To flush, or not to flush...

[6G72Galant]

Ok. Im going to be driving down to Florida March 14. I know its a long trip to make. But heres my dilemma. Ive got 118K miles on my Galant. And i havent changed the transmission fluid once. I was thinking about draining the fluid, flushing the transmission, refilling it, driving for a little bit, then draining it again, and then refilling it for a final time. Do you think this will have any damaging effects on my transmission? I know that by me flushing it, i will be freeing all of the sludge that has most likely developed. Thats why i figure by refilling it, and draining it once more, ill remove that sludge too. Ive already searched and it seems like half the people say to flush it, and the other half say to leave it. Do you think my method will work?


I also noticed oil on my spark plug sockets yesterday when i was checking the plugs. Im assuming there is a leak at the top somewhere. A mechanic told me that my O-Rings might be bad. There is no oil down on the spark plugs itself. The oil is only around the top of the wires itself (the rubber part that plugs onto the top of the spark plug). Any solutions?

[Silverfoxx_GTZ]

Personally I'd wait until after you get back from the trip if it isn't acting up. I've seen transmissions with high mileage take a nosedive after being flushed, but have seen it work wonders as well. Good luck with it.

[6G72Galant]

Personally I'd wait until after you get back from the trip if it isn't acting up. I've seen transmissions with high mileage take a nosedive after being flushed, but have seen it work wonders as well. Good luck with it.

I was thinking that, but i didnt want the 19+ hr trip to do some major damage to the transmission. I dont think ill be driving non-stop. Ill prolly stop to rest in NC.

[99 galant]

dont change it at all. ive heard from Jay (someone correct me if im wrong) that above a certain miles (we think its 90-100k) you DONT change it ever again. old is better then new at that point + mitsu has probs with trannys and your just looking to get probs if you change it.

badmitsu has almost 196k on his G and hasnt changed it ever, no tranny probs either

[gtx]

I was thinking that, but i didnt want the 19+ hr trip to do some major damage to the transmission. I dont think ill be driving non-stop. Ill prolly stop to rest in NC.

Unless you have a problem with your trans already, I'd take the trip as it is, and do the flush once you are back.
As far as the oil goes, if it's on the boots, it's time to change your valve cover gasket along with the o-rings. Just like your mechanic told you. A leaky oil cap is also common on Mitsus, might as well check that too while on the gasket subject.

[Rusty]

at work (tire kingdom) we do not reccomend flushes on cars with more than 100k on the clock. if they need a service, all we do is drain and fill. this way you are only changing about 1/2 of the fluid. just disconnect one of the cooler lines, have someone start the car untill fluid stops flowing (MAKE SURE YOU STOP THE CAR AS SOON AS THE FLUID STOPS), remove the drain plug and drain whats left in the pan. reassemble everything and refill. what i do is measure the fluid that comes out and add that much minus one pint and check and add as needed.

so i say not to flush. keep in mind that my information is for automatic trannies in general, some people here will prolly have better mitsu specific info.

[RAZ_76]

If it ain't broke! Dont fix it!

[6G72Galant]

dont change it at all. ive heard from Jay (someone correct me if im wrong) that above a certain miles (we think its 90-100k) you DONT change it ever again. old is better then new at that point + mitsu has probs with trannys and your just looking to get probs if you change it.

badmitsu has almost 196k on his G and hasnt changed it ever, no tranny probs either

Alright. Ill just leave it as is. Worst come to worst, my transmission shits on me. Can we say 5SPD???;) Not to mention, i just learned to drive stick last week. And if i can drive a 6spd. TL, im sure i can handle a 5spd. Eclipse transmission.

If it ain't broke! Dont fix it!

True:smt045

[Rastus]

I also noticed oil on my spark plug sockets yesterday when i was checking the plugs. Im assuming there is a leak at the top somewhere. A mechanic told me that my O-Rings might be bad. There is no oil down on the spark plugs itself. The oil is only around the top of the wires itself (the rubber part that plugs onto the top of the spark plug). Any solutions?

There are seals in the valve covers that keep oil off of the sparkplugs. The boots get wet first when the seals start to fail. They are pretty easy to replace on a 4 cyl. It's a pain in the ass on a v6 since the back bank is more work to reach.

[732Galant]

I have 156k on my 8G automatic and I bought it with 138k. Im not to sure if they had done any previous work and I haven't had anything done to the trans. The trans as long as Im not beating on it is fine. Occasionally if I mash the gas real hard it will shift hard, but normal everyday driving you barely feel it shift.

[criz067]

I bought my Galant back in January w/ 135,000 miles on it. The tranny fluid was dark brown and smelt burnt but it shifted okay... I read all the posts about potential tranny problems and decided to do exactly what you proposed doing about a month ago... I changed about half the fluid and refilled it, ran it about a week then changed it all at once. Plus i added Lucas tranny stuff to it just in case. The old tranny fluid looked really bad but now it shifts even smoother than before. I havent had any problems with it yet and it has been over a month and over 2000 miles. I also get better gas mileage now. My drain plug and a very small amount of metal shavings but very little for 135k and possibly never have been changed before.


Sooo, i would say just change some of it and see if it affects it for the better or the worse. It affected mine for the better. So i decided to change it all. If i had just said screw it like most people, that nasty fluid could have made the transmission go out on me much sooner.