Transmission flush or not

[Ron41]

I believe when tranny shops do a service on your auto they only get about half the old fluid out when they drop the pan and then just top it off again, all the old oil in the convertor just gets left there to mix up with the new stuff.
My trans has done 215,000 klm & the fliud is still a good red colour, I was thinking about flushing it out but I have heard its not a good idea to give them a complete flush when they have got a lot of klm's up on them, so I don't know what to do for the best, would appreciate any of your thoughts on it.
thanks
Rony.

[Brett_jjj]

I cant see why fresh fluid would hurt the trans no matter how many k's its done.It would have to be better for it than not changing it at all.If the fluid is red and clean like you mentioned,it probably doesnt need flushing anyway,just change the filter,clean the pan magnet and top it up with fluid..

[Sladdo]

If you wanna properly flush the auto drop the pan & replace the filter. Refit & refill. Then remove the auto trans cooler return line from the radiator & put some hose over it & direct it to a bucket. Start it up & watch the oil get pumped out. By refilling it before hand with some clean oil it will also help flush it. Turn the engine off as soon as oil stops flowing & refit line to radiator. Then you have to refill the trans, start it & go through the gears a number of times & repeating until you have all gears & trans level is full. Keep in mind it will take a fair bit of oil...well compared to doing a pan only flush.

[Brett_jjj]

They take around 8 litres when dry filling.And usually take around 4 -5 litres when just dropping the pan to change the filter.

[Ron41]

Thanks very much guys, so there is no truth in statements like below ?

The strong detergents in new ATF may loosen up accumulated crud inside the transmission, which could cause some problems.

It is just that I intend to do some long distance traveling soon & I want my car in top shape for it.

thanks

[moff_man]

no problems at all, but i wouldn't run the trans out of oil, rather fill the trans while having the hose off and wait for the oil to change colour than shut down refit hoses and top up.

[Ron41]

Thanks moff_man, I am only going to take some small amounts at a time then top it off again and repeat this until its right.

[hako]

G'Day Rony, if your VS is a series 2 it will be difficult to remove the trans cooler hoses as they are screwed on pretty tight and it's very easy to cross threads which I recently did. If it's a series on they are just clamped on but I guess you are aware of this already. Good luck on your trip - I going thru Toowoomba call in for a beer.

[Ron41]

Hi Hako, it's a series 1 mate just the rubber hose clamps to undo, to easy........... would like to take you up on that beer mate, destinations keep changing so don't for sure were we will finish up but gotta get out of the cold Vic winter this year, the further north the better, shall see what happens.