ATF 3x Drain & Fill

[Furious]

That's honestly just a myth... Maybe if you NEVER changed the fluid before in the life of the vehicle. It's fine, if you've been keeping it changed regularly. A lot of people change it when the transmission was already having issues to begin with and they claim the fluid change made it worse, but it didn't.

Did back to back drain/fills on my Toyota, no problem. Doing it on my Chevy soon and a family members Toyota. Oh and all of these are 20 and 21 year old vehicles.

He is an excellent channel for a lot of things but he clearly holds on to old teachings and is not a transmission expert he clearly specializes in general maintenance/ diagnosing/parts changing and short block replacements.

I asked multiple transmission experts about this and the consensus between all of them is if the transmission shifts good and has no problems and the fluid is not black/burnt then it will almost always be fine to do drain/fills.

 

[JRHAWK9]

You believe everything you see on the internet?

I'll believe a master tech who services these things for a living over someone in the internet regurgitating stuff they read on the internet.

If you mean the part where he says if the car has over 100,000 miles on the original fluid, don't change it now?

nope....not it.

 

[kschachn]

I'll believe a master tech who services these things for a living over someone in the internet regurgitating stuff they read on the internet.

Which is fine if it’s the truth. I’m not sure I believe much of anything on YouTube, technical or otherwise.

Also sometimes techs make correlations based on perceptions that aren’t really there, or extrapolate observations into areas where they aren’t qualified.

 

[atikovi]

nope....not it.

Maybe just say it instead if having people guess.

 

[UG_Passat]

What part of what I said would he disagree with? If the fluid is dark, replace it until it looks like what comes out of the bottle.

He says some contaminants leftover in the ATF is a good thing, as it helps the lockup clutch function properly in the torque converter.

 

[UG_Passat]

Here's Lubegard's advertisement on certain GM 6 & 8 speed shudder

LUBEGARD® GM 6 & 8-Speed Shudder Solution - Transmission Digest

General Motors has published multiple technical service bulletins pertaining to torque converter clutch shudder issues in their 8-speed transmissions. This problem currently affects 11 different models across 3 different OEM brands for the model years between 2015 and 2019. After implementing...

www.transmissiondigest.com

 

[atikovi]

He says some contaminants leftover in the ATF is a good thing, as it helps the lockup clutch function properly in the torque converter.

I call BS. That would imply on a new car it would function improperly until there was contaminants in the fluid.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Before everyone starts bashing me, I'm not here to ask opinions on whether or not I should be "flushing" the transmission fluid. I am only asking how it should be done when I do it.
I bought enough fluid to flush out all the old fluid by doing a 3x drain & fill.
How would you go about changing it this way?
Do I need to plug the drain hole every single time I add more fluid into the top?
I don't believe I would be driving the van in between changing either. The goal is to avoid mixing the new fluid with the old fluid, right?

Did you say which vehicle and do you know the prior service history?

 

[UG_Passat]

I call BS. That would imply on a new car it would function improperly until there was contaminants in the fluid.

It doesn't imply that at all. A new car should theoretically have a perfectly functioning clutch in the torque converter.

Like a clutch for a manual transmission, every time the clutch releases and then engages, there is some wear that takes place. In a wet clutch, particles from the clutch is suspended in the fluid.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Maybe just say it instead if having people guess.

 

[CleanSump]

Hogwash. Old wives' tales die hard.
The clutches need material in the fluid to grab? No! They're worn out.
He won't change it after 100k miles if it hasn't been done before? Because he doesn't want to be liable when neglected transmissions inevitably fail. Owner say "Joe" changed it, "Joe" broke it.
People who haven't changed the fluid during the first 100k to 120+k miles usually only bring it in because the trans isn't acting right and hope a fluid change will "fix" it. No, it has a problem, new fluid won't "fix" fix that. So it fails, just like it was going to fail anyway.
Buy the Brooklyn Bridge from that guy. It is a real deal 'cause a real estate agent on the 'net said so.

 

[RaymondP]

Before everyone starts bashing me, I'm not here to ask opinions on whether or not I should be "flushing" the transmission fluid. I am only asking how it should be done when I do it.
I bought enough fluid to flush out all the old fluid by doing a 3x drain & fill.
How would you go about changing it this way?
Do I need to plug the drain hole every single time I add more fluid into the top?
I don't believe I would be driving the van in between changing either. The goal is to avoid mixing the new fluid with the old fluid, right?

Please specify vehicle as from my experience the way to determine "Full" is vehicle dependent. Would assume you would have to drive it a few miles after each fill to allow the new fluid to circulate. Sort of "Fill, Drain and Repeat" as many times as warms your heart.

Must admit on every ATF I have replaced, usually at 100,000 miles, the fluid has come out clear, making me wonder if I was acting prematurely. But to be fair, I did NOT submit the old ATF for oil analysis, so the properties may have changed.

 

[56Cummins]

If the goal is to avoid mixing new and old fluids (as much as possible) then you do a drain and fill, then remove ATF cooler line going into ATF cooler from transmission and with a longer hose attached and running into a bucket you start car and let a quart of ATF out, stop the engine, measure ATF volume that came out and add same volume, repeat till only fresh fluid starts coming out.

This is the best method when the fluid is junk or unknown. Letting it intentionally mix with ruined fluid is a waste.

 

[Nesterenko]

Member @atikovi asks you to elaborate and all you do is revert back to the YouTube clip? Lame.

 

[Nesterenko]

I'll believe a master tech who services these things for a living over someone in the internet regurgitating stuff they read on the internet

Jack of all, master of none. Lot of techs aren't well versed on engine oils but make unsuspecting clients believe that they are.

 

[hrv]

Jack of all, master of none. Lot of techs aren't well versed on engine oils but make unsuspecting clients believe that they are.

Just like some on this site...

 

[MattPersman]

I know plenty of “master techs” that have never even removed a transmission let alone tear one down for repair or diag.

Wives tale like posted above. I have to answer this many many times a year.

New fluid is always better than old. If it has issue later it’s already had one

 

[nicholas]

Before everyone starts bashing me, I'm not here to ask opinions on whether or not I should be "flushing" the transmission fluid. I am only asking how it should be done when I do it.
I bought enough fluid to flush out all the old fluid by doing a 3x drain & fill.
How would you go about changing it this way?
Do I need to plug the drain hole every single time I add more fluid into the top?
I don't believe I would be driving the van in between changing either. The goal is to avoid mixing the new fluid with the old fluid, right?

A drive that is a few miles between changes is enough.
In park with the engine on it will circulate 90% of the fluid in 1-2mins, depending on ambient temp.

No need to drive it long distances in between drains.

 

[nicholas]

I know plenty of “master techs” that have never even removed a transmission let alone tear one down for repair or diag.

Wives tale like posted above. I have to answer this many many times a year.

New fluid is always better than old. If it has issue later it’s already had one

Yuppers

 

[haggler]

The truth is somewhere in between. Considering most new transmission go the life of the transmission before fluid replacement (say 150-200k), replacing even 50% of the fluid is substantial in maintaing good shift quality. This is even with semi synthetic WS transmission fluid. On my previous 2018 camry, I did 2x drain and fill at 60k miles. Total capacity is 7.7qt. First D+F was 3 quart replacement which equals 39% new fluid. Second D+F was another 3.5 quart new fluid added (overfill for level check). By the second D+F, there is only about 2 quarts old fluid. 75% of the fluid has been changed, and considering most of the break in material is from initial wear, this fluid is likely to be sufficient for at least another 60k.