I think the tranny is going...

[mgs2006]

Ive noticed a lot lately that my car jerks going into second gear, i had the transmission fluid flused at 89k miles and it seemed to do the tranny good, but now it seems to be starting up again. anyone have this problem? is it it the transmission?

[Ridenour]

Having your tranny flushed was a bad idea at that high of mileage. You most likely broke crap loose in there that was built up, and it floated around enough until it started causing problems. I would have the fluid drained / filled, with a filter change. But NOT flushed. Let us know if there's still problems after that.

[mgs2006]

I know im stupid, but can someone explain the diff between draining and flushing? on my invoice for the service it says: Transmission flush kit...so would that include a new filter or no? I dont really know what got done i was under the impression that the fuel filter and all those other filters would be replaced, but then someone told me that they dont change the fuel filter they just clean the fuel system...im so confused

[GTP Dad]

When you drain the transmission you are only removing a portion of the fluid, usually three to four quarts and replacing the filter with a new one. A transmission flush uses fluid to flush the entire transmission and remove all the old fluid and replace it with new. The problem with transmission flushes is that the flushing fluid that is used often removes friction material from the discs in the transmission. This causes them to slip when they are engaged. Flushing a low mileage transmission really does not harm the transmission as much as a high mileage one. If you have a transmission with more than 40K miles just change fluid and filter and forget the flush.

On this forum it seems that everyone with a high mileage transmission who had it flushed ends up replacing the transmission within 10K miles of the flush. So a flush is not recommended!

[mgs2006]

greatttt, i think its safe to say that ill probably be needing a new car soon then. :-(

[vamc]

Mine shifts hard sometimes into 2nd as well, not a big deal at this point. i have 126,500mi on my car. i had mt transmission flushed over there at ntb in town, it helped a little. If you want, you could do it yourself, but you will need to change the screan, but i dont think that would make too much of a difference. it will not hurt your car.

[PotIsYourFriend]

Hey MGS, Vamc... I've done mine 3 times (replacing the filter and fluid) it's freaking easy... Right up there with filling up your gas tank.... When I did it the first time I only added 3 quarts when I was finished and it took way more gas to get it to go (sluggish) and shifting to 2nd seemed like something was wrong.. It just didn't seem right... I think maybe they or you didn't add enough back or to much...


Heres how you do it...


Jack your car up on both sides and use jack stands to hold the car (I always have the jack still in place on one side just in case one of the jack stands breaks) theres about 10 bolts holding the tranny pan in place...

Just unscrew the one in the back corner and lossen the ones right next to it.. To drain the pan...

Once drained take all bolts out, to remove the filter just swing it back and forth pulling down... Watch out though because the filter holds a good amount of fluid...

I use the same gasket for the new filter (not the pan gasket but the inlet for the filter) Be sure to take off the gasket for the new one...

Then just push the new filter in place then screw all the bolts back but criss crossing...


Once you're finished add 6 quarts of tranny fluid.


It only takes about 30-40 minutes.. It's very easy...


Listen to GTP, flushing is a waste.. Would you flush your Oil without replacing the oil filter?

[vamc]

No, i guess not. But put it this way, let say you droped your filter in your driveway and let say something happened, like you could not get the filter or have it seal properly, and now you are leaking transmission fluid all over the place, the question comes to mind, do i have enought time to get to the store to get a replacement part, or is there an automotive place open. There are things like this that post a question. I do agree with you on the issue; would you replace your oil w/o changing your filter. I do agree. But doing a flush is quicker, and may salve problems. In some cases, all you need to do is flush the system, that would work, and yes in some cases, you will need to change everything. I guess what im trying to say is, do the easy thing and lass $ way first, then if the problem is not resolved then you will have to dig deeper to find the problem. IM not here to say that im RIGHT, but only expressing my thoughts on this issue.

[BNaylor]

When you do a pan drop and screen filter service on a 4T45E tranny, it is not recommended to just drain the fluid and dump in an arbitrary amount of ATF (Dextron-III) into it. The proper way is to check ATF level via an inspection hole located on the side of the passenger side of the transaxle. It's adjacent to the engine oil drain plug. ATF is added until the fluid drips out of the inspection hole. Otherwise you may find yourself under or overfilled.

It's the same for a Malibu and Grand Am or any GM car with a 4T45E transmission.

[vamc]

Its on the driverside.

[mgs2006]

I had my trans. flushed at NTB aswell, along with many other things that went wrong the bill was 700 dollars..ouch. so when NTB flushes it, do they put a new filter in also?

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by vamc

Its on the driverside.

Andrew, I was referring to the inspection hole to check level which is on the right hand side of the transaxle. It's a small plug that you undo counterclockwise. The filler hole with the red cap is where you put in the ATF is on the driver's side. Just wanted to clear that up so there is no confusion.

[vamc]

Im sorry, i thought you were talking about that top off hole that is below the air cleaner. Sorry about that. I miss understood.

[vamc]

I think its just one of those days. I want to go home from work.

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by vamc

Im sorry, i thought you were talking about that top off hole that is below the air cleaner. Sorry about that. I miss understood.

No problem my friend. Here's a helpful link concerning the issue and more details on properly checking the ATF level for a 4T40/45E:

http://www.quality-trans.com/faq/faq8.htm#41