Hi
I bought my car from a guy I don't think he's too concern about maintaning the car...Max 97 AT 167K miles........
1-What is AT flush ?
2-Do I have to do "Automatic transmition flush" at Meineke or something ? or they may mess something in the transmition so I'll be sorry to do it ?
3-What regular checking and maintenence should be done to AT and at which intervals ?

 

FWIW all of this can be found through search.


I wouldn't power flush it. Just drop the pan, check the magnets, clean the screen and fill it back up.

Just check the fluid every so often, I'd drain and fill every ~30k, maybe.

 

Thanks alot....
What is "check the magnets" ???

 

It means to...check the magnets

Look at them...make sure there isn't an abnormal amount of debris on them...etc.

 

Don't do the flush. You'll end up with more problems in the long run (read: replace ALL seals, or new tranny altogether)

Get the automatic filter kit (17$ at Kragen). It comes with a new filter and a gasket. Undo all but 4 corner bolts, then undo the back 2. Let it drain out and unbolt the rest.

There are 2 round magnets on the bottom. Take them out, clean them off, and clean the pan. Change the filter and reassemble.

Make sure you measure how much fluid you drained out, and replace with the same amount.

One more thing: to check ATF level, drop the car back down, start the engine, shift from park all the way to 1st, and back to park. Keep it idling, then measure. Add fluid if below the "Cold" reading. Do not overfill it.

BTW most of this came from the manual

 

Thanks........How much fluid does it take from "dry to full" AT pan ?

 

Go to any autoparts store and buy a service manual for the car. You will be able to do this very easily with the book's instructions which include pics, it's no more difficult than changing the oil. I do mine every summer and I have well over 200k and my car shifts like it's brand new. Mobil1 synthetic ATF.

 

It's not very precise, since you'll have some fluid in the torque converter. I did mine yesterday (4th gen) and it drained out 6 quarts. My moms 5th gen I did today (same transmission) only drained out 5 quarts. So, buy about 6 quarts and you won't have to scramble to get more.

 

I actually sell rebuilt torque converters, needless to say I'm in Transmission shops on a daily basis. The general rule after installing the filter and replacing the pan is to

1.Fill up till it show fluid on the dip stick
2.Start the car with the dip stick OUT
3.Check level WHILE car is idling, fill till at appropiate mark (should be < 1/2 qt)

I've actually seen people think that you fill it up with the car off, and then wonder why there car is in the trans shop with a $1200 trans rebuild bill.

Your biggest concern is to NOT OVERFILL it, it causes the trans to build up too much pressure and starts putting stress on all the seals and clutch packs through out the transmission.

 

What Max-e-Mo said! I had dealer over filled once, caused the tranny slipping a couple of times

So this is what I did with regard to drain/fill - I poured the drained out fluid into some empty engine oil containers so that I could get precise reading of how much was drained out, then filled exactly the same amount back in.