Transmission Fluid Freshen Up

[Snagglefoot]

I did a quick " freshen-up" of my transmission fluid on my three vehicles my family uses. I pulled fluid from the transmission fill tube using a 3/8 plastic hose using with my Flow N Go vacuum extractor. On my 2000 and 2005 Ford Taurus's I was able to remove about 6 quarts each. On my 2008 3/4 ton Suburban with a 6L90 I was able to pull out about 3-1/2 quarts. This was all with the hose "bottomed out" inside the fill tube. Not a replacement for a pan drop or a full drain, but completely clean and quick. In all 3 cases the fluid from the transmission was still red, but a darker shade. There was an average of 40,000 miles on the fluid for two and an unknown amount on the 2005 Taurus. Here is a shot that was representative of the color. Mercon V for the Fords and Dexron 6 for Chev. Enjoy.

 

[gman2304]

I do the same once a year with my 2005 4L60E. It rolled over 200,000 trouble free miles last month.

 

[maxdustington]

That first one....yikes. Looked like my second D&F after I changed my FF at 200000k km. Black/brown with a hint of red. The fresh stuff looks pretty dark though so it's condition is probably better than it looks. Second one is better but looks like both needed a change.

Yuck!

 

[JeffKeryk]

Well done. I will do out Lexus GS350 soon.
Lifetime fluid, my .....

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
That first one....yikes. Looked like my second D&F after I changed my FF at 200000k km. Black/brown with a hint of red. The fresh stuff looks pretty dark though so it's condition is probably better than it looks. Second one is better but looks like both needed a change.

Yuck!


200,000,000,000 meters... that's quite a stout fluid for lasting that long! That's 123.3 MILLION miles!

 

[WyrTwister]

Did you use Dexron VI in the Chevy ? What ATF do the Fords require ?

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Originally Posted by maxdustington
That first one....yikes. Looked like my second D&F after I changed my FF at 200000k km. Black/brown with a hint of red. The fresh stuff looks pretty dark though so it's condition is probably better than it looks. Second one is better but looks like both needed a change.

Yuck!


200,000,000,000 meters... that's quite a stout fluid for lasting that long! That's 123.3 MILLION miles!
I actually noticed it when I was proof reading but thought it was ok. 200k km on FF ATF.

 

[Snagglefoot]

RE: Wyr Twister

Yes, Dex VI in the Chev, Mercon V in the Fords. The AC Delco was actually the cheapest Dex VI I could find in town.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
That first one....yikes. Looked like my second D&F after I changed my FF at 200000k km. Black/brown with a hint of red. The fresh stuff looks pretty dark though so it's condition is probably better than it looks. Second one is better but looks like both needed a change.

Yuck!



I see nothing whatsoever to 'yuck' about. Perfectly normal, used ATF. The red dye deteriorates a little from heat, and there's going to be clutch dust suspended in the fluid of ANY transmission that's been run thousands of miles. Changing it that way is good insurance, no harm done, but that fluid *could* have gone on a long, long, long time.

 

[SirTanon]

They're dark, but still within what I consider to be a serviceable range, and definitely not "BLACK".

I'll by doing a D&F on my Fusion's 6F35 at my next oil change, which is in about 2,350 more miles, soo.. around mid December. I expect my fluid to look more like the used stuff in the left-most pic, above.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Sir, what's your interval? My Fusion went 90k on the FF, but is only at 34k on a 2x Amsoil ATL D&F. I'm going to drop this fill at 40k if I own the car that much longer. 40k is about the longest I will run a synthetic in a 6F35 given its horrid history.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Sir, what's your interval? My Fusion went 90k on the FF, but is only at 34k on a 2x Amsoil ATL D&F. I'm going to drop this fill at 40k if I own the car that much longer. 40k is about the longest I will run a synthetic in a 6F35 given its horrid history.


Good question. I'm thinking it was so easy, it's just a matter on what's effective. For the Ford Taurus's I can replace just short of half the fluid in one session, so maybe once per year? With the Chev Suburban 6.0 liter I can only pull out about 25% per session, so how about once every six months? I do about 12,000 miles per year on them. Somehow this has to be coordinated with a pan drop once in a while. Maybe a pan drop after 36,000 miles but considering I'm replacing so much fluid maybe a pan drop every 48,000 miles? What do people see on the transmission magnet? I'm hearing also, that people typically find hardly any debris in the transmission filter. Anyone got any photos of a "furry" transmission magnet?

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Sir, what's your interval? My Fusion went 90k on the FF, but is only at 34k on a 2x Amsoil ATL D&F. I'm going to drop this fill at 40k if I own the car that much longer. 40k is about the longest I will run a synthetic in a 6F35 given its horrid history.


The target is every 30,000 miles, but my last two were both early - more like 25k each on those. This next one will be likely be right on at 30,000 miles, although since I have Lubegard Red in this fill, and the color is still looking good, I MIGHT stretch it a bit. We'll see.

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Good question. I'm thinking it was so easy, it's just a matter on what's effective. For the Ford Taurus's I can replace just short of half the fluid in one session, so maybe once per year? With the Chev Suburban 6.0 liter I can only pull out about 25% per session, so how about once every six months? I do about 12,000 miles per year on them. Somehow this has to be coordinated with a pan drop once in a while. Maybe a pan drop after 36,000 miles but considering I'm replacing so much fluid maybe a pan drop every 48,000 miles? What do people see on the transmission magnet? I'm hearing also, that people typically find hardly any debris in the transmission filter. Anyone got any photos of a "furry" transmission magnet?

I remember with my Sable (and the Taurus before it), the 'easier' way to do a trans fluid change was to disconnect the cooler line and extend it out to a bucket, put a huge funnel on the fill tube, start the car, and the fill as it pumped out. Pan drop was really the only other way, and was the way to go if you were also changing out the filter. Luckily, the Fusion makes it east - drain plug on the trans case. I get out about 1/2 of the fluid per shot, and I just do a single one each time.

 

[Pinoak]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
I did a quick " freshen-up" of my transmission fluid on my three vehicles my family uses. I pulled fluid from the transmission fill tube using a 3/8 plastic hose using with my Flow N Go vacuum extractor. On my 2000 and 2005 Ford Taurus's I was able to remove about 6 quarts each. On my 2008 3/4 ton Suburban with a 6L90 I was able to pull out about 3-1/2 quarts. This was all with the hose "bottomed out" inside the fill tube. Not a replacement for a pan drop or a full drain, but completely clean and quick. In all 3 cases the fluid from the transmission was still red, but a darker shade. There was an average of 40,000 miles on the fluid for two and an unknown amount on the 2005 Taurus. Here is a shot that was representative of the color. Mercon V for the Fords and Dexron 6 for Chev. Enjoy.




You could plumb a spin on filter and mount in the return line from the cooler or just use magnafine or filtran inline filter. You could just change the inline filter and extract the fluid out like you did every 30k or so and be good. would not need to ever do pan drops or flush.

 

[4WD]

IMO, ATF service in FWD can be pretty tough duty … it's doing it all as opposed to splitting duties between a large centerline transmission and a HD rear axle … FWD = not much fluid capacity …
ATF in our Cruze at 40k was pitch black almost like I pulled the wrong plug. So now do that one at 20k … 11mm wrench, no filter (another reason to change ATF) … gallon jug of Maxlife … easier than an oil change but done at the same time …

It's at 112k of hard miles (driven by son) … and shifts very well …

 

[Pinoak]

Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Sir, what's your interval? My Fusion went 90k on the FF, but is only at 34k on a 2x Amsoil ATL D&F. I'm going to drop this fill at 40k if I own the car that much longer. 40k is about the longest I will run a synthetic in a 6F35 given its horrid history.


Good question. I'm thinking it was so easy, it's just a matter on what's effective. For the Ford Taurus's I can replace just short of half the fluid in one session, so maybe once per year? With the Chev Suburban 6.0 liter I can only pull out about 25% per session, so how about once every six months? I do about 12,000 miles per year on them. Somehow this has to be coordinated with a pan drop once in a while. Maybe a pan drop after 36,000 miles but considering I'm replacing so much fluid maybe a pan drop every 48,000 miles? What do people see on the transmission magnet? I'm hearing also, that people typically find hardly any debris in the transmission filter. Anyone got any photos of a "furry" transmission magnet?

I've always found a good bit of metal sludge on my magnets in the pan. But as I mentioned, I don't even bother to drop the pan or flush the system any more. I just use an inline filter and drain a few courts from the plug or cooler line every 30k or so. The first time I do a 3 time drain and fill or extraction with 500 to 1k or so miles in between initial drains to help get the break in wear out. I try to get around 3 quarts out each time Then an efficient filter and periodic drain and fills does the trick. Even that might not really be necessary as an efficient inline filter probably keeps it pretty clean and transmissions don't usually beat the oil up like the engine does.

 

[dave1251]

Now since I have bought the extractor I like to extract and fill 4 quarts every 25K I consider it a easy preventative maintenance practice.