Where do you guys recommend for a tranny flush? I don't really want to go to a quick lube because those guys are morons. Aamco wants $130 and said it would take 3 hrs to do . Should I just try one of those all-around fix-it shops that has a machine or call more trans shops and see if they do it?

Also is there a certain brand of regular ATF that is good to use?

Thanks

:bounce2:

 

AAMCO is about the only place I would trust. $130 aint bad for a full flush.
3hrs is BS, it took an hour for the girlfriends heep. I love my manual tranny-15 bucks and 15 minutes.

 

I use 76 Express Lubes. $79.99 on the T-Tech machine every day.

 

My dealer charged me $75 for the change .

Try your dealer for some routine maintanance they are pretty competitive .

 

The dealership here only does drain and refill.

 

I found a Goodyear Service Center that will do it for $100 and it'll only take 1 hr. That will work for me.

 

Why not do it yourself, it is pretty easy and you can spend that 100 dollars for Amsoil or Mobil 1 synthetic ATF.

 

I had the dealership do it for $125.
You can really go to any dealership to get it flushed. When I worked at a Ford/Mercury dealership, we did other makes.

 

I've messed with transmissions and they can be messy and a PITA to do. Plus time is money and I don't know when I will be able to go home and do it.

I usually do all my stuff myself but I'm going to let a shop handle this.

 

There is really only two ways to ˟˟˟˟˟ up ATF fluid exchange (remember no such thing as an ATF flush), (one way on a Wynn's Machine). On the Mac Tool machine, you miss match the inlet and return line on the machine or on most machines, you don't add enough fluid to the reservior tank (20 quarts is generally recommend, although generally you only exchange max 14 quarts).

So with that in mind, just watch the guys are they are doing the work on your truck, but as long as they have clean (and are using the right ATF) you can have pretty much anyone do it, hell even walmart. It does generally take about an hour to do a complete fluid exchange.

Never mind, I see you already got it done at a Goodyear center. Just ignore me.

 

Jiffy Screw. Brought my own Amsoil and never took my eyes off the guy.

 

I am in need of this service aswell. My idea is that if I do it myself and it dies due to the gih milage on the transmission I am screwed. Atleast if I take it to a dealer I can have the back up of the reciept they give me showing they serviced it. I have heard rumors of dirty fluid being changed and then transmissions dying. I think I will start calling around for quotes from shops tomorrow.

 

Uh Yoter, if the technician is smart, generally he or she checks the condition of the fluid before doing a tranny fluid change. Generally, then that is dictated to the customer and if the customer still wants to continue with a change, then your service sheet is indicated as "advised customer against possible tranny failure due to poor fluid" or something to that extent.

You may get lucky and have a tech not even notice or even do a check in the first place. Is your fluid that bad?

Pull out your dipstick, and first smell the ATF, does it smell burnt? That's bad if it does and at this point, there is a possibility your tranny could go bad on changing your fluid. Even in that situation, your tranny is already on it's way out and changing fluid only accelerates the problem. My teacher was telling me of a time he pulled the tranny pan down and the fluid just looked bad and he went up and told the service advisor to call the customer and tell the customer if he still wants a refill with new fluid, or just keep the current ATF. Customer requests new ATF, and sure enough 10 miles later, the tranny failed.

Next, drop as much as you can from the dipstick on say a white brawy paper towel. Is it red with a hint of very fine bits of black particles. That's actually okay and that just indicates clutch material. I think it's orange color that indicates oxidation, but i could be wrong in that. I have yet to see fluid that is that bad. If it's not burnt, and your fluid comes out red with a slight indication of black particles, your probably okay to do a flush. Maybe, I'll take a picture tonight to show you what I mean.

 

For those who would rather do it themselves, knowing it was done and done right, here's a diyer apporach taken from another site that works just fine.

1.) Take the outflow hose off the transmission, and put a 10-foot extension on it... route that extension up and over the passenger door mirror so that gravity keeps the fluid in the hose instead of running out)... drop the open end of that hose in a 5-gallon bucket, and duct tape it to the side of the bucket so it doesn't jump out and douse your driveway.
2.) Take another 5-gallon bucket and drill/tap/TRV a bung into the bottom of it
3.) Connect another 10-foot extension hose to that bung, and place the bucket on the hood (on a towel if you have nice paint). Duct tape it down, too, for the same reasons stated above.
4.) Connect the other end of this extension hose to where the inflow hose connects to the transmission.
5.) Use a tube-clamp or a set of vice grips to clamp off the extension hose near the bucket.
6.) Fill the bucket with tranny fluid (Walmart has it in 1-gallon containers for cheap)... you want to use at least one-and-a-half times what the owners manual specs for your transmission to account for what's in the hoses. Me, I'd just drop the dime and put in two-and-a-half times the specced quantity to insure a thorough flush.
7.) Remove the pinch clamp or vise grips (this will start a slow gravity-cycle of the fluid), then start the vehicle, and cycle it through its gears. Keep an eye on the bucket fluid level and shut the vehicle off when you run out of feed fluid.
8.) Disconnect and drain the extension lines and quickly reattach the factory cooler lines -- any fluid you lose while doing this can be topped off shortly.
9.) Restart the vehicle, run it through its gears again, then top off the tranny fluid through the filler or dipstick.
10.) Cap off the 5 gallon bucket of used fluid and take it to a recycle depot.
11.) Wipe out the inside of the feed bucket, throw some paper towels in the bottom, then label and bag all the extension lines, clamps, etc. that you used, and put them in the bucket, too. Cap off this bucket and put in in the garage for the next time you want to do this task.

 

i like the bucket idea, I just had my changed by a shop who swears that this is the only way (letting the tranny do the work vs. a machine) to change the fluid. had 84,kkk on my 2000 and the only thing that had been done was a drain and fill. couldn't even see through the fluid in a 1-litre pepsi bottle. I'm gonna bookmark this