transmission burns up then there is the appearance that the shop messed up the transmission by doing that. At the very least you end up with a mad customer blaming you for the problem and at the worst you end up a lawsuit. Most shops are like that. I know personally I don't recommend it due to the perceived liability.

[SmittysPT]

Here is the truth about "Flushing" transmissions.

Most companies that flush transmissions use the machine that attaches to the cooler lines. All this does is mix new fluid with old and if you add enough new, it will finally change color to red. With this type of flush, the shop does not drop the transmission pan for inspection and this is where the problem starts..... I manage a transmission shop in Colorado and we used to throw out the salesmen that came in trying to sell us this type of machine. All they talked about was how much money that we could make...not if the service was any good or not.

Now for the good news....

You should service the transmission about every 25,000 to 30,000 miles and it is a MUST to replace the transmission filter everytime you service the transmission. When we do a transmission flush, we first drop the pan to do a check on the condition of the transmission . You can look in the pan to see what color the fluid is, if there is metal on the magnet and if there is clutch material in bottom of pan. If they is a lot of "junk" in pan, you DO NOT want ot flush the trans. The machine will do its job and that is to clean the inside of the trans.... if the cluch packs are being held together by this junk, the transmission may not work correctly after you get done...but this is not the machines fault...its doing its job. The fault is in the tech who did not drop the pan for inspection first. Blame Him....

Again, when we do a flush, we drop the pan for inspection, then if all is ok, we pull filter out, hook up the machine to the filter port and truley flush 100% of the old fluid out and replace with clean fluid. After that, we insert new filter, fill trans with fluid and road test. This type of service works very well, cause you check for problems before you flush. We flush vehicles that have over 200,000 miles without problems because of the inspection first....in other words, do it right. The name of the machine we use is TransAction 2.5 and I suggest you look for someone that uses this machine or that at least inspects transmission before flushing. Also, lots of these shops alos tell you that you don't need to change the filter. That is BULL....... You need to change the transmission filter for the same reason you change the engine oil filter. Hope this helps........ more info at websites Transmission repair in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins and Automatic Transmission Flush Machine By CTS Inc.

[StreetCruiserUK]

I had a similar question in another Forum.
Chrysler do not recommend flushing the transmission.
In fact it can void warranties apparently.

[soonercruiser]

Thanks for the great explanation Smitty! You are