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

[PSDStu]

Not sure about your truck, but when I change the tranny fluid on my 97 F-250 Powerstoke I can also turn the torque converter and pull the drain plug and drain it as well.
The only real pain with my truck is that the EO4D trans pan doesn't have a drain plug, so the first time I did the change I swapped the EO4D pan for a 4R100 pan which has the drain plug.

Stu

 

[Roady]

Just a quick note about the fluid exchange method. The machine that does this takes out the old and pumps in the new fluid all in reverse. This method removes almost all debris from your filter and takes it out of the tranny. As mentioned before, dropping the pan method only replaces about 5-6 quarts of fluid. Exchange gets all of it. Even the converter fluid. I always have my mechanic add 1 gallon of Lucas to the tranny also. Makes a huge difference.

Roady

 

[orezok]

Good and interesting thread. I've been around career mechanics all my life and most good mechanics will tell you that really being an expert on auto transmissions are something that's somewhat a breed of it's own. There seems to be a bit of a mystery about really knowing your stuff about them. I'm curious what makes them fail and why it's so expensive these days to rebuild them??? And truely, what, if anything can be done other than the normal fluid and filter changes to prolong it's life. Maybe someone here will respond that is truely a transmission specialist so we all don't just have to continue to guess what the spirit of a auto transmission really is.....(no offense to anyone)

Per my previous quote, I used to own a tranny shop. The greatest cause of failure in transmissions is heat. Run a transmission for 30 minutes with overheated fluid and you can plan on a rebuild. Heat makes the "soft parts" deteriorate quickly and causes them to glaze resulting in additional slippage and more heat. Hard part failure has become a more rare event with modern metallurgy and engineering. Mis-assembly at teh factory is a greater problem.

The newer fluids are much better at preventing heat breakdown, so go with the latest fluid available. Most quicky lube's will use a low grade "generic" fluid with the one size fits all approach. It's probably NOT the manufacturers recommended fluid/additive package. Buy your own name brand fluid and change it yourself!

Rebuilds are expensive because modern transmissions are complex electro-mechanical devices. In depth knowledge of rebuilding will net a good builder over $100K a year. Also in addition to replacing soft parts at rebuild, now numerous electro mechanical parts should be replaced just based upon age.

Manufacturers put filters in to catch the "big" stuff, such as those miscellaneous spare parts that get dropped during manufacturing or pieces of friction material that break off due to hardening from high heat. Other than that, the filter serves no real purpose. If the filter has anything in it , you need a rebuild. I haven't changed the filter in my 96 Dodge PU in 7-8 years and don't plan to. It's got 175K miles and the fluid is pink and sweet smelling at every change.

Best advise I can give is keep it cool and do regular fluid changes.

 

[Skyco]

Not sure about your truck, but when I change the tranny fluid on my 97 F-250 Powerstoke I can also turn the torque converter and pull the drain plug and drain it as well.
The only real pain with my truck is that the EO4D trans pan doesn't have a drain plug, so the first time I did the change I swapped the EO4D pan for a 4R100 pan which has the drain plug.

Stu

Well I did have a torque convertor drain plug until I had Brian at BTS build me a trans...they use a whopping torque convertor that unfortunately has no drain plug. They also replaced the pan with the 4r100 pan with the plug. BTW that torque convertor was so huge compared to stock it added 3 qts to the capacity. I had my trans done by BTS as I was passing through ARK and had 120,000 miles..knew it would go someday with all the towing I do. He did find a few slightly burned clutch plates. The way Brian does them I expect to never have to go into that trans again even though I may shoot for 500,000 on the truck just for grins.

 

[orezok]

Just a quick note about the fluid exchange method. The machine that does this takes out the old and pumps in the new fluid all in reverse. This method removes almost all debris from your filter and takes it out of the tranny.

Roady

I don't believe that is possible due to the anti-drain back valve in the torque converter.

 

[Roady]

I don't believe that is possible due to the anti-drain back valve in the torque converter.

There are 2 different methods. One involves changing the fluid by using your transmission pump to move the fluid. This is done by tapping into your cooler lines. The other way involves droping the pan and connecting that way. I'm pretty sure that one is the reverse flow option. I found a couple manufactures that advertise exchangers that work that way by doing a google search.

Roady

 

[Redbug]

One interesting note. One of my friends just bought a new Toyota truck. He said the transmission is sealed for life. I looked and it does not even have a dipstick! No way to even check the fluid! I don't think I would want to do much trailer pulling if I cannot change the oil occasionally. I wonder how well they will hold up?

 

[Diamondpilot]

That is nothing new. We had a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer with the 4.6L V8 and a automatic that was sealed. I asked the Ford Garage boss about it and he said Ford and others were doing it to the "soccer mom" vehicles. He said it had a float switch that turned on when the level was low and activated the light on the dash. He said a totally sealed system was the way to go because most people over fill due to checking when not up to temp plus keeps crud out. On the Mountaineer it had 60,000 mile chance interval. I was there when they did it and it was the cleanest I have ever seen so maybe a sealed system is the way to go.

End result is you still change the fluid and instead of a dipstick there is a float switch and a dummy light. No leaks no problems so it will probably be what we are seeing more in the future.

Chris

 

[Eagleview]

Checking the fluid level is not the only use for a dipstick . I like to be able to keep an eye on the colour and smell of the fluid . I bought a different brand of new car because the first i looked at had a sealed tranny .

 

[Builder]

That is nothing new. We had a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer with the 4.6L V8 and a automatic that was sealed. I asked the Ford Garage boss about it and he said Ford and others were doing it to the "soccer mom" vehicles. He said it had a float switch that turned on when the level was low and activated the light on the dash. He said a totally sealed system was the way to go because most people over fill due to checking when not up to temp plus keeps crud out. On the Mountaineer it had 60,000 mile chance interval. I was there when they did it and it was the cleanest I have ever seen so maybe a sealed system is the way to go.

End result is you still change the fluid and instead of a dipstick there is a float switch and a dummy light. No leaks no problems so it will probably be what we are seeing more in the future.

Chris

I don't trust dummy lights. I don't think you'll find a sealed system used on allisons or CAT autos.