Posted By: captaindodge
urban mith - 08/03/08 05:02 PM
That if you have not changed your trans fluid in about 23 years or so, don't do it? 
urban mith
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 05:11 PM
i wouldn't. my original had 120k on it, no clue when it was last changed. I changed the fluid and converter in it, it lasted about another 5000miles. Related? Possibly.. 
Posted By: RapidRobert
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 05:15 PM
I would 
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 06:11 PM
Quote:
I would
+1
Posted By: In_The_Pink
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 06:13 PM
Quote:
That if you have not changed your trans fluid in about 23 years or so, don't do it?
So if you haven't changed your oil in 10K mikles, you wouldn't change it either?
Posted By: bigdad
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 06:14 PM
I had one once that it did knock the trans out of it was a old car that had sat allot so ..
Myth, hmmmmm all myths have a "little bit" of truth to them
Myth, hmmmmm all myths have a "little bit" of truth to them
Posted By: cataclysm80
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 07:02 PM
I think the issue here is that the new fluid cleans/knocks loose old deposits which can clog up fluid passages possibly starving portions of the tranny for fluid. Most transmission shops will not change fluid in situations like this because it is too large of a liability risk for them. They'd rather get paid to rebuild your tranny when it goes out than have to fix it for free because it went out right after they worked on it. That is where the urban myth comes from. It's tranny shops covering their own rear end. I think the best thing for you to do if your in this situation is to change the fluid yourself using a new filter, and then do it all again soon afterward to make sure all old fluid and deposits are flushed out.
Tav
Tav
Posted By: bobby66
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 07:29 PM
I've seen old, slipping transmissions come back to life with a fluid/filter change.
Posted By: HotRodDave
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 07:30 PM
I have seen the oposite happen several times also. I have seen guys come in with there trannys slippin and replaceing the fluid will make them start working again. I have saved several of my friens tranns doing this.
I do agree about the tranny shops covering there buts. If the trans comes in for service and the fluid is old and stinky it probably means the tranny will not last real long one way or the other, if they change it and it goes out they get blamed because they just worked on it so they know from experiance it just isn't good to do it. On my personal vehicles and friends cars who have tranny issues it is quite amazeing how many time a tranny can be fixed just by changing the fluid, I always will try changing the tranny fluid first if it is just slipping. Makeing bad noises or gears not working at all are usually something else.
If I buy a car with nasty fluid I do change it and have not had one fail on me yet
I do agree about the tranny shops covering there buts. If the trans comes in for service and the fluid is old and stinky it probably means the tranny will not last real long one way or the other, if they change it and it goes out they get blamed because they just worked on it so they know from experiance it just isn't good to do it. On my personal vehicles and friends cars who have tranny issues it is quite amazeing how many time a tranny can be fixed just by changing the fluid, I always will try changing the tranny fluid first if it is just slipping. Makeing bad noises or gears not working at all are usually something else.
If I buy a car with nasty fluid I do change it and have not had one fail on me yet
Posted By: bobby66
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 07:45 PM
Change it and adjust the bands. If there's a bunch of metal or clutch linings in the pan you might as well just drop it out and go through it.
out and go through it.
Posted By: gtx6970
Re: urban mith - 08/03/08 08:36 PM
Quote:
Change it and adjust the bands. If there's a bunch of metal or clutch linings in the pan you might as well just drop it
Yep,,,,pull the pan and ck for debris. if it's clean you might be ok
Posted By: JohnRR
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 12:01 AM
Quote:
That if you have not changed your trans fluid in about 23 years or so, don't do it?
I wouldn't do it unless you WANT to rebuild the trans.
2 cases of guys I work with.
One was a 76 Grand Prix a friend bought that had under 50k miles and it was 20 years old. Trans was working fine but becasue of its age his mechanic talked him into do a fluid and filter service , nothing in the pan upon removal , the trans failed a week later .
2nd , late 80's BMW 5 series , +200k miles , trans was slipping a little. No history on the fluid ever being changed, he asked my opinion of changing it, I told him that either way he was going to have to rebuild it so go for it. He changed it , it slipped worse , changed it again after a week the car made it as far as his driveway about 10 miles from where we worked, next stop the junkyard.
If it is working fine I say if it ain't broke DO NOT BREAK IT.
YMMV
Posted By: mnguy55
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 02:31 AM
I'm not an expert but I had a GM truck with a 700R4 that slipped slightly going into third when I got it. It had about 140,000 miles on it. No idea if it was the original fluid. I changed the fluid and the slip stopped and I drove it another 15,000 before selling it with no problems.
Posted By: topside
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 02:36 AM
Never had a problem replacing fluid & filter with something like a "barn find", but have noticed improvements afterward. By the way, it's "myth".
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 02:44 AM
I had a 98 Tahoe that I bought new and changed the fluid and filter the first time at around 50K. The trans started to slip slightly and I added some trans X and it stopped slipping. I put a total of 178K on it with the untouched trans, and used it to pull trailers quite often.
Posted By: DaytonaTurbo
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 03:15 AM
I never had a car that changing fluid would magically fix problems inside it. If it's low to being with, okay, but if fluid level is right up, I've never found changing it to help on my cars. Not saying it's impossible, just saying I never lucked out that way.
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 11:59 AM
Quote:same here.
I never had a car that changing fluid would magically fix problems inside it. If it's low to being with, okay, but if fluid level is right up, I've never found changing it to help on my cars. Not saying it's impossible, just saying I never lucked out that way.
and you can add me to the list of one who had changed fluids only to need a new rebuild severla months later. Its was almost like the clutch material in the fluid was somehow keeping the clutches happy. when I removed that material and put new fluid in, all heck broke loose
Posted By: dgc333
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 03:03 PM
Changing fluid on a tranny that is not working right and have it work after the change is likely because a plugged up filter gets replaced too.
Posted By: mopars4ever
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 06:02 PM
I changed the fluid on a old beater 96 pontiac with 120,000 miles on it. The fluid smelled/ looked burnt but it shifted fine. About 500 miles later the trans started to slip until it warmed up. Mike
Posted By: Anonymous
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 08:58 PM
Quote:
I never had a car that changing fluid would magically fix problems inside it. If it's low to being with, okay, but if fluid level is right up, I've never found changing it to help on my cars. Not saying it's impossible, just saying I never lucked out that way.
I don't think anyone is saying that they are expecting a fluid change is going to FIX a trans problem.
The point is that the manufacturers recommend that you change the trans fluid and filter at certain intervals and more often if you tow a trailer.
The problem is when following these recommendations it seems to often create problems.
Posted By: RapidRobert
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 10:01 PM
Quote:ding ding ding we have a winner.
Changing fluid on a tranny that is not working right and have it work after the change is likely because a plugged up filter gets replaced too.
Posted By: JohnRR
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 11:23 PM
Quote:Quote:same here.
I never had a car that changing fluid would magically fix problems inside it. If it's low to being with, okay, but if fluid level is right up, I've never found changing it to help on my cars. Not saying it's impossible, just saying I never lucked out that way.
and you can add me to the list of one who had changed fluids only to need a new rebuild severla months later. Its was almost like the clutch material in the fluid was somehow keeping the clutches happy. when I removed that material and put new fluid in, all heck broke loose
Its the fluid that does it , ATF has alot of detergent like additives and putting in fresh fluid cleans out the build up and thats what causes the problems .
If one changes the fluid on scheduled intervals a trans should live a long and happy life
Posted By: HPMike
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 11:32 PM
Fluid changes don't "break" transmissions.
Yes, as was stated, the high detergent properties of new fluid will sometimes cause problems, but my theory is that if all you did was change the fluid(which by the way you are really only getting approx 25-40% out with just a pan drop), and the trans went bad, then it was already done.
MB
Yes, as was stated, the high detergent properties of new fluid will sometimes cause problems, but my theory is that if all you did was change the fluid(which by the way you are really only getting approx 25-40% out with just a pan drop), and the trans went bad, then it was already done.
MB
Posted By: ChinooK440
Re: urban mith - 08/04/08 11:52 PM
I,ve done quite a few fuild/filter changes on very neglected trannys and they all lived afterwards just fine.
Some of them had a pan full of muck almost an 1" thick !
Some of them had a pan full of muck almost an 1" thick !
Posted By: Rug_Trucker
Re: urban mith - 08/05/08 04:19 AM
Did a flush and fill once on my van. 2-4 days later the front seal blew.
I have heard of people changing the filter and pouring the old fluid back in. That was on an old high mileage tranny.
I have heard of people changing the filter and pouring the old fluid back in. That was on an old high mileage tranny.
Posted By: Joshs68
Re: urban mith - 08/05/08 04:25 AM
If it's been working for 23 years and it still is why mess with it? keep going till it breaks then just rebuild the whole thing.
Posted By: 70Cuda383
Re: urban mith - 08/05/08 08:45 AM
how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? the world may never know.
here is the problem. old transmission. high mileage. if it breaks shortly after you changed the fluid/filter, how do you know that it would have NOT broke if you did NOT change the fluid/filter?
if you have a 150K mile engine, and you change the oil, then it blows up 500 miles later...did that last oil change break your engine, or the 150K miles that were on it before you changed the oil?
here is the problem. old transmission. high mileage. if it breaks shortly after you changed the fluid/filter, how do you know that it would have NOT broke if you did NOT change the fluid/filter?
if you have a 150K mile engine, and you change the oil, then it blows up 500 miles later...did that last oil change break your engine, or the 150K miles that were on it before you changed the oil?
Posted By: JohnRR
Re: urban mith - 08/05/08 11:57 AM
Quote:
If it's been working for 23 years and it still is why mess with it? keep going till it breaks then just rebuild the whole thing.
ding ding ding .... winner ..
