Auto changing poblem

[Jon Wildsmith]

I would say flush it, bring it to Lincomb, change the ATF another couple of times yourself just to make sure and put some miles on it before you set off on your travels proper. New parts / rebuilds can fail as well and the guarantee won't be worth much when you're many miles from your current home, so I wouldn't go that route unless you have further problems.

 

[fridayman]

I went to drop the truck off at the transmission place this morning and had a little chat wit them. It turns out that they were just going to drop the atf and replace (only once!), but not actually flush out the gearbox and torque converter. For £150! So I've ordered 25 litres of Dexron III (£105), and will do it myself by changing 5l at a time, running it, and repeat 5 times.

 

[Andrew Prince]

Et, it might worth attempting the ATF flush where you pour fresh ATF in via the filler tube (dipstick) and pull the ATF line going to the rad off and let it pump out into a bucket while you feed in the fresh stuff? I think Steven/SAE put up a link for doing this. If you connect up a section of clear hose, you can look for the colour change from strawberry milkshake in your case to clear red ATF coming through.
Obviously it may require a bit of stopping and starting the engine to feed the fresh ATF in as it flows in slower than it will pump out. I think the idea is to roughly measure the volume out and match with the same volume going in. I believe the a professional flush does this process more or less but they have proper pumps to drain and feed the oil.
(Apologies if you're aware of all this!)

I have been doing the 6l at a time ATF flush on mine but it's not massively satisfactory.

 

[fridayman]

Good idea. I'm getting some info off Steven and will give it a go. This has to be better than the repeated partial change.

 

[silvercruiser]

I went to drop the truck off at the transmission place this morning and had a little chat wit them. It turns out that they were just going to drop the atf and replace (only once!), but not actually flush out the gearbox and torque converter. For £150! So I've ordered 25 litres of Dexron III (£105), and will do it myself by changing 5l at a time, running it, and repeat 5 times.

£150 just to change the atf good job you asked before hand.

Joe

 

[wobbly]

I might be too late, but......

For the first 4 flushes use a cheaper II , comma or similar rather than 3 - there is no point putting the good stuff in whilst you've still got milkshake in there. Wait until the later stages before adding the expensive gear.

Good luck

Pete

 

[fridayman]

Pete - Dex III already bought, but I don't mind if it means I don't have to recon the box.

Can anyone tell me which hose pumps fluid into the cooler, and which one flows out?

 

[fridayman]

Ok, I've put 25 litres through the box and it is almost clear - it took almost 20 litres before it didn't look like milkshake. I'm just not sure if the atf coming out now is cloudy because it might be getting aerated in the box. Think I'll go get another 10 litres and see if it gets any clearer.

 

[Andrew Prince]

Maybe set a little sample of the suspected aerated ATF in a clear container and let it sit for a bit. If aerated, it will turn clear quite quickly. If it's water, it won't clear up or you will eventually see a layer of water develop as the emulsion separates.

BTW, which ATF line was the feed into the rad/cooler? Driver's side? (would be my guess)

So no last minute change of plan to come to Lincomb?

 

[wobbly]

Are you running the car around after every 5 or so litres?

Pete

 

[fridayman]

BTW, which ATF line was the feed into the rad/cooler? Driver's side? (would be my guess)

So no last minute change of plan to come to Lincomb?

Correct, it is the one on the drivers side. I simply pulled the hose off at the rad and stuck a piece of clear hose on which ran into an old oil container with litre markings.I could then start the truck and keep an eye on how much fluid was being pumped out (and what it looked like). It came out at roughly 2L per 30-40 seconds, and then I would stop and top up again before repeating. In total I used almost 35 litres before it ran completely clear.

I took it out for a very short drive and everything feels ok so far, but I think I want to do a few more journeys before I travel 130 miles with a baby - the little chap is a barrel of laughs until he gets bored, and I don't think he will stay amused for long if we do end up at the side of the road. But then again, if I pack extra toys and snacks...

Are you running the car around after every 5 or so litres?

No, just started it and then turned off again when it had pumped out 2 litres.

 

[Andrew Prince]

Cool, sounds like as successfull a job as you could have hoped for! Certainly better than you would have received in exchange for your £150...

In total I used almost 35 litres before it ran completely clear.

You must have had a few drums of ATF on hand then

Fingers crossed it's all good now!