Changing tranny fluid-no one wants to drop the pan anymore

[Redbug]

Good point Iron Horse...about oil leaking while on vacation/holiday. Same goes if you happen to overheat pulling a trailer and oil escapes out the transmission overflow. With the sealed for life trannys you have no way of telling how much you lost. Or is there a sight plug on the side of these new transmissions?

 

[Diamondpilot]

With the sealed for life trannys you have no way of telling how much you lost. Or is there a sight plug on the side of these new transmissions?

The ones I have seen do have a site plug. I have not been around a bunch but I have seen them on the Mountaineer my wife had, my neighbors Olds, and a few imports. I must just be lucky but I have been driving for 20 years and owned probably 30+ vehicles. Everything from a Honda Civic to 4 Diesel trucks and I have never added a drop of tranny fluid to any other than during normal change intervals.

Chris

 

[brandoro]

As it happens I now own a "sealed for life" transmission. Not real enthused about the idea but the truck comes with long enough warranty that I am sure I can live with it long enough to decide if the truck will be a long term one or not. I like to be able to check things, it is difficult to tell how much fluid has been lost by the amount spattered on the end gate. When I am finished the project I am on right now I plan to spend some time underneath the vehicle looking to see if there is a way to check the oil quality/quantity regardless of the missing dipstick.
As far as transmissions giving you some warning when they are approaching the end of their useful life, not always. The transmission in my '95 Dakota went from working perfectly to not working at all in about a second. The torque converter failed, instant loss of power to everything from there on. The good news was that I had enough momentum to coast up into an approach and was still in cell range to call for a tow.

 

[Eagleview]

Hmmmmn , let me see . A car i can check the fluid level with a dipstick and top up with a bottle . Or a car i have to squeeze underneath in my good cloths , third degree burns on the catalytic convertor , shot in the face with scalding fluid , yell at the wife i'll swear if i want too . And if its down i need to find a drum pump to top it up . Hmmmn Which one will i buy ?

 

[Diamondpilot]

As it happens I now own a "sealed for life" transmission.

Just curious what vehicle do you now drive? Year, make, model, ect.


Thanks
Chris

 

[brandoro]

The sealed for life one is a 2008 Toyota Tundra.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I would not worry about it. That looks like a great truck. I really considered one back in May. It was between F-150, Tundra, and the Titan. It came down to $$$. My local Toy and Nissan dealers were real proud of what they had and I could get a F-150 with more gadgets for less $$$. I will have to look at them again when this one gets traded in.

Chris

 

[brandoro]

Only have 9000km on the truck so far but besides a couple of minor things it seems good. Fuel economy is creeping up as it gets a bit more run time. I don't expect it will ever be what you would call economical but should be decent considering the power available. Other than the lack of dipstick the transmission is impressive, quick and smooth to shift and lots of choices with 6 forward so always able to put the power to the ground. Probably a good thing it has the traction control or it would be quite hard on tires. I haven't pulled with it yet but I expect pulling the tractor around will be too easy for it. I'm seriously considering buying an enclosed car trailer so I can bring more of my toys with me, and have a place to keep them, when I am on jobs I can drive to.

 

[klm]

Anybody here use Amsoil ATF? If so what do you think? I have it in my 98 Dodge Ram for almost 40000 miles so far with no problems. I tow some but not a lot.

 

[brandoro]

I ran Amsoil ATF in my Dakota from near new. In 12 years the only problems I had were a leaky rear seal about three years ago and last year the torque convertor failed. Don't think that was the fluids fault. I was starting to pass a tractor trailer unit, when it downshifted for second gear it made an odd whunk kind of sound. I took my foot off and coasted down the shoulder to an approach to see what had happened and found I had no connection from the engine to anything behind it.
I put Amsoil in everything that uses lubrication, once I feel it is broken in. My B7610 will get it in the engine on the next change, 200 hrs and the trans/hydraulic fluid at 300hrs. It is just under the 200 hour mark right now. The B6200 I had before was synthetic end to end. Really like it for cold weather in the tractor.