My dealer does the flush ( about 14 qts, no filter) for about $150 and they do the service (remove pan change filter and about 7 qts) for about $100. My service manager actually recommended the service over the flush as long as I do it about every 30,000. I don't want to be moving stuff around in there if there is any trash. I built enough C-4s for Mustangs to know that there is gunk in there.

 

IMO: I'd want the tranny pan pulled. IIRC there is a magnetic strip on the inside of the pan to collect any shavings that may have been produced. It's nice to verify there are NO shavings on that magnet. Also, why the heck not change the filter?

I'd want the pan pulled. They're doing it with their fancy flush machine and NOT pulling the pan because it easier FOR THEM = more $.

CMOS

 

A flush is the best way to go, if you drop the pan and replace the filter and refill you are getting maybe half of the transfluid, if you do a flush you get 99% of it replaced with new. If you want a new filter they will replace it at an additionial cost of course.
The reverse flush does pull out any sediment or gunk that is in the filter. You could probley get it done cheaper at a transmission place or Pep Boys is around $100

 

So what is the way to do this? First do a flush with the original filter being backflushed? Then drop the pan, and pull out the old/backflushed filter? Replace the pan, and then top off with tranny fluid to the correct level? Seems like a waste of 'new' tranny fluid. The other way to do it is to drop the pan, replace the filter, and then back flush. This wil run old fluid backwards through the filter.....hummm what to do? Any other ideas out there

 

Pep boys replace the filter before they do the flush

 

Do NOT allow the dealer (or whoever is doing your service) to do a chemical flush of the trans.

A few months ago, while on vacation, the trans on my '04 SuperCrew basically tore itself to bits with no warning (and in a matter of seconds) while cruising down the freeway. It had to be replaced at a cost of over $4,000. There was no repair or rebuilding of the internals possible. The insides looked like the floor of a machine shop - metal shavings everywhere. The planetary gears had ground themselves to bits.

The dealership that did the removal and replacement of the trans diagnosed the cause of the failure as a clogged filter and the resulting starvation of fluid.

The filter on the trans is not the more typical metal screen type. It is more like a fabric/fibrous type material contained within a flat metal canister that has a inlet pipe on one side and an outlet on the other. Looking inside the filter of my failed trans you could see a brown, sticky looking "gunk" that looked a bit like caramel or molasses.

The clog, according to the service manager, was caused by my regular dealer having used a chemical flush package during a trans flush. He advised that when I got home to check my service records and look for an additional charge of about $25 on my 30K service records. That, he said, would be for the chemical solvent package which he described as unnecessary and incompatible with the type of filter used in the trans. He said all it did was just provide more markup for the dealer.

Sure enough, I checked my service records and there was the charge he described in addition to the charge for the flush itself. As per common practice, the pan was never dropped and the filter was not changed - just the chemical flush was performed.

According the service manager at the dealership that did the repair I would have been better off never having the trans serviced at all. He's seen transmission that go 100,000 miles or more without ever changing the trans fluid. The fluid looks like heck but the trans survives. It can't, however, survive a blocked filter.

I would insist on having the pan dropped and the fluid and the filter replaced.

 

Damn Nick, that stinks.

That is precisely why I NEVER have anything done to my vehicles (out of the ordinary) by any shop until after I run it through FTE. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. They are in the business to MAKE MONEY, which is not alwasy synonomous to "doing the best job for the customer."

Beware.

CMOS

 

That is why I will never have one flushed. I will drop the pan, change what fluid comes out. Doing that every 30,000 will keep the fluid quite fresh enough to do it's job. My dealer agrees that this is the better route.

 

My dealer also wants me to flush my trans. I used to work in development and on our durability cars, we would run 150K without changing the trans fluid. Just oil and filter! But, I'm definitely going to change my filter when it warms up!!

 

Wow...what a sad story. I'm now thinking like most of you, that 'flushing' probably isn't critical, if you drop the pan every 30K or so and replace the filter each time. Also since the filter isn't just a 'metal screen' but rather a more delicate firbrous structure, the whole idea of backflushing could really compromise the ability of this filter to function once all that new fluid is in. I just placed an order for a MagHytech pan that holds 8 quarts more than stock and will drop my OEM pan when it arrives, replace the filter, top off and be done with it. Things are never easy!

 

My $.02

2005 w/ 4R70 transmission.

I drop the pan in the driveway.
Replace the filter.
Reinstall the pan.
Fill it up with Merc V.

Every 30K-40K miles.
The gasket/filter kit is cheap at Advance Auto and it only takes about an hour to do it all.

Currently at 124,000 miles and all seems to be working fine.

edit to add: as CMOS mentioned, dropping the pan allows you to have a look-see and check the magnet strip for how much ferrous material has been shed.
It's nice to have a chance to have a visual inspection of what things look like.
Plus, you get to smell it too. If things look bad and smell burned, then you know you have a problem before it fails at night, on the freeway, while out of town.

 

Have a drain plug in that pan?


CMOS

 

my '02 had a 1/4" plug in the torque converter to remove fluid , accesed through the rubber plug on bellhousing , bump motor to see plug . is this plug still on a '06 , also found a plastic ball in pan

 

The plastic ball is from the factory when the trans was built. On mine, the ball was yellow with an O-ring around it. It is a plug that seals the dipstick tube while the trans is being assembled. The last thing the tech does is to stick the dipstick in which knocks the plastic ball/seal down into the pan where it rolls around harmlessly. It's a good way to know if the pan has never been dropped during a service. If the ball is still in there when you drop the pan, the pan has never been off prior to that.

 

[QUOTE=CMOS]Have a drain plug in that pan?

The Mag-Hytech aftermarket pan that I just ordered (mag-hytec 4r70w-dd) has a magnetic drain plug. It also has a port that is threaded for a temperature sender if you want to hook up an aftermarket gauge. This pan is grooved at the interface between the pan an the bottom of the tranny and comes with an O-ring for sealing...no gasket sealer etc. I think its a great mod.