trans flush

[04hockey]

**experts here approve or disapprove ?**

have had my 08' F 150 flushed 3 times by dealer since new @ 17K, 40K and 68K.....has 81K miles on odom

just thought I'd run this by the experts on BITOG .

just posted a engine oil UOA from this vehicle in the UOA forum .

thanks

 

[kschachn]

What does your owner's manual say about transmission flushes? I know that most if not all of mine mention it.

And what are you supposedly flushing out at the mileage you indicated?

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Experts will chime in, I'm sure. But here is what I picked up over the years of maintaining family vehicles, and reading success and failure stories here on BITOG...

You should be ok, as it seems that ATF has been flushed often enough to stay clean, and any particles were flushed out before they clogged the screens and solenoids. Now, if you would've waited until your very first flush at 80k, then there may have been some issues with previously mentioned items.

As a rule of thumb - drain & fill is more than enough every 30k miles. If your ATF filter is replaceable, then change that every 60k-100k depending on severity of use.

 

[wpod]

Has the filter been changed?

 

[Donald]

Why not do an analysis of the ATF?

Adding a Magnefine inline will be beneficial.

A flush (which is a complete fluid exchange) is a great way to cost effectively service the transmission. Not sure you need to do it as often as you are doing.

But a flush will not clean the filter. So that needs to be serviced also. Less often if you have a Magnefine however.

 

[supton]

Flush or drain&fill? A full fluid exchange is best, and I'd say you're doing it too often. Not that's going to hurt anything, but you certainly don't have to worry about doing it again in the future. That said, drain&fill every 20-30k should be fine going forward.

I don't know what kind of filter this uses. If it's a strainer is is probably fine. If it's a real filter then I'd replace it now (if it hasn't been done) and every so often after that. Might be worthwhile to drop the pan once in a while and clean the magnets too, and to get out whatever accumulates in the bottom of the pan & won't drain out when the plug is pulled.

 

[Ed_Flecko]

For what it's worth, GM Bulletin No.: 04-06-01-029F, dated October 2012, says, "The use of external transmission fluid exchange or flush machines is not recommended for the automatic or manual transmission. Use of external machines to replace the fluid may affect the operation or durability of
the transmission. Transmission fluid should only be replaced by draining and refilling following procedures in Service Information (SI). Refer to Automatic/Manual Transmission Fluid and Filter Replacement."

Ed

 

[supton]

GM has a manual transmission with cooler lines on it?

 

[NormanBuntz]

You don't say whether your dealer flushes included using any solvents. I don't know about Ford, but Honda warns against using ANY A/T flush solvents. It recommends a drain and refill, although some dealers will use a fluid exchange machine without using solvents.