You might even be astonished!

My trans was worse than that more than 30,000 miles ago. I fixed it with a helper or two, some trans fluid, a good funnel, some rubber tubing, and a couple of hose clamps.

Find the line that comes from the transmission to the rad cooler. It's the one that leaves the front of the trans.

Trace that up to the front near the radiator. There's a convenient place to cut the line there. Yes, I said cut the line. Use a mini tubing cutter.

Now attach a section of rubber hose (get it from your auto shop) to the end that comes out of the transmission. You'll need a foot and a half or maybe two feet here. Just slip it on - no clamp needed, really.

Run that into a drain pan.

Now pull your dipstick and put a good funnel in there. It's best if you get one that allows you to watch the fluid level.

Have Helper 1 watch the drain pan. He's looking for the fluid color to change.

Helper Two will operate the ignition switch.

You will pour in the new trans fluid.

Start the engine while pouring in the fresh fluid. The trans will pump the old fluid into the drain pan. When it starts coming out clean, you have safely flushed your transmission and replaced all the old gunk.

Shut off the engine, use a 3" piece of hose and a couple of clamps to repair the cut, and check your trans fluid level. Adjust the level as needed.

Since doing this on my 97, I have put on more than 30,000 miles and my trans is still going strong. That 30,000 includes some heavy towing, and a lot of mountain driving.

It's worth a try.

 

argh that hand

 

How much ATF does it take to change it all out?

edit:

nvm found it

 

Buy a gallon and you'll have plenty for one drain and fill.

 

cool thanks...probably going to do a couple drain and fills since I'm at 200k and haven't done it in a while. Even at 200k miles theres still no point in changing the filter?

 

I drained and filled it, drove 30 miles, drained and filled again, drove 20 miles, drained and filled again, fluid is bright red now, definitely made a difference, think I need a throttle sensor but so far so good!

 

Also, you recommend the valvoline over castrol? AutoZone has two dollars off the gallon size castrol right now. If so, is it worth using the valvoline maxlife atf?

 

You think three times is the magic number?

I just went ahead and replaced all the sensors attached to the TB just for peace of mind as I've tried to refresh my 97.

 

Nah. It's just a photo of a gallon of Dex/Merc.

No Filter changes!!!

It's a huge pain in the backside. Aside from being totally unnecessary.

It's an Aisen/Warner trans, not a Ford, Chevy or Dodge.................

 

I will be the one to speak The Great Heresy:


If it's a good brand name, it probably doesn't matter much.


I like the Valvoline Max Life myself, but for flushing it out, buy the cheap stuff.

 

Just did my first drain-and-fill. Trans fluid that came out was brown and smelly. I'm definitely gonna have to do this a few times. Thanks for all the tips guys.

 

Dex Merc fluid in your AW4 trans, as recommended above. Nothing else.
I change the fluid yearly. I only changed the filter when the pan gasket was leaking and I wanted to swap to fresh gasket anyway.
The trans pan has a drain plug, wow, light years ahead of the pack.
750K Km on the Peep, trans and still pullin and shiftin without problems.

 

Adjust the tV cable also, and report back please.

 

Its shifting pretty smoothly. I have issues with the tv cable adjustment though. I push the button and push the piece up, release the button and it locks into place. However, when I open the throttle the piece doesn't slide like its supposed to. It just stays locked in the position I set it.

 

Might just need some lubrication. Spray it liberally with something like PB Blaster (WD-40 if that's all you have), and work it repeatedly. Then spray it and work it, spray it and work it,spray it and work it,,,,

You get the idea. Took me about 10 minutes of that to get mine working freely.