Pan drop on 2001 Impala

[dsmith41]

My wife's car has just rolled over 100k and I need to change the ATF. I have been meaning to do it for the past 30k miles but I have been busy and its just so messy...

My question is should I even bother. She bought the car with 48k and it hasn't been done since then. The owner's manual says to change it every 50k for severe service or 100k for regular. The car hasn't seen severe service so it shouldn't be a problem to change some of the fluid and filter but I am still a little afraid to do it with this many miles. I know some say not to mess with it and others say its a myth that it can hurt the transmission.

I should add: it shifts okay now, not as smooth as I would like it to, but its probably me splitting hairs about it.

 

[panthermike]

As long as the fluid isn't burnt smelling, I'd go for it. Maybe even go with the cooler line flush method.

 

[jmsjags]

if the manual says change every 50k miles then i don't see where you would hurt anything by changing it on schedule.

i too have heard the myth about changing out transmission fluid on high mileage cars, but i think that's only if the fluid has NEVER been changed and the car has upwards of 100k miles on it. the fluid in your impala isn't very old at all.

the owner's manual for my car says change every 60k miles btw

 

[ahoier]

I thought that "myth" was for the new-fangled "Transmission Flush" services that some of these lube joints sell....

I can't see a pan drop, and re-fill being "bad" for the transmission...

 

[The_Eric]

Just do it... If you're careful, it's not that messy.

 

[sciphi]

Change away.

A MityVac 7201 or other fluid pump makes changing ATF incredibly easy. Pump out the pan, measure what you pumped out, replace with same amount of new. Even better, dropping the pan goes from a giant mess to a small mess, and you don't end up trying to balance a full ATF pan with 1 hand while unbolting the last few bolts with the other.

 

[chubbs1]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Change away.

A MityVac 7201 or other fluid pump makes changing ATF incredibly easy. Pump out the pan, measure what you pumped out, replace with same amount of new. Even better, dropping the pan goes from a giant mess to a small mess, and you don't end up trying to balance a full ATF pan with 1 hand while unbolting the last few bolts with the other.


+ 10 Worth this method all the way!! It Makes it far worth buying the Mityvac.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Change away.

A MityVac 7201 or other fluid pump makes changing ATF incredibly easy. Pump out the pan, measure what you pumped out, replace with same amount of new. Even better, dropping the pan goes from a giant mess to a small mess, and you don't end up trying to balance a full ATF pan with 1 hand while unbolting the last few bolts with the other.


+ 10 Worth this method all the way!! It Makes it far worth buying the Mityvac.




If you don't want to spring for the Mityvac you can pick up 7 or 8 feet of clear tubing and suction the fluid from the fill tube hole. You'll get the majority of the fluid making it much easier to drop the nearly empty pan. Change the filter, clean the pan and magnet (maybe add a few additional small magnets) and your good for 50K.
I'd do it if you plan on keeping the car.
I'd also add a bottle of Lubegard red if using regular old "formerly" Dexron III.

 

[Texan4Life]

I would definitely do a pan drop. You will be surprised what you find on the magnet and bottom of the pan. Have a roll of paper towels at the ready!

 

[SOHCman]

Would it be ill advised to have a shop add a drain plug to a transmission pan? You would still have to remove the pan for a filter change and magnet cleaning at intervals but a drain plug would make swapping new fluid in a snap (much like a mighty vac)

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Definitely do a pan drop and filter change. I always just lay out a ton of old newspapaers on the garage floor to catch any drips or spills (100% guaranteed to happen on this job). If I get 98% in the drain pan I'm doing good. The newspapers do a great job of keeping the floor clean. After I roll them up and throw them away you usually won't find a drop on the floor underneath.

One thing I love about the trans. in your car is that a pan drop and filter change takes 7.5-8 qts of fluid so you get a large % of the fluid changed without doing a flush. I always do mine every 30k miles. A flush isn't necessary if you change it that often unless you want to change to a new fluid or you've gone a really long time. If I were you I'd just do a pan drop and do it much sooner next time.