Shop refused to service transmission - Find another shop or Thank them?

[Supercharged111]

Oh yeah, I switched the truck and car over to synthetic around 170k and neither one exploded or started leaking (worse).

 

[7echo]

Ok did some checking. Transmission is a 4L60E. Pulled the dipstick and it was a little dark. Not burnt at all but not a pretty red color either. Trying to find another pan. The one you listed on Amazon says it does not fit my vehicle. However if I go to Dorman's website and look up the part number it says it fits 98 and up 4L60E. Any difference in a 97 or 98 4L60E transmission oil pan?

If you can weld, or know a guy...

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[rhino]

Nobody knows. It would be cool to say, ok every car over 200 thousand miles shouldn't be serviced. But, its not that simple. It's a case by case basis. A few things I look for is, is the fluid burnt? Burnt fluid is bad right? Well kinda. If you have a 200, 000 mile car with the original transmission fluid, the fluid is likely burnt. If you hooked a pressure gauge up, you would likely see pressures 15-25 LBS lower than when that fluid is new. The fluid viscosity on a sudden full flush can cause pump failure, or push a weak clutch over the edge. Does it happen a lot? Not really.
Second thing is, its tricky servicing a transmission. You guys on the forums aren't like the normal Joe. Normal Joe doesn't do his research. He climbs under the truck and starts pulling bolts. I bet over the years I have built over 50 4L60E's some guy brings me in the back of a truck. He tells me how he serviced his truck because it had 150,000 miles and ever since its slipping. The "service" got him. His uncle warned him. I pull the pan on teardown, and there is his shift solenoid unplugged or broken from trying to wiggle the pan past the exhaust.
Then there is the filter. 2wd filters on a 4wd, missing filter seals, wrong year model filters.
Add up all of these possibilities and a simple service does sound dangerous. But as long as you know it's done right, go ahead and service it imo. Don't flush it, just pull the pan, change the filter and top it off.

 

[df2x4]

Nobody knows. It would be cool to say, ok every car over 200 thousand miles shouldn't be serviced. But, its not that simple. It's a case by case basis. A few things I look for is, is the fluid burnt? Burnt fluid is bad right? Well kinda. If you have a 200, 000 mile car with the original transmission fluid, the fluid is likely burnt. If you hooked a pressure gauge up, you would likely see pressures 15-25 LBS lower than when that fluid is new. The fluid viscosity on a sudden full flush can cause pump failure, or push a weak clutch over the edge. Does it happen a lot? Not really.
Second thing is, its tricky servicing a transmission. You guys on the forums aren't like the normal Joe. Normal Joe doesn't do his research. He climbs under the truck and starts pulling bolts. I bet over the years I have built over 50 4L60E's some guy brings me in the back of a truck. He tells me how he serviced his truck because it had 150,000 miles and ever since its slipping. The "service" got him. His uncle warned him. I pull the pan on teardown, and there is his shift solenoid unplugged or broken from trying to wiggle the pan past the exhaust.
Then there is the filter. 2wd filters on a 4wd, missing filter seals, wrong year model filters.
Add up all of these possibilities and a simple service does sound dangerous. But as long as you know it's done right, go ahead and service it imo. Don't flush it, just pull the pan, change the filter and top it off.

He's alive!!

Hey by the way thanks for the recommendations and good prices on the 4L60E parts around a while back bud, that rebuild I had done in my red truck is a beast!

 

[Texcuda]

I used to build tranny's for a living. I have seen a filter change on a high mileage, poorly maintained trans result in a no longer functioning trans. One was DRT and the other took a couple weeks. Both times all the clutch material was in the pan and the clutches themselves were smooth and looked like the steels minus the engagement lugs. The shop I was at had to eat 2 rebuilds because there is no explaining to a customer how his negligence resulted in the vehicle driving in and not driving back out. It's not terribly common but it is a possibility.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Those were both cooked to begin with, he had the filter changed because he felt slipping, then blamed the failure on the fluid change.

That is the exact scenario that perpetuates the myth.

 

[Texcuda]

Those were both cooked to begin with, he had the filter changed because he felt slipping, then blamed the failure on the fluid change.

That is the exact scenario that perpetuates the myth.

It's not a myth if it happens. A myth is the boogie man or Bigfoot, much talked about but unprovable. In this case, there is a preponderance of evidence. I have personally seen it happen. Vehicle drives in fine, won't move after fluid change. I don't want to nitpick but simply not having personally seen it doesn't mean it isn't possible. I've never seen a billion dollars (or million for that matter), but that doesn't mean it don't exist.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I'm not going to keep going around this bush, if you don't want to change your fluid, don't. I'll keep changing mine on everything I buy, and we'll just agree to disagree.

 

[Texcuda]

I'm not going to keep going around this bush, if you don't want to change your fluid, don't. I'll keep changing mine on everything I buy, and we'll just agree to disagree.

And that is fine, the point here is, this is a possibility especially for owners who don't know jacksh*t about transmissions. I don't want to argue about it other than to point out that the blanket statement is wrong.

To each his own.....

 

[laidbackbigun]

i always just used to tell the customer, i'll do it but if it doesn't work or shift or something happens down the road to the tranny, remember our conversation. I'll do it but there is NO WARRANTY. To many times have i seen it where people come in and want work done and then try and get you to buy their new tranny or replace their car because of something they wanted done. I made them sign a disclaimer saying besides my labor i wasnt responsible for any issue arising after their service. I've had people coming in with slipping trans wanting a service thinking it would "fix" the issue. Its funny how at check in there is never a issue with the car, but you test drive it like all good techs should and all the sudden the car is a bucket. For the OP i'm not saying you are doing this and i read and understand your thread but im saying in general if a shop tells you it might cause issues, well it might cause issues.