6L80 (V8 Trans) experiences after power flush?

[OldBomb]

Leaving it to the tech is probably not a bad thing. They're more likely to pick up potential failures well before the average car owner who waits for their vehicle to overheat or make terrible noises before fixing the problem.

 

[Dart77]

In the end, manufacturers are selling their cars to ‘new car buyers’. These buyers mostly buy new cars regularly so are only looking for reliable motoring for the length of their ownership (or the length of their lease) - say, 3 to 5 years - plus enough remaining reliability to preserve a reasonable residual value. The people who really care about longer term reliability are the secondhand car buyers, but they are essentially picking over the bones of the new car market (and are not a driving influence on the new car market or new car design parameters).

Good point. It's an angle I'm not used to looking at. I've always been a used car buyer so I can't relate to being a new car buyer as I have recycling right at my core philosophy - not just cars but everything practicable.

Also you say, "[Used car buyers].... are not a driving influence ... on new car design parameters." However I would tend to disagree with just that point only. As soon as a car is bought it becomes "used", both literally and in the market. It is the feedback received from the new AND used buyers that often determines how something is designed, redesigned, improved/deleted, added etc. As a model will inherently stay for quite a number of years with only minor changes here and there between successive years but feedback from owners (whether new or used) is often essential in directing the company in what to do or not to do bewteen same model years

It's probably true that most car manufacturers don't give a rat's ar$e about used car buyers - however it's those very people that either carry the flag for that make/model or cause it to have a bad name if it turns out to be unreliable to many people. Especially these days when social media ensures that an infinitely greater number of people know about things like this and in a very short time - compared to just 20 years ago.

How many times has it occurred over the decades that the motoring press has greatly praised a manufacturer's new model, but it quickly turned into a lemon with so many defects occurring quite quickly? Something a new car tester could never foresee. A good example of this is the TE Cortina. It looked so hot at first but after a few years came to have a very bad name when poor quality build and design faults became apparent. The hugely improved TF Cortina was actually a great car, which the TE should have been, but by then it was too late and the buying public were a bit reluctant after the TE's tales of woe.

Similar thing happened with the Rover SD1 in the UK. A striking car (Car of the Year in Europe) but after just a few months the poor design and build in many areas left a lemon taste in many buyers' mouths. Same as the Leyland P76 in Australia. There's probably just as many Japanese/Asian cars like over the years as well. (the horrible Datsun 120Y and unpopular 280ZX come to mind). But anyway, I digress...

As for the fridges - yes I know well enough how inefficient the old ones are. However look at this way: I've had it for 35 years (bought second hand for $50 hahaaha). It's needed two globes and one magnetic door seal set. Plus some home handyman fixing of shelf. How long will a new fridge last? Often only 7-10 years. So that's between 3 and 5 new fridges in that period, with all the associated costs/hassles of choosing, buying, moving it, disposing of and delivering/ installing, PLUS the environmental footprint for each new one made and being disposed of.

The extra costs involved for those 3-5 fridges would far outweigh the electricity costs that only I have to bear. So I am more than happy to keep going with it. BTW, I have two washing machines and one is mid 80s and the other mid 70s !! Both Hoovers, both still going, albeit with the odd repair needed every 10-12 years or so.

This practice, along with old cars' restoration and use is the ultimate form of recycling as far as I'm concerned. Their environmental footprints (excuse the cliche) happened long ago.

 

[J_D 2.0]

The extra costs involved for those 3-5 fridges would far outweigh the electricity costs that only I have to bear.

And increasingly the electricity to run the old fridge is coming from renewable sources so the carbon footprint for running the inefficient old fridge is reducing over time.

The same can’t be said for making new fridges, which require just as much carbon emissions to make as they always did.

 

[figjam]

Some very good sensible comments above about the cost of manufacturing items /cars/ fridges etc, that I have been banging on about since Greta was in kindy.
Some, or most, consumers seem to think that electric cars just appear at the end of the assembly line, and fridges come from Harvey Norman, by some sort of magic.
Our fridge is 22 years old, and is powered by a few solar panels which are 12 years old. Probably neither are as efficient as when new, but they work, as according to my electricity use, our house does not use grid power during the day.
Our 3 cars have a combined age of 52 years, and nearly 450Km.
............ doing my bit to save the human race from extinction.

 

[figjam]

The same can’t be said for making new fridges, which require just as much carbon emissions to make as they always did.

Probably more.
Do you really need a fridge connected to the internet to let you know that you need more milk.
Those features just amaze and confound me, not for their 'smartness', but for their unnecessariness. (is that a word ?)

 

[chrisp]

As for the fridges - yes I know well enough how inefficient the old ones are. However look at this way: I've had it for 35 years (bought second hand for $50 hahaaha). It's needed two globes and one magnetic door seal set. Plus some home handyman fixing of shelf. How long will a new fridge last? Often only 7-10 years. So that's between 3 and 5 new fridges in that period, with all the associated costs/hassles of choosing, buying, moving it, disposing of and delivering/ installing, PLUS the environmental footprint for each new one made and being disposed of.

The extra costs involved for those 3-5 fridges would far outweigh the electricity costs that only I have to bear. So I am more than happy to keep going with it. BTW, I have two washing machines and one is mid 80s and the other mid 70s !! Both Hoovers, both still going, albeit with the odd repair needed every 10-12 years or so.

I don’t disagree with any of that, but I do think that it is important to numerate things a bit before deciding if something is indeed cheaper/better or whatever.

I didn’t do a comprehensive test on my old fridge, but I did check its energy usage over a couple of weeks while preparing to replace it. I was a little surprised by the figures - it wasn’t that the old fridge used a bit more energy than the new one, it used heaps more energy. I don’t have the numbers in front of me (as I probably did them on the back of an old envelope), but I do recall the conclusion - the new fridge would cover it’s capital cost in a matter of a few years, and any further use after that would be ongoing savings.

So that old $50 fridge might be costing $50 per month to run. Whereas a new fridge might cost $10 a month to run. The differences might even be greater depending upon the efficiency and condition of an old fridge.

As to the embedded energy, again it is worthwhile looking in to the actual numbers rather than speculating. We often hear all sorts of comments that the embedded energy of a product is some huge number that can’t possibly be recouped. The actual reality is quite different.

I found a web site that has a calculation that is very similar to what I worked out many years ago… https://wattwatchers.com.au/why-you-may-need-to-buy-a-new-energy-efficient-fridge-to-save-money/
(for those who don’t have time to read it… his old fridge cost $660 per year, new fridge $100 per year, embedded energy in the new fridge was equivalent to using the old fridge for 234 days or approximately 8 months).

Every fridge will vary somewhat (especially the older ones), and how we use them, and the cost of our energy will vary from house to house. So there won’t a one size fits all solution. But it is good to use ballpark costs where we can. A smart plug with energy monitoring can be purchased for about $20 and can be used to work out how much a fridge (or any other appliance) is actually costing.

But it is all good discussion, but somehow we’ve drifted from the topic of transmissions!

 

[Dart77]

Every fridge will vary somewhat (especially the older ones), and how we use them, and the cost of our energy will vary from house to house. So there won’t a one size fits all solution. But it is good to use ballpark costs where we can. A smart plug with energy monitoring can be purchased for about $20 and can be used to work out how much a fridge (or any other appliance) is actually costing.

But it is all good discussion, but somehow we’ve drifted from the topic of transmissions!

Yes, certainly have drifted! But will just add to say that you are correct that measured realities are better than speculation. And I wasn't aware of those smart plugs, or if I was, I'd forgotten, or wasn't aware they were so cheap. I will get one and have a look at it. However I doubt it would be $50 a month. I don't have a big family, kids not here so doesn't get a huge amount of door opening. My elec bill is under $260 bi-monthly. Still , will be interesting to see... And I still maintain that it's a feel-good situation for me to know that 3-5 fridges haven't had to be disposed of in half a lifetime.

An argument to support yours though is that the old thing is not very space efficient! For the outside size of it, it's not that big inside. I'm sure modern fridges are much better in this regard.

Still, it's an iconic US engineered, Australian-made appliance and we are friends and that's also a big factor for me.

 

[Dart77]

Do you really need a fridge connected to the internet to let you know that you need more milk.
Those features just amaze and confound me, not for their 'smartness', but for their unnecessariness. (is that a word ?)

Had no idea about that! Shows my state of fringe-dwellingness (now that certainly ISN'T a word). What an insane thing that is. No wonder people these days are turning more and more into plastic parrots.

 

[Dart77]

Our 3 cars have a combined age of 52 years, and nearly 450Km.
............ doing my bit to save the human race from extinction.

Unfortunately we, and others of similar thinking, are in the minority.

 

[bjf66]

Interesting post
Im about to open up the 6L80E trans on 2015 VF SS, which has done 152,000 km, need to look back to see if Holden has done a filter and ATF change.
This will be my first service on the car that Im doing myself.
Having just completed the service on VE/V6 sealed pan, Im ready to tackle it
Have purchased a deep pan, and fixed dip stick, so hoping to fit the dip stick and then measure the fluid height comparison between dipstick and level in pan
Not sure how much more ATF the deep pan will hold maybe 1.5 litres +
Im using Castrol Transmax Dex VI for VE and VF trans