Transmission fluid

[Xplorer01]

oK...Im thinking about doing a tranny flush but I dont know if i should do it or not, cuz i bought my car from an auction and dont know wheather or not the previous owner did a flush or not.

I bought it when it had 61K, what if he done the flush at 50K, another flush would be bad. And my mechanic said a flush is harmful anyways, just do a transmission fluid change once a year. Any opinions?

[jsgold]

Actual flushing does not have to be done very often. Personally, I would do it only every 75,000 miles or so. You will get different opinions on this I am sure. It really depends a lot on how you drive it and where. Ujnder normal everyday drivimg conditions fluid can last a long time. A total flush (which includes dropping the pan and cleaning it and a system flush) would be needed only every 75,000 miles or so. On my son's 91 his manual recommends doing this every 30,000 miles if it is used a lot for towing or a lot of off road use(severe driving). Would not do this under normal circumstances though. It is quite specific about a total cleaning if this needs to be done. Not just a simple pan and filter change. You only wind up replacing 3-31/2 qts of fluid out of 10. The best rule is to look at the fluid and see what color it is. If it is a nice red color with no burnt smell or brown discoloration then you are probably OK for now. If you want to be sure, or you think the fluid looks burn't go ahead and get it done. If you are just using the truck as most people do you won't need to do it again for a long time. Don't do it every year, it is a waste of money and can put too much pressure on seals from the machines used to do this.
PS - Take to a regular transmission shop, not the local Jiffy lube.

[Xplorer01]

Thanks for ur reply but that doesnt exactly answer my question. What if the previous owner already did a flush? I dont wanna do another one. It has 68k now , I bought it at 61K, what if he did a flush at 50K?

my mechanic told me to come in do the pan drop and fluid change every year but didnt recommend the flush.

[way2old]

Look at the color of the fluid. If it is bright red, the flush is not really needed yet. If it is brown, then think about it.

[jsgold]

Doing a pan drop is generally almost pointless. Only changing 3 qts of fluid out of ten. If you suspect the truck had a flush before, or just want to be sure pan is clean, well, then drop the pan and replace the filter if you want, just in case. Won't hurt. Hopefully, if the previous owner had a flush done, he had the sense to have the pan dropped at the same time. That would be OK for now. But I do not think you should waste your money doing this every year. Won't accomplish much with the low percentage of fluid you change out. Would be nice if you knew for sure about the history of the truck, might not need any of this for a while. You will get a lot of opinions on this subject. There is little mentioned in manuals about doing this, and my son's 91 manual suggests never doing it unless in a rough environment. Then, it recommends a total cleaning every 30,000 miles. His was changed and flushed for the first time at 110,000 miles (previous owner only dropped the pan 1-2 times since new) Was a lot of dark burnt fluid but little debris. Shifted smoother for sure. Go ahead and do your pan drop, but let the condition of your fluid guide you later. Perhaps there will be more comments to you on this.

[davidmmm]

Originally Posted by jsgold

Doing a pan drop is generally almost pointless. Only changing 3 qts of fluid out of ten. I

I dropped the pan on mine which is a 1995 explorer and I also have a 2002 explorer. but anyway the 1995 pan was dropped installed a drain in the pan and replaced the filter which was visably dirty.
it is more than 3 quarts when i did my pan drop i took out almost 6 quarts.

I do not think dropping the pan and replacing some fluid and filter is pointless.. it cost me less than $30.00 total for fluid and filter which is good and cheap for hoping to help the life of the tranny which is not cheap..
I do a pan drop and change the fluid in the tranny every 8 months or like 10000 miles. maybe a little quick but my 1995 has 160000 pls miles and still running like a charm and my 2002 has 95000 miles on it already...

[steve11]

i somewhat agree with david. i changed the oil on my 2002 and got about 5 quarts out. was not real dirty at 40,000. i bought it with 20,000. maybe i onlly got half the oil out, but i plan to change again at 60,000. 5 NEW quarts every couple years should give me very good oil. alos i prefer to do my work myself if possible.

[jsgold]

A poor choice of words on my part. If a man wants to change the filter and pan fluids more power to him. My point is that somewhere along the line you need a total flush to totally clean the transmission. Each one is different with amount of fluid replaced when changing. Our 91 only drops 3-4 qts. Even if you did it every 10,000 miles, you will always have old fluid there, just diluted. I still think a total flush including the filter and pan cleaning needs to be done every 75,000 miles or so, if you want to get 200,000+ miles out of it. My family's GM cars do get a pan drop every 24 months or so, and a total flush every 75K.(91,000, 168,000, and 177,000 miles) For some reason they tend to have more debris in the fluid where the Explorer had almost none, just dark fluid. And for what it's worth I do my own flushing as well.

[Xplorer01]

Thanks alot guys...Im only 21 years old and got an 2001 explorer sport at a high price most kids cant afford and love it and the color and prey that it will last past 200,000 miles just like some of you. Transmission if the biggest part im worried about since its the most expensive, thanks again you all especially js gold, you really do sound like what your talking about and i can trust you and take ur word.