Flush What?

I have been to a few dealers and oil change places where they recommend 1] brake flush 2] Tranmission flush, and 3] Differential flush.



I did just get the radiator flushed since I do believe that it keeps the cooling system working more efficiently, keeps the radiator and the heater core clean.



I have a 2007 4x4 Explorer with 35000 miles. I don’t remember ever flushing any of those things with cars with less than 100000 miles. Even the owners manual does not recommend this. Where did this come from? Is there any truth to this?

I would stick to the maintenance schedule in your owners manual and I would stay away from dealerships and chain oil change shops. They tend to oversell unneeded maintenance. Never flush a transmission or differential. Your curiosity means that you are savvy enough to avoid being taken in by people trying to get a couple of boat payments from you.

That is exactly what I thought. I was a mechanic of sorts when I was in HS working at a gas station. I got more and more involved in car repairs so I do have a pretty fair understanding of what is true and what is not. That, and my own car self repairs have taught me quite a bit. Of course, my “professional” experience was in 1969 - 1971, and cars were a lot simpler then.

Your transmission is due for service. Do not flush it, just drop the pan, change the filter and refill. This needs to be done every 25-30k miles.

transman