Change my trans fluid again?

SlowbaltSS · Dec 8, 2013

At about 85k miles I installed a shift kit, which I had to drop the vaulve body to do. As well as replace about 10 quarts of trans fluid. The fluid has NEVER been changed before. I replaced the filter too. So far so good, the old fluid didn't look bad at all, just a slightly darker tint of red than the new mercon v. Since I drained so much on higher miles, I hear it's a good Idea to drain the pan again and replace with another filter. Mainly because tge new fluid could loosen some old gunk and plug the filter. Not good and I don't have anywhere near the money for a new trans. And could I just buy a fluid evacuator and stick a long hose down the dipstick hole to pull the fluid out before dropping the pan for a new filter?

---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:00 PM ----------

I have 93k miles on the car now. I also want to replace the brake/power steering fluid too. Never done I'm sure.

BLUE91GT · Dec 8, 2013

I put a shift kit in my 01 GT when it had 140K on it when I bought it. It now has 205K and the fluid is a little darker red. As long as the fluid doesn't smell burnt or turn black you should be fine.

MG2V · Dec 8, 2013

I would do it again. Dropping the pan won't get the ATF in the TC out, so right now you have new Mercon V mixed with old. Gunk getting dislodged is only really a concern if the trans were hooked up to a vacuum like at the dealer.

BTW, I performed a JMOD this past year and just disconnected the feed line to the radiator, stuck it into a container, and started the car. It should pump most of the fluid out of the pan.

chitown1211 · Dec 8, 2013

Personally i tend to leave good working auto trans' alone if they are above 100k and fluid has never been changed.

The only two times in my life i changed tranny fluid in over 100k transmissions the tranny went to crap shortly there after.

But those were done with the vacuum machines. At most, i would drain the fluid and replace the filter.

CalBoy101 · Dec 8, 2013

I'm in to keeping the trans fluid very clean, even on older transmissions.

You can do a full flush yourself right in your driveway, below is a link on how to do it.

Basically you disconnect the upper trans cooler line and put a clear hose on the fluid output from the cooler in the radiator to dump it in a catch can. Then run the engine until the pan is dry, which you will see as the fluid flow stopping in the clear hose. Dump 4 new quarts in the pan and do it again 2 more times (4 times total) and your trans will be totally flushed. You can see this in the color of the fluid being dumped out, when it looks like new fluid you are done. On my car after the fluid looks clean, adding 3 more quarts bring it up to the fill line.

To make this easy on my car I cut a 4" section out of the upper line where it cuts across behind the radiator and put a section of rubber hose with clamps there. This makes it really easy to hook up the clear hose without need to jack up the car.

If you have a pre 2002 Mustang your torque converter probably has a drain plug. To check for this pop out the rubber plug on the bottom of the converter cover on the trans and use a wrench on the crank bolt on the engine to turn it until the drain plug is over the cover, then drain it before starting the flush, this speeds things up.

After you have put in the first 5 quarts while the engine is running to pump out the pan, shift slowly between the different trans gears, this makes sure the valve body gets flushed out also.

Amazon has good deals on Mercon ATF 6 packs.

If you need to drop the pan for valve body work this method also lets you pump the pan totally dry so its easy to take off.

Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission .: Articles

86er · Dec 8, 2013

running a trans dry sounds like a horrible idea, would you flush your engine buy running it with the oil filter off?

CalBoy101 · Dec 10, 2013

86er said:
running a trans dry sounds like a horrible idea, would you flush your engine buy running it with the oil filter off?

Its a different situation, the trans doesn't generate power like the engine and its under no load while its pumping out the oil. The clear hose lets you see right away when the pan is empty and there is still some oil left coating the surfaces in the few seconds it takes you to stop the engine.

SlowbaltSS · Dec 11, 2013

MG2V said:
I would do it again. Dropping the pan won't get the ATF in the TC out, so right now you have new Mercon V mixed with old. Gunk getting dislodged is only really a concern if the trans were hooked up to a vacuum like at the dealer.

BTW, I performed a JMOD this past year and just disconnected the feed line to the radiator, stuck it into a container, and started the car. It should pump most of the fluid out of the pan.

So they say, I was told just dropping the valve body would drain about 4-6 quarts. With the front jacked up, I ended up draining 10 quarts.

CalBoy101 · Dec 11, 2013

SlowbaltSS said:
So they say, I was told just dropping the valve body would drain about 4-6 quarts. With the front jacked up, I ended up draining 10 quarts.

If you got 10 quarts out that's not too bad, I think it holds around 14 quarts total.

I went with the full flush as when I got my 2002 the fluid wasn't burnt but it was definitely getting old so I wanted to get it fully flushed out. Plus my car doesn't have the plug in the torque converter and I wanted to get that flushed out also.

Change my trans fluid again?

SlowbaltSS

BLUE91GT

MG2V

chitown1211

CalBoy101

86er

CalBoy101

SlowbaltSS

CalBoy101

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