DON'T change tranny fluid???

[outalne94z71]

if you do ANYTHING do a new filter, but maybe substitute one quart for a quart of lucas trans fix. I've used it and had great results. My mom had a 98 excsort that started slipping, put in abottle and it was fine for a year or more, started slipping again, put in another bottle and it stopped slipping again. I like it and I use it for preventative maintainence.

a cap full of brake fluid sometimes does that too, causes just enough friction to keep bad clutches going a little longer, usually used in a emergency when you are about to be stranded by a slipping trans

 

[tylers88]

$11/hr is not right for mechanics with experience but you had what 2 or 3 years experience at best before you applied(assuming this job was recent) your location makes a difference too i think low pay at a dealer is $15 here

1 1/2 year at dealership, have 2 year degree but I turned in the most hours most of the time. A bad week for me I turned about 30 hours, normal week was around 38 hours,all they gave me to keep other 3 techs busy, I did turn over 50 one week(3 trans R&Rs in GMT800 Burbans). If I didn't have the most hours it was Steve(tech for 36-37 years IIRC) and I had 2nd.

 

[outalne94z71]

1 1/2 year at dealership, have 2 year degree but I turned in the most hours most of the time. A bad week for me I turned about 30 hours, normal week was around 38 hours,all they gave me to keep other 3 techs busy, I did turn over 50 one week(3 trans R&Rs in GMT800 Burbans). If I didn't have the most hours it was Steve(tech for 36-37 years IIRC) and I had 2nd.

sounds like it was just a bad dealer, my brother went to one after graduating uti and was paid $13/hr if i remember right, couple years later and more training for mercedes and bmw and other high end cars and i think he is making $32/hr now at a high end car dealer, even has won a few competitions that the dealer has sent him to

 

[tylers88]

sounds like it was just a bad dealer, my brother went to one after graduating uti and was paid $13/hr if i remember right, couple years later and more training for mercedes and bmw and other high end cars and i think he is making $32/hr now at a high end car dealer, even has won a few competitions that the dealer has sent him to

Good for him, all the other shop owners other than the Ford dealer still ask me if I want to go wrench for them but for me wrenching ruined the hobby for me.

 

[1993GMCSierra]

Everyone quit bitching about who knows what's best for everyone's transmission.

Read this:

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=252894

"So what happens if I replace the fluid with new fluid?
Gregg: "When fresh oil is introduced during a service or repair, a fresh load of detergents will pick older settled/compacted particles up and circulate them throughout the system. I have tested and verified this effect in my shop. In a normal working transmission that has never seen a failure with 100K miles, The old/original oil tested relatively clean, the new oil tested clean, 90% of the old oil was changed via drain and fill without pulling the pan. Follow up tests after 10 miles, 80 miles, and 200 miles showed the particulate matter in the oil steadily rising confirming the old concern of servicing older transmissions. In this case the transmission is now running with a greater amount of particulate circulating with the new oil than it was with the old oil.

Gregg continues: "Based on my experiences here, my recommendations for servicing older transmissions that have not had regular maintenance is as follows. Assuming a ‘normal’ service interval of once a year for a vehicle that has never or rarely had a transmission service:
1. Change the fluid and/or filter by any method. (Joel: A step-by-step process for GM B-bodies is here. Add a drain plug if you like.)
2. Relatively soon afterwards, drain the fluid and replace with new fluid. Leave the filter alone.
3. Thereafter, adopt an accelerated service interval by performing drain and fill of transmission fluid whenever changing engine oil (or every other depending on frequency).
4. After a few drain and fill services, return to the ‘normal’ service interval of once a year."


The very main reason older transmissions fail shortly after a flush, or fluid replacement, is because the new fluid picks up all the crap the old fluid was no longer able to keep in suspension, and it circulates all through the transmission, tearing it up internally.

If you changed your fluid now, then drained a bit (via the pressure/cooler line) after 100 miles, 250 miles, etc. you'll likely be fine.

OP, you especially need to follow this closely, as all that black stuff is clutch material from your clutch packs. Honestly, if you have a lot of clutch material in your transmission, it really is likely on it's last legs.

 

[outalne94z71]

Good for him, all the other shop owners other than the Ford dealer still ask me if I want to go wrench for them but for me wrenching ruined the hobby for me.

it does, who wants to work on their own stuff after fixing everyone's junk all day, that is why i don't do it professionally anymore and just do it on the side here and there when i want to make some quick cash to throw at my wheeler.

 

[Swims350]

yea I've heard the brake fluid trick and you can almost garuntee that shortly after the brake fluid it would be toast, and is most definately a last ditch effort to get you home.

The lucas seemed to be much safer and lasted, but I could not garuntee that for sure.

I would think most likely it'd be as stated before that if it's slipping it's already gone, and you are only gonna get by for so long, it's not IF it will fail it's just WHEN.

 

[1993GMCSierra]

You'd be surprised just how much good LUCAS can do for these transmissions.

At 122K, transmission #2 was all but dead. No reverse until warm (even then, slipping badly), shifting in and out of OD, downshifting into 1st at 30MPH instead of shifting into 3rd, etc.

I put a bottle of Trans Fix in it per a shops recommendation, and I couldn't believe it. It drove like it did the day I bought it. Lasted me two years and 7,000 miles before I suddenly lost the 2-3 shift and 3-4 shift on the way to an auction. Managed to get it to shift into third if I revved it up a bit and let off the gas completely, but no OD.

One rebuild (and some trans fix, for preventative maintenance) later, it works like a champ.

On my old Caprice, the 4L60E had 157K on it, and it had the original fluid to boot. 1-2 hammer shift, and rough upshifts/downshifts in all gears, as well as slipping reverse if you drove the trans hard for a bit. Bottle of Trans Fix, and it shifted almost like butter when I sold it.

 

[96-1500]

Everyone quit bitching about who knows what's best for everyone's transmission.

nobody is going to quit bitching. It's fun, and this is a debate that has gone on for pretty much every vehicle I know anything about (not that that's a lot of vehicles, but still). I doubt it will stop now.

OP, you especially need to follow this closely, as all that black stuff is clutch material from your clutch packs. Honestly, if you have a lot of clutch material in your transmission, it really is likely on it's last legs.

^ this. In my personal opinion, don't **** with it. Drive 'er until she calves. If it starts slipping, dump some lucas in it...and then, uh, drive 'er until she calves. My '96 1500 started slipping in reverse at around 360'000kms (however many miles that is for you Yankee gentlemen, I was too lazy to get a converter). Dumped some of that lucas tranny fix in it and it fixed the problem and I drove the truck until she had about 375 on it, when the motor took a bad one.

Like I said...personal opinion. There are others with waaay more experience than I have, but that's what I've done and have had pretty good luck. I've seen truck transmissions go bad after fluid changes or flushes, but they were pretty well done anyways, this was just a good way to tell they were done lol. How long they would have lasted if left alone...who knows. Maybe it was a coincidence. Somehow I doubt it.

 

[Chevy 97]

there are many gm "techs" that are clueless and i have met hundreds of them over the years so i have learned to pretty much take all of them with a grain of salt, nothing against you personally as i don't know you its just been the par of the course when dealing with "gm Techs" if that makes me a "jackass" then so be it and i will still be the one fixing "techs" screwups
actually i started when i was 7 and rebuilt my first sbc when 10 and been wrenching on everything from briggs& strattons to harley-davidsons to planes to quad axle dump trucks,so almost 33 years.

<----- that truck there, obama cannot say "i didn't build it" as i did it with a shattered foot in a gravel driveway in the snow, its almost as fun as muscle cars i have owned and built or restored over the years but this gets me in less trouble.


the cleaner solvent is what makes it a "flush" as to flush out the contaminates and varnish, just using the trans pump or a machine to pump in fresh fluid is just a full fluid change and i think that is where people get confused, it's the solvents and machines that back flush that can cause failure of a good trans, the fact that you would not use the cleaner tells me in your mind that that the cleaner solvent(what is usually known flushing) is a bad thing and we agree on that.

$11/hr is not right for mechanics with experience but you had what 2 or 3 years experience at best before you applied(assuming this job was recent) your location makes a difference too i think low pay at a dealer is $15 here, yea that pay sucks but to make the big bucks you need a whole lot experience and not work on gm stuff, you need mercedes or porsche training,something along the more exotic lines the require specialized training, the best money is in heavy diesel or aeronautic repair

I do the same as you do. I change the filter, put fresh oil in the pan. Take the return line off the transmission, run for a few seconds fill pan, do this till everything is clearer. I have over 233,000 miles on my 4L60E with no issues. I never did let the oil get very dark though. They say if you do a lot of towing, then you need to change the fluid more often. (The service manuel) I have never used any flushing agents in my transmission. Then again this truck I have done more servicing on then any other vehicle I owned. I guess that is why it has so many miles on it. Another thing, my brother in law burnt the oil in his transmission on his truck pulling a trailer on hot day. We ended up doing the same flush like you have done at the campground we were camped at. He was only going to just drain the oil and change the filter. I saw this done at work so we tried it. So far his transmission is still working. But he don't drive this truck as often anymore either. He didn't have a transmission cooler on either.