gs4rocks

I was thinking about getting transmission flush done sometime soon, and I came across this article today.

http://autotechrepair.suite101.com/article.cfm/040206

In summary, it's saying that transmission flush is not recommended and it can do more harm than good.

One guy in the comments section says he works for car manufaturer and the article is accurate. What do you guys think?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The general thoughts on flushing in this forum is typically "NO". It's not worth the risk to some people. Then again, I've known a few who never had a problem with flushing.

If you need to drain out all your fluid to replace with new fluids, I highly recommend you look at BananaGS' DIY page on how to flush the tranny fluid, without the expensive labor cost. Plus it's a lot safer than those flushing systems out there. It's basically a drain and refill, except you're able to drain all the fluid instead of the typical 2-3qts.

AW99GS400

I am consider getting it done too, pros and cons ? any feel back will be nice

Lexmex

Only time I recommend this is when you have a lot of debris (silvery/pinkish fluid) and a flush can help get everything out, where as a drain and fill doesn't. I had to do this once about 4 years ago with my RX. If you don't have that rare situation, I see no need to do a flush.

pimplux808

wow ? thanks for posting this thread up , i was actually gonna do a trans flush soon and after reading that link , im getting second thoughts.
the things they say in there do make alot of sense to me .

thanks again

aloha

SorrGwa

iTrader: (1)

just do a drain and refill more often. if your tranny fluid doesnt look like its got fragments in it, it should still be good. i just recently did mine, only got 2Ls out... ill probably do it again in about 30.000 miles...

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

What Exact Motorsports (CL Approved Vendor for NorCal) does is open up the tranny coolant line and let the oil drain out from there, while at the same time filling the new oil into the filler tube.

What typically happens is there will be some mix of old oil with new, but if you drain and fill long enough, eventually you will flush out most of the old oil.

This is the process they have done for numerous NorCal members who have converted over to Amsoil Synthetic ATF.

They usually consume a 2 gallon jug of oil so it isn't cheap, especially when it's synthetic.

You can do a search in NorCal section with key words such as "Flush" & "Exact" and you will see there are a bunch of satisfied customers.

They have been flushing CL member cars for over 5 years now and we have heard of no adverse affects.

I'd say if you are not going synthetic, then just drain the tranny pan of it's couple quarts more often. If you want to switch over to synthetic, I can tell you the results are amazing. The tranny shifts like butter and you can even tell the difference when using e-shift.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

That's probably not a good indicator of when you need to change fluid.

You've got magnets in the tranny pan plus a filter screen.

If you did see fragments when you are draining that would not be good and you probably have bigger problems than just needing to change your fluid.

jz4203

I did drain and refills until my cars (both Lexus) went back to a nice rosy pink. Since then, I do it every other oil change (every 10k miles) and use the Toyota Type IV fluid. Cars shift smoother and both are over 190k miles.

pimplux808

thanks for letting us know that...
to me i feel that the drain and fill is good, but like others say ...if u see metal and crap then u should get the full flush. . ...

gapxguy

My mechanic told me the same thing. So I drained and filled 2 quarts every oil change. It's been two years and I've been through more than a box of Toyota's ATF. My ATF fluid is now red again and shifts super smooth. The fluid use to be black with a stinky burnt smell.

wingzero

i believe the general rule of thumb is the following:

If your transmission is not experiencing any problems shifting, DO NOT FLUSH IT, just drain and refill. (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)
If it is experiencing problems, then drain and refill first, then ONLY as a last resort flush it.

Misha98GS4

The type of drain that my mechanic does is that he doesn't od thge tranny change and let it drip for 20 minutes. he leaves my car overnight with a bucket under, and that way a lot more oil comes out. I got around 8L out of the I think 12 L in the tranny out last time, and no flushing was necessary. Flush will probably get more out, but I always hear about that maybe it might damage tranny, so I never do it. If u guys want something that is good for sure, then ask ur mechanic to leave the car overnight and let the tranny oil drip. Good Luck.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Not sure how you can get 8 quarts out of 12 out, since most of the fluid is in the torque convertor itself and the tranny line. Those just dont drip out


Instead of draining and refilling, just pull out the tranny return line and pump the fluid out. That way you will have newer fluid. Drain and refill is a great way for maintenance, but if your fluid is really dark or has some metal debris in it, you might want to try to extract all that fluid out. plus refilling the tranny 2-3qt at time will take forever before you get the full effect of a tranny flush.

On my dad's camry, I use to do drain and refills every other oil change. When it was time to change fluid, the color was back to its original dark brown. I got fed up before I spent so much money on fluids. Finally one day I pulled the tranny line and did a complete flush. The fluid still looks new and I haven't had to do a drain and refill in a LONG time. Not to mention I save time/money.

nytoy

yeah my car has 125k and has never seen a flush, and I've heard if it hasn't been done before with lower miles, bad things can happen doing it to a higher mile car. It shifts nice a smooth now and the fluid doesn't look too bad so I'm thinking of just letting it be. The 2qt at a time method seems to offer little gain, since it's going to take a year for most of the old fluid to come out...