Alertmicro

so i went to the junkyard and pulled a huge transmission cooler and wanna do a tranny flush same time as the install ... went to a few shops to check prices , and they told me they WOULDN'T do the flush cus i have 130K on the jeep and some crap about how there is problems with flushing a transmission with that many miles... personally i think they are full of it ... so my questions are...

1) what sort of problems could occur with a transmission flush ?
2) how hard is it to flush it myself with the install of new transmission cooler? since no shops will to do it for me

and i think thats about it ... i have a 99 classic with a tow package so i have a baby Tranny cooler, and just gonna put a bigger one in with a fan for it to keep tranny nice and cool for crawling ...

any advice would be greatly appreciated , or some links of some kind were fellow jeepers did their own flush's

Caish

130k miles.
I would go ahead and drop the pan and change the filter and fluid.
There has to be gunk there, minute metal particles from clutches and just normal wear that a flush is not going to remove.

I can't say the jeep has one, but alot of torque convertors have a drain plug too. So its an easy process to change it.

rweaver138

The reason they say that is because if you do a full flush at once you could break out particles clogged in the tranny/lines and they will cause problems within your tranny. These shops are not full of it, they are absolutely correct.

The correct way to flush a tranny with that many miles is a little at a time, ONLY drain what is in the tranny pan, top off, drain tranny pan, top off. Do this for a couple thousand miles so you do not disrupt the operation of your transmission. After you have completed this cycle, it is then usually safe to do a full flush and change the filter and all that good stuff.

AW4's are picky, they don't like to be fully flushed at once, they tend to act up.

Alertmicro

hey thanks for the advice , really appreciate it , that is what i was thinkin is that the gunk would become dislodged and being so clean with a full flush the tranny would act up.

i do have a drain plug in the tranny pan so i guess ill be draining, toppin off, draining, toppin off, draining , toppin off ... over the next few thousand miles , really do appriciate it.

may also put a natural magnet on the drain plug to help catch those minute metal particals floating around in there.

Thanks again for your help

djb383

If the tranny had prior regular scheduled service/maintenance at that shop, they would have a record of the service and the tranny would probably be gunk free and the tranny shop would be happy to flush/service it. Servicing a tranny with 130K miles and no info as to previous service, that's a law suit just waiting to happen and that's why a shop won't touch it......at least flush wise.

nvminer

First off, not trying to jack this thread, but I have a similar question! I had my transmission flushed yesterday. However, the pan was not dropped and as such, the filter wasn't changed (because they wanted an extra $100 for it). I have an 01' XJ with 108K and I guess after reading this I am wondering if the flush is going to screw anything up. I guess I could drain the pan and change the filter myself but does it matter if I don't use the exact same ATF they used at the shop? Anyone recommend this or should I just let it ride? Thanks!

Alertmicro

its all good bro ... make it a transmission flush thread ... me personally im gonna drain and fill , drain and fill for awhile and then do a full flush probably after a month or so .

i drive my jeep alot around town for work, last week alone put on 500 + miles... so this tranny flush shouldnt take too long... ill keep all posted on progress as it goes.

rlssteiner

I Have Sort of the same question, I have the new filter and gasket and 8qt of ATF fluid and I don't think it has had a change in a long time and i really want to keep the transmission healthy, In all of your guys opinion you think the Fill and drain method would be a lot wiser before actual flush? And how many quarts is it to fill the transmission? Car quest told me 2qts

tjwalker

Drain and fill is best if you are in question. Takes between 3-4 quarts each time. As easy as changing your oil. I wouldn't flush a tranny with no history, although some get by with it.

With a salvage yard transmission though, I would consider dropping the pan and either replace or clean the filter (basically a screen on the AW4). May not be necessary if the fluid is a very bright red with no burnt smell.

Do the drain-fill procedure multiple times (3-4 at least) over a period of time with some driving inbetween letting the fresher fluid do some cleaning of the internal parts of the transmission.

As you are only draining a small percentage of the fluid, multiple drain and fills are essential. When you are all done, the fluid should be as red as new fluid and should have NO burnt smell whatsoever.

Use Dex/Merc III compatible fluid. Available anywhere. Be very careful NOT to overfill. A little fluid brings the level up on the dipstick VERY quickly. Everyone learns this soon enough!

freegdr

consider your self lucky you found a shop that was honest with you the could of changed the fluid then sold you a transmission after yours took a poop.