98LTZ Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Hi, my lumina ltz with the 4t-65 tranny has 178K on it. Its a one owner car and the person that sold it to me was real upfront with the car including telling me the tranny flud hasn't been changed. I've been debating on doing it for the longest. I always do it on my cars when I first get them. I keep hearing a basic filter and fluid change is a start. Is it true? I also heard that flushing it will for sure make it worse. Should I leave it alone and keep driving it? It's not slipping by any means. It did have a little glitch on it once when I got the car and it's because it was down 2 qts of fluid and I put in a bottle of lucas and topped it off with tranny fluid and it's been fine ever since. The tranny lines and the pan gasket are not leaking so im thinking it's never been or hasnt been checked for a while. let me know what you guys think? Oh btw, if a moderator see this please move this. I meant to post it in the powertrain section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscar_wilde Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 The saying around here goes "if the flush broke the transmission, it was going to break anyway." I would be all for changing it out and putting in a new filter. I don't think the transmission losing a bit of fluid over its life is uncommon. I mean, they provide a dipstick for a reason. Just keep checking it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Flush versus pan drop with filter change are different things. The flush is a fluid exchange under pressure hipped by many lube shops which should not be done as it can gunk up valve bodies and such. A pan drop is simply removing the pan and allowing what is in the sump(the pan) to come out, a pan drop will never hurt a healthy transmission. You should do a simple pan drop and change what fluid comes out and install a new filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 p.s. fluid loss can occur, but just because the fluid is low does not mean that you have a problem. Check the hoses going to the transmission cooler, the axle seals and pan lip for wetness. if you notice a continued loss of fluid you may have a problem. Also, don't use additives in yout transmission, Lucas CAN do more harm than good in a healthy transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Moved to "powertrain" for you. I've done numerous pan drops/filter changes on cars with that many miles on them and more that had no prior services done to them. Every one I serviced was working 100% fine before and after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Moved to "powertrain" for you. I've done numerous pan drops/filter changes on cars with that many miles on them and more that had no prior services done to them. Every one I serviced was working 100% fine before and after. x2. Myths develop because all too often a tranny service is done once the car is already have issues, or if the tranny fluid is totally wasted burned black and sooty. When a car is in that state failure is inevitable, then someone gets their car serviced and suddenly the tranny gives up the ghost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Moved to "powertrain" for you. I've done numerous pan drops/filter changes on cars with that many miles on them and more that had no prior services done to them. Every one I serviced was working 100% fine before and after. x2. Myths develop because all too often a tranny service is done once the car is already have issues, or if the tranny fluid is totally wasted burned black and sooty. When a car is in that state failure is inevitable, then someone gets their car serviced and suddenly the tranny gives up the ghost. x2. You don't get a transmission fluid change to fix transmission problems. You get one to prevent them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98LTZ Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 p.s. fluid loss can occur, but just because the fluid is low does not mean that you have a problem. Check the hoses going to the transmission cooler, the axle seals and pan lip for wetness. if you notice a continued loss of fluid you may have a problem. Also, don't use additives in yout transmission, Lucas CAN do more harm than good in a healthy transmission. I checked all the hoses to the tranny cooler and the pan gasket. Everything is bone dry. It's been about a month and a half since I topped it off. Still holding steady and no issues. I've never changed a tranny filter before, how long does it take on average to do the whole job start to finish and including cleaning the pan off?? I will be ok with simple pan drop for sure right?? What if I had it flushed and the filter changed? It will still be alright.right?? It prevents all that gunk being flushed into the valve body and the pan which sounds about right. Will it be a total shock to the trannny and make things worse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 p.s. fluid loss can occur, but just because the fluid is low does not mean that you have a problem. Check the hoses going to the transmission cooler, the axle seals and pan lip for wetness. if you notice a continued loss of fluid you may have a problem. Also, don't use additives in yout transmission, Lucas CAN do more harm than good in a healthy transmission. I checked all the hoses to the tranny cooler and the pan gasket. Everything is bone dry. It's been about a month and a half since I topped it off. Still holding steady and no issues. I've never changed a tranny filter before, how long does it take on average to do the whole job start to finish and including cleaning the pan off?? I will be ok with simple pan drop for sure right?? What if I had it flushed and the filter changed? It will still be alright.right?? It prevents all that gunk being flushed into the valve body and the pan which sounds about right. Will it be a total shock to the trannny and make things worse? I wouldn't worry about a flush. Save yourself the money if you don't mind working on your car. From start to finish, you can drop a pan , change the filter, put it all back together, and refill the system in under an hour. Its really quite an easy job, so long as you have a large drain pan. That job can get really messy if you don't have a big enough pan. Alternately, you can go to a nearby auto store and pick up a fluid pump, which is what I did. You push one end of the hose down through the dipstick tube, and the other end into an empty container, and you can usually pump out a 1-1.25 gallons, so you have less to worry about when you drop the pan. Either way you'd be alright though. Just remember, you need 8 quarts of transmission fluid, and it is recommended that you use Dexron VI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 What if I had it flushed and the filter changed? It will still be alright.right?? It prevents all that gunk being flushed into the valve body and the pan which sounds about right. Will it be a total shock to the trannny and make things worse? that is not how it works. there will be gunk in the passages that may get upset no matter what. I have a fluid extractor I bought at Tractor Supply that holds about 2 gallons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98LTZ Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 What if I had it flushed and the filter changed? It will still be alright.right?? It prevents all that gunk being flushed into the valve body and the pan which sounds about right. Will it be a total shock to the trannny and make things worse? that is not how it works. there will be gunk in the passages that may get upset no matter what. I have a fluid extractor I bought at Tractor Supply that holds about 2 gallons. Well I don mind working on my car. I've never heard of a fluid extractor. How much is it on average?? Seems to be a lot less mess than dropping the pan with the fluid in it. Also I know you can disconnect the line off the radiator and have a bucket underneath while its draining and while your adding fluid to flush it. I'm trying to save as much money as I can. The reason why I was going to have it flushed becuase I dont have the machine to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 $30 or $35 from: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=tractor+supply+akron+ohio&fb=1&gl=us&hq=tractor+supply&hnear=Akron,+OH&view=text&ei=xpR0S_alL9D8nAfQt6WtCQ&ved=0CBQQtQMwAA&t=h&z=9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alec_b Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 I'd just drop the pan and change the fluid/filter. You can pop for one of those fluid pumps to reduce the mess when you drop the pan, but let's face it it's a dirty messy job anyways. On a 1-10 scale, I'd rate this one about a 3. It's literally drop pan, drain fluid, pull filter, replace filter, clean pan, replace pan, fill. All in all maybe a 1 hour job. I would also recommend against POWER flushing. That's what most places do. The shop that I worked at had a machine that exchanged the fluid using only the pressure that the transmission produced, and nothing extra. Very good setup, never ever had an issue with it. Only problem with that is that the filter goes unchanged. Bringing my ramble back around to the point, drop the pan and change the filter, she'll be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Might also be worth noting that with the fluid pumps you stick down the dipstick, you only remove 1 gallon of the otherwise 2 gallons you'd be removing by dropping the pan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98LTZ Posted February 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Oh ok, so you guys think I should go ahead and do it with that many miles on it without it being done?? If so I will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Oh ok, so you guys think I should go ahead and do it with that many miles on it without it being done?? If so I will do it. Yes, do it yourself. Just drain the fluid, change the filter, and put in new fluid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Here's a write-up on changing the ATF/filter. It's for an older GP, but identical to what you need to do. Depending on the condition of the trans filter seal, you may not want to mess with it as it can be a PITA if you don't have a seal puller handy. http://www.butchthecat.com/past/gp/xmission.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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