Auto Trans Removed, Fluid drained - Can I flush it with anything while out of the car?

[OldskoolOz]

Hi Everyone.

I am new at this so please be gentle!
I'm in WA and was going to try to get my one owner VT V6 wagon ready to go over the pits over the Christmas break. The main job was the rear main seal. Thanks to this fantastic site, I managed to remove everything without much of a hitch. While the transmission was drained and out of the car, I thought I would do as much as I could, to keep it going for a fair while before doing anything else. Remembering when it was on the road last, the radiator was starting to look a bit suspect. With that in mind, I ordered new parts to cover many various areas. I ordered new:
*rear main seal plate and gasket
*rear trans housing gasket
*trans filter and gasket
*trans fluid Castrol Dex III
*Lucas trans fix fluid
*water pump
*tensioner pulleys
*reconditioned Power Steering Rack
*Power Steering Pump seal kit
*Coolant (about 20 litres)
*(no engine oil ordered as yet - 5W30 seems to be the oil of choice on this fantastic site)

The only problem I have is that everything arrived except for the water pump, which, due to a backflip on our "Springfield Dome" type border re-opening, that slows everything coming into the state, a once in 200 year flood that wiped out the main arterial route for goods into the state - the train line, and a little thing called Covid, I still haven't got my water pump. I didn't want to drain everything in the engine and then put it back together, only to pull more parts off when the water arrived. I have sealed the trans up again since draining it, however it's been sitting upside down, with no fluid in it since early Jan 2022, and it's now mid Feb 2022.

After that long winded background, I have two questions:

1. Although the trans oil pan is back on and has been since I drained it, Will it do any damage to the trans, not having any fluid in it all that time?

and

2. Due to my OCD of having any particles anywhere in there, can I pour/spray anything into the upturned trans to wash out any small particles? We are of course on the edge of the desert and surrounded by sand. I'm just paranoid that at some point something might get in the short time that the pan was off.

I did see on some American sites about using diesel and a magnet to collect anything. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Many apologies for my long post...it is my first...hopefully not my last.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Andrew flores]

Trans is robust. won't rust.just fill with cheap atf ,put in D&R about 30 times, flush,change filter. Good to go.

 

[OldskoolOz]

Thanks heaps for that Andrew.

Would you believe the water pump finally arrived this morning after I wrote an email to ebay last night? It must have pushed it along the backlog a bit.

Do I need to have the trans in the car to flush it or can I just throw the cheap ATF in and roll it around? The trans is empty aof fluid and I've just bought a new filter for it. If it needs to be in the car to flush, could I clean the old filter and then drain it again and bin the filter before I put the new ATF and new filter in?

Also, sorry, excuse my ignorance, but what is D&R?

Thanks again Andrew.

 

[vr304]

D&R would be drive and reverse which you would have to do with the trans in the car naturally

 

[EYY]

Refit to car, change filter and put new fluid in - job done. No need to flush - it can be done but risk is not worth it if unexperienced, and is very cost prohibitive in any case.

Dont use any ‘transmission fix’ or ‘stop leak’ etc. These can shorten the life of your seals as it makes them swell. Just use a good transmission fluid.

 

[OldskoolOz]

Thanks Guys.

I really appreciate the assistance and support.

 

[losh1971]

Use full syn fluid as it lasts longer and is not going to cost much more, especially when it lasts for 50-60k, instead of 25-30k.