To flush or not to flush

From : paul johnson

Q: i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks .

Replies:

From : roy

i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks nothing. you will move some of the stuff that has been trapped in the filter back into the trans. thats how it was explained to me anyway. kinda like sucking the oil out of your engine and not replacing the oil filter. .

From : mike simmons

paul my preference is still the drop the pan method although it doesnt change all the fluid. at least you can replace the filter and take a peek at the stuff in the bottom of the pan. ideally though it would be good to change the entire fluid supply which involves a flush. on my personal vehicles i drop the pan at 30k and do both at 60k. chryco service manager member sae i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks .

From : miles

paul johnson wrote i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there a tranny mechanic that specializes in beefing up dodge trannies told me the flush thing is not a good thing. the only people telling me its a good thing are the shops that do it. so far none of the performance specialty tranny shops recommend or perform a flush. the consenses from mechanics ive spoken to is to drop the pan. while it is true that you dont get all the fluid this way frequent changes will do the trick. i have a drain plug in my pan and drain the fluid there every 15k and drop the pan to change the filter every 30k. if you tow 30k intervals seem long to me. .

From : david

the local well known not national chain tranny shop recommends a flush only after the pan has been dropped and the filter replaced and the pan cleaned out. on my 95 dakota they recommended a flush about every 3rd filter and small fluid change done every 18k-20k. the flush itself only added another $40 to the $90 filter and fluid change they also checked any adjustments that may have been needed. i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks .

From : paul johnson

paul my preference is still the drop the pan method although it doesnt change all the fluid. at least you can replace the filter and take a peek at the stuff in the bottom of the pan. ideally though it would be good to change the entire fluid supply which involves a flush. on my personal vehicles i drop the pan at 30k and do both at 60k. chryco service manager member sae wow! thanks for the quick and very good responses. my intuition was that flushing isnt logical. too bad modern manufacturers dont do what studebaker did on their borg-warner automatics- put a drain plug in the converter with an access hole in the bottom of the bell housing. .

From : bryan swadener

wow! thanks for the quick and very good responses. my intuition was that flushing isnt logical. too bad modern manufacturers dont do what studebaker did on their borg-warner automatics- put a drain plug in the converter with an access hole in the bottom of the bell housing. chrysler used to do that as well. the last time i had to do a complete overhaul on my 77 d200s transmission i also replaced the converter w/ a rebuilt unit. the replacement unit didnt have a drain plug so i sent it back to have that done. i prefer to change all the transmission fluid when doing a maintenance service. bryan .

From : redneck tookover hell

too bad modern manufacturers dont do what studebaker did on their borg-warner automatics- put a drain plug in the converter with an access hole in the bottom of the bell housing. it would interfere with the lockup clutches used in modern convertors politics the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich. .

From : nikoli yetti

i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks in my opinion the trannie flush is a gimmick by the dealers to overcharge more. modern trannie fluid and part manufacturing make up for the need to change all the fluid. .

From : clyde

on 10 jun 2004 061412 gmt mopar440@aol.comnet.org redneck tookover hell wrote it would interfere with the lockup clutches used in modern convertors the borg warner transmission mentioned above that studebaker used from 1950 through 1955 was a lock-up clutch torque converter - plus it had a drain plug. so many garys ..so.. clyde .

From : murf flstc

the reason they are touting the flush method is because they have to pay for that expensive piece of equipment they have purchased to offer the service. back flushing a tranny with the filter in place is self explanatory. i put a trans pan with a drain plug in my bronco and every other oil change i drop what tranny fluid will drain and top off with fresh about four quarts. i think a good filter interval for trans is half of what the oem recommends. the importance of the transmission is obvious. an increase maintenance interval should be a good thing. the only trade off from the fluid replacement is that it may prevent trouble analysis. but trouble prevention before the fact seems to me to be a good idea to me. imo. it also gives the opp to examine the filter magnet in the pan and any other oddity that may be present from a visual inspection. steve 99 harley flstc 93 ford bronco 04 dodge ram i have a 95 ram 2500 v-10 w/automatic. i have used it to pull a heavy 5th wheel. i had the transmission fluid changed at the dealership at 30000 and 60000 miles. this was the conventional drop the pan change the filter type job. i now have 90000 miles and need to service it again. now everyone is touting flushing the tranny. im confused as to which is best. what happens to the old filter if the pan isnt dropped any experience out there thanks .