3pt1lumina Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 If you all remember awhile back, I posted about an intermittent problem with my highest mileage Lumina with the TCC not engaging. The car has been fine for 8 weeks, and last night the SES light popped back on with my P1870 code. I have no idea when the last time the transmission had a service done so I have a couple of questions. Keep in mind, the car has 160k on it. Question 1: Assuming the transmission fluid has broken down, is it possible the thinner viscosity of it will cause it to heat up faster? I only have the problem when it is warmer outside and I drive the car for an extended period of time. Question 2: Assuming it has not been serviced in at least 50k, what are the chances of doing damage to changing the fluid now? The transmission shifts fine, and the fluid is not low, burnt or discolored. I have heard wive's tales of changing old transmission fluid and hurting the transmission. Opinions? I am trying to not take the car apart assuming I don't have the area to do it now, and I can't beg anyone to do it at work. Should I try a fluid and filter flush before anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 1 maybe. most likely the transmission has some wear and tear that is normal with age, but not necessarily a sign that a rebuild is needed. 2 if it dies, it was going to die sooner rather than later anyhow. If you are servicing a transmission and the stuff inside looks like 10,000 mile old oil... death is imminent anyhow. Need I mention the benefits of adding a transmission cooler? a tranny cooler will lengthen the service life of any transmission, and the 4t60e tranny seems to have operation issues when it is running hot. And first person who harks "there he goes about transmission coolers again" dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunerlover3 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 If the fluid is not black, then change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 1 maybe. most likely the transmission has some wear and tear that is normal with age, but not necessarily a sign that a rebuild is needed. 2 if it dies, it was going to die sooner rather than later anyhow. If you are servicing a transmission and the stuff inside looks like 10,000 mile old oil... death is imminent anyhow. Need I mention the benefits of adding a transmission cooler? a tranny cooler will lengthen the service life of any transmission, and the 4t60e tranny seems to have operation issues when it is running hot. And first person who harks "there he goes about transmission coolers again" dies. lol I agree on adding a cooler also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Drop the pan and change the fluid it can't hurt. I agree with Ken about adding a transmission cooler. I'd like to add one to the Grand Prix but who knows when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted October 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Going to try a fluid flush and see what happens... I think I am going to do a cooler as well... just have to find the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Going to try a fluid flush and see what happens... I think I am going to do a cooler as well... just have to find the time. Dude I hope you mean a pan drop and fluid change. I think you doing an "actual" fluid flush is the worst thing you could do to the transmission. I herd many bad things when that is done to the trans when the fluid is kept in there for that long and it is flushed so anything that was blocked could be dislodged to another part of the trans and cause possible failure. I think if you just do a pan drop would be alot better than a flush. I do that about every 30,000 miles to keep it maintained. just my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 When I had my '91 CS, at about 190,000 it started jumping out of gear when I would try and take off from a light or stop sigh. Had the fluid and filter changed, and never had a problem after. I think it's a myth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 i think it's better to have new fluid and chance it going than to keep old fluid and know it's gonna die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 DO NOT FLUSH A HIGH MILEAGE TRANS! It will probably do more harm than good. What you need to do is drop the pan and change the fluid & filter. If it is the original filter or has been in there for quite a while, you may not want to change the seal for the filter, or you'll have to spend an absurd amount of time trying to remove it. Been there done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 We just went over this in class yesterday... Flushing the trans is practically worthless and the reason it can damage the trans is because the pressure from the flushing machine doesnt usually match the pressure that the trans needs and it strains to do what it needs to do... Just a fluid and filter change is good enough... Also x2 on the above post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 you may not want to change the seal for the filter, or you'll have to spend an absurd amount of time trying to remove it. Been there done that. X2, i did it for the MC a while back, must have been the original filter around 140K miles, FUCK even with the correct tools, that thing was a bitch to remove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 We just went over this in class yesterday... Flushing the trans is practically worthless and the reason it can damage the trans is because the pressure from the flushing machine doesnt usually match the pressure that the trans needs and it strains to do what it needs to do... Just a fluid and filter change is good enough... Also x2 on the above post I don't even think many shops have "flush" machines anymore. Most use fluid exhangers(t-tech's probably being the most common) these days where the transmission/transaxle pump actually moves the fluid. For what it's worth, I've done fluid exhanges on cars with horrible looking ATF before. Burnt black! They all functioned fine afterwards. If it is the original filter or has been in there for quite a while, you may not want to change the seal for the filter, or you'll have to spend an absurd amount of time trying to remove it. Been there done that. Either that, or really old neglected filters like to break and leave the neck up in the trans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 We just went over this in class yesterday... Flushing the trans is practically worthless and the reason it can damage the trans is because the pressure from the flushing machine doesnt usually match the pressure that the trans needs and it strains to do what it needs to do... Just a fluid and filter change is good enough... Also x2 on the above post I don't even think many shops have "flush" machines anymore. Most use fluid exhangers(t-tech's probably being the most common) these days where the transmission/transaxle pump actually moves the fluid. For what it's worth, I've done fluid exhanges on cars with horrible looking ATF before. Burnt black! They all functioned fine afterwards. If it is the original filter or has been in there for quite a while, you may not want to change the seal for the filter, or you'll have to spend an absurd amount of time trying to remove it. Been there done that. Either that, or really old neglected filters like to break and leave the neck up in the trans. I've had brand new filters do that! Pieces of shit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Yeah I didn't mean "flush" just drop the pan and change the filter... that's what I've always done on my other cars and they've always been fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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