DAMN! Tranny is starting to go....

[mattyrides07]

Since my wife bought the Pathy 4 years ago it has ALWAYS "knocked" when going from 1st to 2nd. It's always been slight, but noticeable to me. A couple days ago I thought I felt it knock when DOWN Shifting... yesterday that got confirmed!!! DOH!

[Towncivilian]

Have you maintained the tranny fluid? Got an auxiliary cooler and/or in-line filter? The in-pan strainer/filter is more like a rock catcher.

[RJSquirrel]

Bad rear transmission mount? Bad Engine mount?

 

Flush your transmission and replace the pan filter. Install an inline filter. There really isn't any such thing as "too clean" when it comes to ATF. Replaceable units from Magnefine can be spliced into the cooler lines and are good for up to 30k miles. Better units from Racor are available but are spendy and require more elaborate installations for the spin-on filters.

[mattyrides07]

So, magnefine has 3 sizes of in-line filters... By chance do you remember what size we need?

[Towncivilian]

3/8"

Edited October 31, 2011 by Towncivilian

[mattyrides07]

3/8"

 

cheers!

How long did this take you to do? 5 qts of tranny fluid?

[Towncivilian]

A drain & fill is 4 quarts. Use a new crush washer. The torque spec is 22-29 ft/lbs for the drain plug.

 

Installing the Magnefine shouldn't take more than 20 minutes and a foot or two of extra transmission cooler hose. Finding out how to secure it in a way that doesn't interfere with the stock plastic undercover is more difficult.

 

In my case, I have it directly after the auxiliary cooler, secured under the grille so it's easy to get to. This is difficult to describe without pictures, so if you want some let me know.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Towncivilian

[RJSquirrel]

Flushing the transmission is not the same thing as just dropping the pan and replacing 5 qts of fluid. Flushing the transmission fluid (without special equipment) requires filling the transmission through the filler and running the engine to pump out the old fluid through the cooler outlet line. To flush 97% of the old fluid out, it takes about 5 gallons of ATF. Dexron III is a suitable, inexpensive flushing fluid. Napa sells 5 gallon container of Dexron III fluid (part# NOL75203) for about $65USD. Only after you've dropped the pan, cleaned it, replaced the filter, and performed the flush, should you install the inline filter. If you get a second bucket to pump the old fluid into, you should be pretty close at not over/under-filling the transmission. Make sure you attach the outlet hose securely to the drain bucket as the fluid comes out with quite a bit of force and makes a huge mess *fast* if not directed properly. Ask me how I know. If you really want to do a thorough job, jack up the rear axle(use stands, and chock the front wheels) and cycle the transmission lever through all the different gears while you are doing the flush, so all the passages get flushed out. That will probably take two people, one to pour the fresh fluid in, and the other to cycle the transmission through all the gears. Putting the truck on jackstands and dropping/cleaning the pan and replacing the filter takes longer than the rest of the flushing process. The hardest part of the job is balancing a 5 gallon bucket of transmission fluid over the filler funnel without spilling. 5 gallons of fluid will go through the transmission in just a few minutes. Take the old fluid to a transmission shop or proper hazardous waste disposal center. Alaska has about the last clean water on the planet, so keep it that way for the next generation! Good luck.

[Towncivilian]

Actually I just did a cooler line exchange not two hours ago.

 

I started with 10 quarts of Castrol Import Multi Vehicle ATF. I disconnected the cooler return line, pointed it in an empty gallon milk jug, and had a helper turn the car on. Once it was half full I shouted for him to stop and emptied the jug into a larger collection jug. I poured two quarts of fluid through the dipstick, then repeated this process until I was out of fluid. After 10 quarts, the fluid was brighter red coming out of the milk jug, so I assumed I exchanged the vast majority of the fluid.

 

At idle, there was not much pressure. I could have left the hose in the jug without issue.

 

Also, make sure you disconnect the correct line - I disconnected the stock cooler's outlet by accident and puked a small amount of fluid on the underside of the passenger side by accident. Heh.

 

Disconnect the negative battery terminal if you change any of the transmission fluid. This will reset the TCM and it will re-learn how to shift according to your driving style and to match the qualities of the new fluid (different friction modifiers, etc).

 

You can dispose of the old transmission fluid at any place that accepts engine oil. The only fluids you shouldn't recycle there are brake fluid and engine coolant, these don't mix properly and will make it harder to deal with for the recyclers down the road. But people probably do it anyway.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Towncivilian

[mattyrides07]

Cheers everyone!

 

Towncilvian, If you have pics i'd love to see them. I'm more of a visual learner LOL

[Towncivilian]

I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow and maybe try to draw up an MS Paint diagram.

 

I would highly suggest doing a pan drop in addition to the cooler line exchange & filter install, just to get rid of any and all crud collected in the bottom of the pan and on the magnet and change the filter/strainer. Maybe even add another donut magnet if you can find one. After the pan drop, put 5 quarts in, then perform the cooler line exchange and install the filter. You'll probably need 3 or 4 gallons of ATF to do a thorough exchange - the 10 quarts I used was borderline IMO, but I'm short on cash.

 

I used the Beck/Arnley filter/gasket kit from RockAuto. I'd trust the Wix filter/gasket kit as well, and will probably use that next time. It's about $17 + shipping. A Magnefine was $22.55 shipped for me, so that's somewhere around $40-45 before fluid.

 

I'll be doing another pan drop around 150k (probably in about 2 years; have 129k now) and will be replacing the Magnefine as well. Since the Magnefine has its own donut magnet, I'll be unscrewing it, taking pictures, cleaning the magnet, and putting it in the trans pan. Why waste a perfectly good magnet?

 

As for the results of my cooler line exchange last night, the fluid is a little low - gonna pick up 2 more quarts of Castrol IMV to achieve the proper fluid level tomorrow. Don't know how it ended up being low, but oh well.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Towncivilian