tranny fluid change (not flush)

car's got 110K on the tranny. havent changed it yet since i bought it at 75K. car's modded-mostly bolt-ons and just had 1.9 stock modified rockers installed. car shifts fine for now. would it be OK to drop the pan and change my filter and change the fluid? im not flushing the tranny, just adding back in what went out when dropping the pan. Nay or Yay?
thanks in advance

car's got 110K on the tranny. havent changed it yet since i bought it at 75K. car's modded-mostly bolt-ons and just had 1.9 stock modified rockers installed. car shifts fine for now. would it be OK to drop the pan and change my filter and change the fluid? im not flushing the tranny, just adding back in what went out when dropping the pan. Nay or Yay?
thanks in advance


I would have to vote Nay. Dropping the pan still keeps the majority of the fluid in the tranny and torque converter. If you do that, when you fill back up you would be mixing a few quarts of new, clean tranny fluid in with old, dirty fluid, which is kind of a waste. Plus, once you break the seal on the tranny pan, it will probably never seal as good as it does now, even when changing the gasket.

Check out your dealer. They have a special tool that sucks out just about all of the tranny fluid. They should get you fixed up for around a hundred bucks.

I'd go with just a pan drop and screen filter at your mileage. The problem with a dealer's fluid exchange service using either a Kent Moore or Wynn servicer is particles such as metal shavings and clutch material may get into the valve body. Plus the screen filter is not replaced. In most cases after this type of service problems develop such as harsh shifting due to PCS solenoid problems or other shift solenoid problems. It is not to say everyone does but we get alot of members that do after a flush is performed.

On a pan drop you will replace approximately 7.5 quarts of ATF (Dextron-III) which is at least 75%. The remaining amount is in the torque convertor and cannot be drained manually. The total capacity is 10 quarts.

On the OEM tranny pan preformed seal I have reused mine at least 4 times. Just inspect it and replace if necessary. Torque bolts to 10 ft-lbs.

So Yay on pan drop, Nay on flush.

I'm with bnaylor on this one. Do the trans filter and replace only the fluid you lose dropping the pan. At your mileage, doing a trans fluid flush/exchange is a very bad idea, unless you like replacing tranaxles.

The Flush is a bad idea on any Tranny....Im confussed why most dealerships stopped doing the pan drop.....not that it matters for me cause I do my own but still for the general public its a bad idea