Is there a definitive answer to this question?

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In a few weeks I will be doing back to back drain and refills on the 1980 Citation AT we have.

The one time before when I did this ( many years ago to a diff car ) all I did was drive it around the block a couple times between drain and refills, but that's probably not optimum.

So, here's my question...

After the first drain and refill, how long should I drive it before I do the second drain and refill so the first load gets thoroughly mixed?

TIA~
 
A week of mixed driving, say 100 miles, should be about right. I've used that in the past and everything came out just fine. The mixed fluid looked a little lighter in color than the old fluid taken out at the first drain/fill.
 
Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
5 miles is enough to mix but why not put a cleaner in there and run it a few hundred miles?


I've thought about that, but if all I did was drain and refills, that would leave some of the cleaning fluid still in the tranny, and that probably wouldn't be a good thing. Unless there is a cleaner that would be safe to leave in?
 
Not only do you want to throughly mix but, you need to get it up to full running temperature. I usually have done a 5 to 10 mile run using all the gears several times which means some highway running..
 
With the amount of fluid I see pumping out of the cooler line while doing a "flush", I would think just idling the car for a few minutes and running through all the gears would be sufficient to mix everything. Having said that, I usually drive around the block.
 
Now that's a beast you don't see around anymore! Wasn't 1980 the first year for the Citation? GMs first crack at an econo FWD vehicle. IIRC, the chain was the weak spot in this vintage transaxle. This was back in the day engines didn't produce enough power/heat to toast ATF as badly as they do today.

Joel
 
Yes, 1980 was the first year for the Citation, sales were over 800k that first year. My MIL bought this car brand new that year and had only put 50k miles on it when she passed away in 2006. Our son drives it now about 1 mile to work 3 days a week, so it doesn't see much use. I try to take it out for a freeway spin once a month or so, just to give it a little exercise. I've been doing annual oil changes on "the beast" and this summer it's time to pay some attention the the ATF.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Now that's a beast you don't see around anymore! Wasn't 1980 the first year for the Citation? GMs first crack at an econo FWD vehicle. IIRC, the chain was the weak spot in this vintage transaxle. This was back in the day engines didn't produce enough power/heat to toast ATF as badly as they do today.

Joel


One of the major magazines at the time claimed that GM had spent $4 Billion on the X-car program. That's in 1979 dollars.
Without adjusting for inflation that was enough money to purchase all the outstanding shares of GM and Ford a couple months ago. If Chrysler were public, it would have covered that too. Unreal when you think about it.
 
If you are going to clean it, clean if first, then start changing the fluid over and over.
Getting it hot does nothing, and many miles does nothing [concerning the rapid flushes]..
 
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