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Rumor??


jcwest1

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I've heard rumor that if you start having transmission problems & you try to change the transmission fluid & the filter you can finish the tranny off. Any truth to this or just an old wives tale?:icon_confused:
 


piotrsko

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there is some truth to the rumor, sometimes. Old burnt gloppy fluid isn't doing you any good, but every once and a while, the new fluid will clean out something and cause a premature death. I'd still change it, and hope a lot. It did make the A4LD run better for a while.
 

exbass94

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The myth is old fluid has clutch material in it, and putting fresh fluid in it leaves not enough clutch material thus it starts slipping.

I have a few problems with this myth: First of all, this myth started like this: Some guy never maintains his transmission properly and never changes the fluid (BIG no-no :nono:) and eventually he starts having problems. At this point his trans is toast from poor maintenance and nothing will save it. But he thinks “Oh maybe I should change the fluid and it’ll fix it.” So he gets the fluid changed, his trans dies shortly after so he thinks it must be from the fluid, not the years of neglect. :rolleyes:

Second of all, the ONLY place you want clutch material is on the clutches. Period. You do not want it floating around in your fluid. Over time, clutch material WILL wear off the clutches and will eventually get bad enough to make the trans slip. This is INEVITABLE and is the reason NO automatic can possibly live forever. But one thing is for certain: You DO NOT want clutch material floating around in your fluid. So change your fluid frequently and keep it fresh. If you change fluid on an old transmission and it begins slipping immediately, your trans was already toast in the first place.

If your trans is still working perfectly fine, changing fluid WILL NOT HURT IT!! Like I said, if your trans ides shortly after, it was already dead to begin with. Also, just because the trans is working fine, do not think that you don’t have to ever change the fluid. Change trans fluid every 30-40k miles, whether the fluid “looks” good or not. You wouldn’t wait until your motor oil turns to sludge before thinking about changing it would you?

And FINALLY: Transmission flushes are NOT a bad thing. The term “flush” is pretty misleading. Flush machines don’t actually “flush” your trans per se, all they do is exchange the fluid. Here’s how it works: Your trans has a pump and a cooler. When your driving, the trans pumps fluid through the cooler. When you get a flush, they hook up the cooler lines to the flush machine. Then they start the engine. Once again, the trans uses it own pump to pump the fluid through the cooler lines, just as it normally does. But, all of the fluid getting pumped out gets dumped into a tank on the machine. All the machine does is make sure the fresh fluid gets pumped back into the trans at the same rate it’s coming out. There isn’t any actual “flushing.” It’s a perfectly safe method and is really the only way to change all the fluid in the trans at once.


Change fluid regularly!!!! I have 151k miles on my A4LD and it shifts beautifully. I don't think it would've made anywhere near this long if I neglected fluid changes. I already dropped the pan and changed the filter on my Ranger once when it had only 22k miles on it. I also added another in-line filter to help keep material/debris out of the fluid.
 

jcwest1

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Thanks, my transmission runs good on my truck. I bought it with 170,000 miles on it & was gonna change the trans fluid untill I heard that story from a AutoZone parts counter guy & changed my mind.
 

r1hatman

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mine had 160K on it when I got it, and I change the fluid and the filter and put a cork gasket on it and it shifts a lot better!
 

jcwest1

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Think I'll go ahead with the fluid change. Yuo live in knoxville? I'm close man-Greeneville!
 

jhammel85

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Its a touchy thing. I feel you'd be taking a risk by changing it. My truck has 138k on it and I really dont see myself changing it. It goes against all I know about trucks but...Id rather not risk it.
 

jcwest1

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OK, Boy I think I set off some serious opinions with this thread now I don't know what to do.:bawling:
 

exbass94

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Its a touchy thing. I feel you'd be taking a risk by changing it. My truck has 138k on it and I really dont see myself changing it. It goes against all I know about trucks but...Id rather not risk it.
138k isn't too late to change it. My Explorer had one trans service at 65k and that was it (my father wasn't big on trans maintenance). When I became in charge of maintaining the Explorer, I had it flushed at 135k. Like I said, it shifts perfectly at 151k. I also dropped the pan at around 145k to change the filter. It had lots of sludgy gunk on the pan. I'm really glad I cleaned it out.
 

jhammel85

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138k isn't too late to change it. My Explorer had one trans service at 65k and that was it (my father wasn't big on trans maintenance). When I became in charge of maintaining the Explorer, I had it flushed at 135k. Like I said, it shifts perfectly at 151k. I also dropped the pan at around 145k to change the filter. It had lots of sludgy gunk on the pan. I'm really glad I cleaned it out.
Yeah?...hmm..well it is a A4LD. Theyre a dime a dozen if it goes wrong right?!:D

If I bought the truck brand new, itd be a different story. You know how most previous owners are...I bet my fluid hasnt been changed in a million years!
 

dennis461

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can you folks read?

What does the owners manual say?
Should we put clutch material in a new transmission to make it work better?
:icon_twisted:
 

jcwest1

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Allright, any more input????? I'll take all I can get. exbass94 has the floor in my book so far
 

r1hatman

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JC, that's kool. We should get a group together this spring and hit Wind rock or something!
 

Daringo

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I will tell you this from my "real" experience... my 1987 has 85,000 miles on it, but I think it's more like 185,000. whatever. The Auto tranny has given me some problems in the past (not shifting past second). But I thought all that was fixed after replacing a vacuum hose. A few months later I thought I would treat my tranny to a flush...

All seemed well on the way home. Next morning, my truck would not shift out of first gear in overdrive mode. I manually ran it thru the gears and all is well for the whole day. This pattern continues for three days then boom, it's all good.

Now, since I've lifted it 2" and put on some bigger tires, it seems like the AT is having a little trouble knowing when to shift into OD in the morning, but I am learning how to gas it just right to avoid this. A whole new problem altogether I'm sure. Maybe I just need to get used to it shifting at different speeds with the new tires?

Good luck!
 
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koda6966

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There's truth to the rumor. My cousin's ranger was shifting just fine and he decided to change the fluid (he was at 180k) and it came out kind of gritty looking, but not burnt or anything. The next week it started having problems and before two weeks were over it was toast.

He put a new one in for 80 bucks and regularly changes fluids on that one. No problems at all.

Honestly, I think it's a case by case basis.
 

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