Well, the only fluid left in my car that I have not changed is the trans. fluid.

My z28 is got right under 75k. I think the fluid has been changed before, but over 3 years ago.

The fluid looks light beige in color and has no black burned crap in it.


I asked this before, but never went through with it.


Should I do it or not?

If I did, it would not be a true flush. I would just change the crap in the pan, and change the pan over to one with a drain plug, then drop the fluid one more time.


I just don't want to lose the trany, it would really suck.


What would be more safe? Leave it be or drop the **** out?

 

i think its a wives tale. Everyone I know has heard its bad to do, but I have never met anyone with first hand experiance, clean is better than dirty. Way I figure it, if you are relaly depending on sludge to hold together your transmission, maybe you shouldnt be driving the car, i dunno. I have a 1992 tahoe with 180k on it, when I bought it 3 years ago it had around 140k and I brought it up to my dads shop and the fluid looked browinsh, didnt smell burnt, just looked brown, I went to hook it up to the flush machine and holy crap every tech in the place was like "i wouldnt do that if i were you" and scared me out of it so i just droped the pan and changed the filter. whatever, about a year later whenever it got hot it would shift hard, checked the fluid, it was even more brown, disconected the trans cooler line, took a hose and a hose clamp and ran it to a 5 gallon jug, over filled the trans by about 2 quarts, started the truck, let it pump 4 quarts into the jug, added about 4 quarts, started the truck and let it pump another 4 quarts into the jug, added another 4 quarts all the way up to 5 gallons, the last time I only added 2 quarts. hooked the line back up checked the fluid, level was pretty damn close, fluid is almost red again, slight tint of brown. truck shifts smooth for about 6 months now. Lesson learned. should have just friggin did it with the machine when the ATF was free. Thats just my personal experiance.

 

Change it for sure along with the filter. Use Dex III not the newer stuff. Your current pan has a spot on it that can be tapped for a plug so a new pan is not necassary IIRC.

 

One thing, If your havin problems with the transmission. My suggestion is not to do it.I work at a Firestone and we do them all the time. I personally had done it on my black z28 thinking that it would make my tranny better. Mine was slipping a bit. It made it worse then ever and I ended up paying for a new tranny! Without flushing and just changing the fluid is the safest way to do it, and probably wont hurt anything at all. Good luck!

 

Ehh, a new pan with a drain is only 50 Bucks.

I had a 76' Camaro with a TH350 with old *** fluid. So I was like why the hell not, I will change the pan gasket which leaked along with the filter and fluid.

Changed it, month later the trany started slipping bad. . . . Then died.


AT's suck some times. . . . . .

 

The theroy that I heard is that the clutch particals act as a friction modifer between the clutch packs and if you flush the modifier away it will cause slippage. Lucas makes this friction modifier. You could in theroy flush it and ad a quart of lucas. Just an idea

 

Then why even post this question when you apparently already have your own answer Whatever man

 

Your tranny was going to crap anyway if dirty fluid was holding it together LMFAO

 

I had the whole tranny flushed by a BG machine at 50k. 3 months/ 3,000 miles later it still shifts great. The guy at midas told me not to waste my money on the filter for some reason.

 

ive heard of it being bad but i acutally got mines flushed and didnt have a problem. Mines was burnt and the car was sitting for a long time! I guess i got lucky

 

^ I bit grouchy ey? ? ? ?

I like to hear what other people have to say.

The conclusion I am currently @ is that my fluid is old and will not make my trans last forever.


If I swap it, my trany should last a longer time. I really don't think a fluid swap will kill my 75k trans.

 

At 75K, it is a good idea to flush. I worked at a Chevy dealer as a tech for 4 years. I now work for John Deere at there R&D facility as the drivetrain supervisor. If your tranny is not experiencing any problems, as it shouldn't be at 75K, flush the system. The only time a flush can hurt the trans. is if it has 125K + on the original fluid and it has gotten hot before. If it is only a light brown and does not smell burnt, flush it. If it was burnt and was dark brown, don't flush it and buy a new trans. in 5K miles.

Scott

 

Install a tranny cooler for added piece of mind....heat kills an auto tranny.

 

I have had mine flushed twice and still drives fine. I do agree on not doing it if there is a problem already existing.

 

Good to hear, but I am still not down with a full on flush.

Since I can do a full fluid swap with a new trans pan that has a drain plug for 75 Bucks.


Then I can just dump the fluid out of the pan every 6 months or so.

 

So this thread is kind of a waste being you already had your mind made up from the start

 

Since the biggest problem with an auto is heat, which I think we all agree on, and a real fact of trans. fluid is that it looses its ability to transfer heat out after it has been over heated like some %20 to %50. The recommended service interval by the way for an ls1 f-body is like some 12,000 miles by the manufacturer and most other cars on the road are 30,000 to 50,000 miles in ideal conditions which we know only happens in the lab.
To top it all off most trans. don't even have filters just a screen that filters the big stuff basically after its too late.
Trans. flushes to keep my trans. clean and able to get rid of all that heat is what I would rec.

 

If you change the pan and do not flush then you still have the fluid in the torque converter/dirt/particals ect. Torched my tranny after a few bolt ons with only 50k or so on it. Rebuilt/new deep alum pan with drain/added tranny cooler also tranny temp gauge. I also had so much stuff in tranny after it went out I sent torque converter out and had it rebuilt also.

 

you are only changing 20% or so of your tranny fluid when you drop the pan. If you are going to flush it do it right and have your car hooked up to a trans flush machine. At 75k and good fluid condition it would be the best thing you could do for your trans.

 

dont flush.

drain , new filter ,refill, call it a day.