Well, The G Sets at Aamco

[mitsu_vic]

and I wait.....

Last week the thing downshifted (hope that the right term for an auto tranny) so hard I thought the tranny was gone, since then it has been erractic and today going to work a terrible hard shift when coming to a stop.

Ive been reading about problems with the orinigal filter being poor in quality and allowing junk through, so hopefully these guys will be able to tell me something.

[quicksilver22]

time for a manual swap!

[mitsu_vic]

Well the guy says the fluid is varnished and could use a flush, fluid level good and no codes...he said a flush may help it or wait until it throws a code and go from there

I know many think the flush is a waste but if the fluid is going bad could it not help? Do these car have tranny filters, some sites say yes and Aamco said the flush included a filter change but the Mitsu dealer said they perform flush and there is no filter?

[RAZ_76]

Well the guy says the fluid is varnished and could use a flush, fluid level good and no codes...he said a flush may help it or wait until it throws a code and go from there

I know many think the flush is a waste but if the fluid is going bad could it not help? Do these car have tranny filters, some sites say yes and Aamco said the flush included a filter change but the Mitsu dealer said they perform flush and there is no filter?

Transmission fluid doesn't have an expiration date on it. IT can actualy do more damage if you replace it but it's your money and your choice.

Aamco said the flush included a filter change but the Mitsu dealer said they perform flush and there is no filter?

That right there would tell me to grab my keys and take my car somewhere else, not that I would ever take my car to Aamco. Your Galant has an internal oil filter that doesn't need to be replaced, but again your money.

[732Galant]

Aamco probably meant to say that if a trans filter was needed it would be included. They don't specifically work on one brand of car and they are obviously all different.

[mitsu_vic]

Ray, never thought of letting them touch drain the fluid just a stop for a quick look to see if there was any visible problems. The nearest dealer is an hour away but still not sure what to do. I realize and understand the idea about doing more harm with a flush now so perhaps I wait and see if the thing will throw a code.

[mapid145]

just a suggestions.. look at ur tranny fluid dip stick.. if it kinda sparkles as if theres some metal pieces in it.. like sharpnel... then u got a problem..



ray.. when the tranny oil goes from purple to like brown and has burning smell.. shouldnt u change it.. wat do u mean by it doesnt expire

[RAZ_76]

Transmission flushes are never needed. It's ok if your fluid is brown. The only time I would drain a transmission is to have work done on it but never flush it to fix a problem within the transmission.. I'm actually getting tired of telling people that, it's just something invented by the dealer to rip you off your hard worked money.

[tamim13]

Well the guy says the fluid is varnished and could use a flush, fluid level good and no codes...he said a flush may help it or wait until it throws a code and go from there

I know many think the flush is a waste but if the fluid is going bad could it not help? Do these car have tranny filters, some sites say yes and Aamco said the flush included a filter change but the Mitsu dealer said they perform flush and there is no filter?

Yeah, when I replaced my transmission solenoid, there is no external filter (spin off), there's a valve body filter, but you have to take your whole transmission apart to replace that (I'm talking about v4), not really sure about the v6.

[proteusx301]

Transmission flushes are never needed. It's ok if your fluid is brown. The only time I would drain a transmission is to have work done on it but never flush it to fix a problem within the transmission.. I'm actually getting tired of telling people that, it's just something invented by the dealer to rip you off your hard worked money.

As someone who builds transmissions for a living, I dont understand where you got this.

[RAZ_76]

You must be that transmission worker that does the raping? What happens when you flush an engine or transmission??? Tell us MR transmission man? Also remember that Im not talking abot a drain. Im talking about a flush, so dont confuse the two.

[proteusx301]

what do you think is the brown stuff thats in your transmission?

[RAZ_76]

That is not what I asked? If it smells like burned toast and/or has a discolored brown appearance, the fluid has cooked itself and is no longer capable of providing proper lubrication to the transmission. If you're lucky, you may have caught the problem before serious damage has been done -- but more often than not by the time the fried fluid is discovered, the transmission is also toast.

[proteusx301]

transmission fluid discolors normally. both due to transmission temps and clutch friction material floating around in it.

[RAZ_76]

I agree with you, transmissions produce a lot of friction and i never said not to drain. I just know that flushes are dangerous because flushing is the high pressure forcing of fluid back against the normal flow of the fluid. In other words if the normal flow is left to right, the flush would force the fluid right to left. This is accomplished by connecting a machine that will force special solvents back through the transmission. The idea is that by forcing cleaning solvents backwards through the system, it will get all the junk and garbage that has formed over time and "flush" it out of the system. In theory this may be sound, but in actual practice, it's dangerous. That is what I'm talking about, not a regular drain and fill with fresh oil.

[proteusx301]

i have never flushed a transmission in the wrong direction in my life. we use a machine that is basically a fluid exchanger, using the pump from the transmission to actually move the fluid. you just remove one of the cooler lines and place the machine in series with the natural flow of the transmission. backflushing a transmission is not good, for the exact reasons you described. i have fixed many drivability concerns with a simple transmission flush to clean out the junk that has built up in the valve body, manual valves, servos and clutch pack pistons.

[RAZ_76]

Reason I dont like that techique is because when the fluid leaves the transmission pump it passes to two different pressure regulators. One regulator supplies fluid at one pressure to the transmission itself that operates the pistons and controls gear shifting. The other is supplies the torque converter and the transmission cooler. So you can see that all the fluid leaving the pump does not go to the cooler. A bunch of it is cycled through the transmission and dumped back to the pan without going through the cooler. This type of flush machine does not remove all the old fluid, but it continuously dilutes it down with new fluid. It never really removes all of the old fluid, but is far superior to just drain and fill.

[proteusx301]

yeah, generally it takes close to a half hour to fush one, depending on the trans. the machine i use holds 16 quarts when you start. and has a way of taking the old fluid and preventing it from going back into the trans. true you are diluting it to an extent, but it maximizes the fluid exchange, trying to get as much old out as possible.

[mapid145]

hmm.. so flushing a tranny good or bad..and also.. you only need to change the oil when its kinda burning smell and sorta brown right??.. if its pink and purple.. its good to go??

[Serstylz2]

All I know is I will continue to get tranny flushes every 40k