Freshen ATF with a pump, experiences?

[psudaytona]

I have been thinking about using a siphon/fluid evac to help freshen my transmission fluid in my CVPI. I know it had the regular work done while it served the police department but I noticed that its transmission fluid is a tad darker than I would like. Not brown really but def darker red.

Its shifting is clean(no slipping that I can feel) but firm and quick. I have heard that this transmission will have "shudder" at TCLockup when the fluid is getting old. I don't think it is doing that but here in Pittsburgh all our roads feel like rumble strips

I assume this transmission is programmed for quick shifting to get the cruiser up to speeds faster with less clutch material wear. Thus the quick firm shift?

Dropping the pan isnt really an option for me as I live in an apartment. The shops around here only do the power flush with the machine. And they will only use their "universal" fluid. I want my baby to have the real Mercon V fluid that was made for it.

Can I expect that after doing this say maybe 2-3 times that I could expect a noticable improvment in shift quality?

 

[Merkava_4]

You can't change the filter without dropping the pan; and besides that, you can't get the gunk that's settled to the bottom of the pan without dropping it either.

Use duct tape to tie up your landlord and drop the pan.

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I assume this transmission is programmed for quick shifting to get the cruiser up to speeds faster with less clutch material wear. Thus the quick firm shift?

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That's exactly what's ideal for a healthy transmission and optimum performance; in other words, it's normal!

 

[Donald]

If you look hard enough, you can find a shop (small) without a flush machine that will drop the pan, change the filter and clean the pan and magnets (remember to ask shop condition of the filter and how much gunk was on bottom of pan and magnets). You can ask the small shop to install a drain plug in the pan if there is not one. Then you can do a couple of drain & refills easily. There is a calculator listed on the ATF forum that will tell you how many drain & refills you need to get to a certain percentage of new fluid.

Even a shop doing a flush needs to understand the condition of the old fluid to see if they need to change the filter. Some machines have an option to drain the pan just for that reason.

I would not be a fan of universal regular ATF fluid, but am a fan of synthetic universal ATF fluid (like Amsoil ATF).

You can probably find a shop that knows how to and will purge their flush machine of the current fluid and use what you supply. Again, I'd go with synthetic.

Any place that says they can do a flush without changing the filter regardless of the condition of the old fluid is a shop to be avoided.

Best option in my mind would be to drop the pan, change the filter then flush with synthetic fluid. Then you are good for awhile. And get a drain plug installed if there is not one.

 

[shoz123]

I do my own flushing in the drive way. Takes about and hour if I drop the pan which I do every other flush at 30k on Amsoil ATX. Otherwise it takes longer to jack the car up and get it ready for the flush.

 

[JTK]

Pump out and refills are better than leaving it as is. Like shoz123 says, a pan drop every other is more than good IMO. In my experience, after 2-3 pan drops, you don't (or shouldn't) collect much in the pan anyway. Probably just luck, but I've never seen a dirty or clogged trans filter either.

Joel

 

[JustinH]

That year crown vic has a 4r70w transmission.

Very simple to drain and refill. Do not flush it.

The 98 should have a drain plug on the converter itself.

Here is how I would approach it.

Buy Motorcraft MerconV transmission fluid, and a new pan filter. Buy a can of brake clean, and some soft cloths.

Get the transmission warm, then drain the converter through the inspection hole. You may need to rotate the engine via a breaker bar on the crankshaft nut. Get a partner to tell you when he can see the drain on the converter.

Drain the converter, then replace the nut.

You can drop the pan at this point.

Pull the filter down, and spray the valve body, and the inside of the pan and magnet with brake clean.

Install a new filter, and bolt the pan back up.

Start with six quarts of ATF, then start the car, and shift through the gears. It won't engage the gears, but it will start to pump the fluid into the trans.

Then add fluid to it while its running, to get it up to the hot mark on the dipstick.

Its a 45 minute job with cleanup time.

Your buying 14 quarts of fluid, the mercon V fluid is excellent, you don't need the amsoil or anything else, as you really should be changing fluid on this thing every 20k.

 

[Travis99LS1]

yea i was gonna say..find a transmission shop in your area and get them to drop the pan and change the fluid/filter. Its not a hard job at all..but i can understand how doing it in your apartment parking lot can be a bit of a hassle.

 

[alanu]

If you want to do it completely properly I'd get a shop to drop the pan and change the filter. Then put the power flusher on the transmission. Many power flushing machines have a resevoir that gets emptied on every service. There are products that are multi purpose designed to be speced to use with Mercon, dextron II, and III and alot are backwards compatible. I've used alot of these multi purpose ATF's with no issues.

DO NOT!!! NEVER!!! use a rag to clean the transmission pans. Ghetto garages and home "do it yourselfers" do this and forget that lint gets jammed in the pistons and solenoids of the valve body. Use only compressed air to clean a pan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the hassles I'd take it to a reputable trustworthy shop and get them to do the full meal deal. Next time you think you need service just flush it. If your plugging filters you have issues already existing in your transmission.

 

[Kestas]

If you don't trust your local shops, your plan is better than nothing. Hopefully you'll later find a situation or shop where you can get the maintenance done to your liking.

 

[therealdeal770]

DO NOT!!! NEVER!!! use a rag to clean the transmission pans. Ghetto garages and home "do it yourselfers" do this and forget that lint gets jammed in the pistons and solenoids of the valve body. Use only compressed air to clean a pan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ive never used anything but a rag or paper towel and havent had any problems.Wouldnt the filter catch anything left behind.

 

[javacontour]

I've used the rag, but done the final cleaning of the pan with brake cleaner to take off any left over lint from the rag.

 

[alanu]

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DO NOT!!! NEVER!!! use a rag to clean the transmission pans. Ghetto garages and home "do it yourselfers" do this and forget that lint gets jammed in the pistons and solenoids of the valve body. Use only compressed air to clean a pan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ive never used anything but a rag or paper towel and havent had any problems.Wouldnt the filter catch anything left behind.

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Lint can be your worst enemy. I wouldn't risk the possibilities of having to overhaul a transmission because of a rag.

 

[psudaytona]

Wow, I didnt know even lint could cause a problem!

 

[mechtech2]

Siphoning or otherwise pumping/sucking out old fluid and replacing it with new is a good thing.
Best results would be with a few series of suck/fills, as it will mix and dilute the good with the bad.

 

[JHZR2]

I do the siphon / replace type thing on our AT cars.

Of course a pan drop and filter replacement is andatory, but I like to replentish ATF and coolant chemistry about once a year...

I have a time reading the ATF levels on any AT-equipped car. Doesnt matter the brand, fluid, etc. So my only advice would be to be extra careful making sure your levels are 100%.

JMH

 

[psudaytona]

I was planning on using maybe a mityvac and replacing the exact amount I removed. Example, 5 out, 5 in. Let it run a few minutes to circulate. Do it again.

 

[JHZR2]

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I was planning on using maybe a mityvac and replacing the exact amount I removed. Example, 5 out, 5 in. Let it run a few minutes to circulate. Do it again.

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run it for a long while to ensure that you really get full mixing.

JMH