Y3k-Bug

Title says it all. Looking for brand of tranny fluid/filter to drop in my 87 GXE with 83k miles. In terms of service history, I'm pretty sure the previous owner never bothered to change it, and if he did, he used some generic Car & Driver fluid, which I don't care for.

As far as the fluid's current condition goes, it definately needs to go. Looks just as dark as the motor oil although thankfully there are no sediments/debris present, so the tranny seems to be taking the beating well. Helps that the original owner only put 78k miles on it in 17 years.

So I'll be heading over to the local Aamco this morning to have her power flushed, but I wish to bring my own high quality fluids/filter. Any recommendations would be extremely helpful.

By the way, I did read through the ATF thread in the Fluids forum, didn't seem to have any helpful info for 2nd gen'ers

(_8*(l)Homer

You would not believe the condition of my tranny fluid. Like grey water, 17 years old and 188k miles on same fluid. Needless to say the tranny shows wear. But I used the Valvoline High Mileage ATF. I feel synthetic would do more harm than good as it would seap out the old seams and gaskets.
I have no useful information about the fluid filter.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Agreed. 2nd gen auto's are notoriously weak, and synthetic might not do so well for them. I would stick to a conventional ATF. As for the filter, IIRC, it's not serviceable unless you take appart almost the entire tranny.

S

Y3k-Bug

Thanks for the tips guys. I was actually considering the synthetics due to the praise received from the ATF fluid thread in the other forum.

So I figure anything autozone sells would be sufficient?

(_8*(l)Homer

I wouldn't go out and buy the cheapest oil you can find, Valvolene or Castrol is what I would use personally.

I used Amsoil in my 97 Max, and oh man, it was smooth as silk. But I would never use it in my 87. Same goes for synthetic motor oil. I used that in my 87, and it seeps out all over the place.

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Yeah, Castrol is probably the best one to go with.

S

86Wagon

It's also been said that it's not a good idea to power flush the
2nd gen auto trannies... just drain and fill only...

Scott

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

accually whats probally best is a exchange not a power flush.

an exchange plugs into one transmission cooler line and grab the old fluid and dumps it into a waste tank and at the same time on the other end of the same line new fluid is being put into the cooler then getting to the transmission....no pressure is being adjusted just what ever pressure the transmission makes it self so it goes at its own pace.

we have this where i work and its pretty easy to do....a D/F will only get about 5 quarts...if i am not mistaken thats less than half of the new fluid in there with the old stuff....not quite going to make a difference

Y3k-Bug

Thanks for all the help guys.

Did the power flush before work today, went without a hitch. The problems I had with slow acceleration and loss of tranny power are now gone, and she shifts beautifully.

I went ahead a got a diagnostic evalution, as I was aware that many 2nd gen trannies can't take the stress of a power flush, and I wanted to see if that was the case with mine. While my tranny could (and did) handle it, the evalution found that my engine mounts are going, and my shifter bushing is bad.

I was wondering, does a bad shifter bushing damage the auto transmission, or just makes it a hassle to switch gears?

maximase86

iTrader: (24)

Probably more of a hassle I think. I've yet to have someone complain of a tranny going dead because of it.

S