mcloud0729

Hey guys, I was just wondering what I should do about my transmission. It has almost 154,000 miles on the clock and I have no idea when the tranny was serviced last. I'm looking to tune up all aspects of my car before I start really building it, and the transmission is next in line.

Would it be safe to drop the pan and change the filter with such high mileage, or just let it be? What about a full transmission flush? Or would that be playing russian roulette with having the tranny shortly breaking down? Thanks in advance everyone!

ls2pontiac

iTrader: (1)

Drop the pan and change the filter, drive it about 10 miles and then drop the pan again and refill. This will get about 2/3 of the fluid out. Don't do the flush, they usually screw **** up

Cam95Maro

iTrader: (1)

drop the pan and do it right i have herd the same thing about doing a tranny flush by someplace cause i herd it will actually mess the transmission up idr how but i kno it can

fleetmgr

Doing a full flush now would be a good idea, and no, in and of itself it won't hurt the tranny. But, it may expose other problems with this kind of mileage. It's supposed to be done every 30k or so. Just make sure that the shop that does has a real flushing machine.

hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

if the trans has never had a flush i wouldnt do it, we cant do them on cars that have never had one before 100K. Dropping the pan will get some, but not all of the fluid out

blown94

iTrader: (1)

yer all missing the all important question here. Whats the condition of the fluid in it now? Is it varnished, burnt, black, brown, red and is the trans experiencing any type of issues right now. If the fluid is already black, forget it, leave it alone, the nails are already in the coffin and the hole has been dug.

killagt

iTrader: (3)

why not install a drain plug on the pan ? here what I do

Drop pan and change filter with new fluid, install drain plug

next oil change 3k miles or so, take out drain plug and drain out the fluid, fill it back up with new fluid

next oil change, do the same as above, and that it.

FOR THE GOD SAKE , NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR IN THE SHOP FOR COMPLETE FLUSH !, YOUR TRANNY WILL GO OUT NEXT DAY OR SO, AND MOST SHOP REFUSED TO FLUSH ON HIGH MILES TRANNY.

Kota04SXT

iTrader: (1)

If you decide to flush it, make sure you find somewhere with a low pressure flush system. High pressure older style flush machines will most likely cause problems. Newer systems are low pressure and take a little out at a time and add a little new at a time and don't cause issues. Pan drop like was said above will only get about 1/4 of the fluid out.

mcloud0729

Thanks for the advice guys! I checked the fluid yesterday and it seems to be pretty brown, doesn't appear to smell burnt though...

The reason I'm looking to change the fluid is because as of lately it feels like the transmission is kind of slipping/lagging when upshifting. I figure changing the fluid and the filter would be the first thing to try, and since it has pretty high mileage I'm not sure how many times if any the previous owner messed with the transmission.

AChotrod

iTrader: (17)

X2. If its never been changed leave it alone or just top it off. Ive never had good luck with full flushes unless it was done every 30k or so.
Also if your trans is slipping now its not going to help, and will prob make it worse.

fleetmgr

Start tranny shopping. No amount of flushing is gonna help you at this point. With the fluid turning brown, it's dead.

Z28Roxy

iTrader: (4)

I don't believe the stories of all the people who say don't flush it. Just because your cousin's girlfriend's uncle had a trans crap out after it was flushed doesn't mean anything.

I think most of the horror stories are people who already have a slipping transmission and think flushing it will fix things or they see "oh ****, the fluid is black" and flush it. When it craps out they blame the flush, not the previous neglect.

But you can drain it a few times to get most of the fluid out. Or put one trans line in an empty bucket and one in a bucket full of clean trans fluid. lol.