ATF Flush

[rmatnze]

So this week I was thinking of flushing all of my ATF and replacing it with Amsoil synthetic and dropping the pan/chianging the filter. My Cruiser has 150k on it.

I've heard of peoples' transmissions slipping/needing a rebuild after the fluid is flushed completely at high miles and I'm just wondering for the people who have done flushes what was your mileage/experiance? Also how good were you about changing your ATF throughout the life of your car?

I haven't heard any horror stories about ATF flushes on this site, but I figured I'd ask just in case.

 

[Dutchie]

Flushed mine after I bought it with 285000 on the clock. Old ATF was apparently in there for 30.000 km and still looked OK but I replaced all with Castrol Transmax Z.

Took 20 liters to replace, pretty expensive exercise but apparently the transmax Z is very good.

Have a search on here, there's a good topic that describes how to do it.

 

[NerdNoise]

All I do is a drain and fill. It goes through about a gallon each time that I do it and I do it with the regular $15/gal stuff. To do a complete replacement is a big pain in the a$$.**To do a drain and fill takes 10-15 minutes. I just do this each time I change my oil and this keeps my ATF pretty fresh. I figure that I get 95% new ATF every 3-4 oil changes which puts it about once per year. To me its a cheap and fast way to keep my ATF fresh without having to go the synthetic ($$$) route.

 

[Corbet]

If a trans needs a rebuild after a "flush" it was more than likely going to fail soon anyway.

Directions on fluid exchange from FAQ to do it yourself:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/19299-transmission-fluid-exchange-writeup.html

I had my ATF swapped out when I bought the truck with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. Granted I had half the miles at that time as you but I still would not expect any problems if your trans is currently healthy.

 

[Cancruiser]

So this week I was thinking of flushing all of my ATF and replacing it with Amsoil synthetic and dropping the pan/chianging the filter. My Cruiser has 150k on it.

I've heard of peoples' transmissions slipping/needing a rebuild after the fluid is flushed completely at high miles and I'm just wondering for the people who have done flushes what was your mileage/experiance? Also how good were you about changing your ATF throughout the life of your car?

I haven't heard any horror stories about ATF flushes on this site, but I figured I'd ask just in case.

I did the same drain-and-fill method and helped immensely with the shifting. I did 4 changes spaced ~ 100km apart. That almost replenished ~85% of the fluid there. I do one drain-and-fill with every other oil change as mentioned above. Cheap insurance which costs only a few bucks more.

I am attaching a file for you that'll tell you how much percentage of new fluid in there after how many changes. Credit goes to original poster (got it from another forum)
It is actually an Excel sheet but I renamed it as PDF so I can upload it here. Download it, rename it to "Transmission fluid change.xls" instead of "Transmission fluid change.pdf" and use it..

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I had mine "flushed" with a BG transmission machine as part of my baseline PMs when I bought my 80. 114k on the odo at the time and I'm pretty sure that the original fluid was still in the trans. I used Amsoil Universal ATF and they also dropped the pan and cleaned the screen. Transmission seems to like it.

 

[-Spike-]

What Nerdnoise said. Pull the plug at every oil change while you're under there anyway. I start by verifying that I have the right amount in the tranny before draining it, measure how much comes out by emptying the drain pan into a gallon jug, and then replace the gallon that invariably comes out. You can get the fluid at Wallyworld for $10-$14/gallon depending on what brand you want.

-Spike

 

[alex4640]

I had my 92 completely flushed and replaced with basic everyday ATF when I bought it at 96,000. Filter was replaced as well. The transmission did not seem any different as far as shifting or performance. I now have 160,000. Come to think of it, I should replace it again! Thanks for the reminder!