Well?
If the transmission fluid were serviced every 30,000 miles with an exchange machine, you wouldn’t have to worry about debris/sludge getting into the valve body.
Pat explains it very well, where almost anyone can understand the reasoning.
Tester
Much ado over semantics. Flush, exchange, swap, substitute, R & R, or whatever. Lingo varies by locale.
It’s similar to alignment on a car where a car may crab going down the road. Some refer to it as crabbing, others thrust angle, and some like me call it tracking. It’s one and the same.
As for debris in the valve body the only way I could see that happening would be if someone used a reverse flush fluid machine.
I don’t even know of anyone that uses the type. They’re all cooler line exchange machines or pump inlet machines in which the pan and filter is dropped before use.
The OP’s problem sounds similar to the one my youngest son who lives in another city suffered some years ago on his Lincoln Aviator. A fluid exchange was done.
This was followed right afterwards with a hard (very hard) jolt when the trans shifted into second.
This was determined to have been caused by a flaky valve body solenoid that had nothing to do with the flush.
The only issue with the flush is that these guys (a Ford dealer of all people) did not drop the pan, clean it, and replace the filter.
This was determined to have been caused by a flaky valve body solenoid that had nothing to do with the flush.
Who determined that? The ones who did the fluid exchange? Hmmmm…
Well in spite of my previous posts concerning flush/exchange etc, I would still be more suspect about the ATF than the procedure. I think that may have gotten lost in the debate over flush vs drain.
I love Motor Week, but not a big fan of Pat Goss. He seems to be just a shill for auto products. Some of the products he’s pushing are snake oil. One product he pushed was for a few years was the electronic rust inhibitor. And then there were the few oil additive products for better gas mileage and improved performance.
@insightful, that was determined by a friend of mine wo has 40+ years of transmission rebuilding experience as an independent and is far more knowledgeble on automatics than I am. Even he struggled a bit with sorting it out and at least the dealer decided to warranty the problem.
The original flush/exchange/whatever was done by the longest lived Ford dealer in the U.S.; not that it means anything.
I don’t see a problem with flushing/exchanging/whatever. It’s the best method for removing old fluid from the entire system.
Luckily my Lincoln has a rubber plug on the bottom of the bellhousing and a drain plug on the converter.
I might also agree with keith about the type of fluid. I don’t remember the OP stating who did the fluid exchange. If it was a fast lube facility it could be they used a one size fits all ATF.
I know my current and past Fords have all been a bit touchy about the type of fluid used and how long it remains in the trans before being changed.
@MikeInNH I agree; years ago there was some practical advice; now the supplier of whatever he peddles is most prominent.
I’m all for GENERIC advice on good practices and products. Also the Garage does not look like a garage anymore; more like aa showroom.