automatic transmission help.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 316
Likes: 1
From: Douglas MA
automatic transmission help.
When I pulled my 2000 a4 out of the garage for the first time after it had been sitting in the garage all winter, I noticed I had a pretty good leak coming from the rear end. It appears that the leak came from the transmission seal. Snugging up the pan and the warm weather has seemed to solved that problem.
Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me, but the shifting has seemed a little sloppy.
I checked the fluid level according to the proper procedure and there was a little fluid that dribbled down the pan. I'm convinced, however, that it should be topped off... which I was going to do myself, but I couldn't figure out how to pour the a4 fluid into the drain plug hole.
So, what do you recommend I do (car has 81,000 miles on it):
a) add fluid myself (pending someone could tell me how)?
b) take the car to the stealership and have them service it?
c) take the car to a reputable vette mechanic and have them service it?
Is it time to change the fluid and filter? Is it time to have it overhauled?
Thanks in advance!
Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me, but the shifting has seemed a little sloppy.
I checked the fluid level according to the proper procedure and there was a little fluid that dribbled down the pan. I'm convinced, however, that it should be topped off... which I was going to do myself, but I couldn't figure out how to pour the a4 fluid into the drain plug hole.
So, what do you recommend I do (car has 81,000 miles on it):
a) add fluid myself (pending someone could tell me how)?
b) take the car to the stealership and have them service it?
c) take the car to a reputable vette mechanic and have them service it?
Is it time to change the fluid and filter? Is it time to have it overhauled?
Thanks in advance!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 788
Likes: 105
From: Olathe Kansas
Well, I hope that sometime in the last 81K miles,
the transmission had been serviced at least a couple of times/
I service my transmissions at least every 20K miles , if
not sooner.
I would find a reputable shop to do a complete service on it.
You NEED to have the pan dropped so you can inspect for
unusual wear & particles.
IF this means the stealership then so be it.
IF the pan looks ok, then maybe a good idea to have
the shop do a "flush" on it.
Do NOT do a flush 1st without knowing the overall condition.
It will push crap where you don't want it.
I have over 100K on mine. It runs as good/better than on day 1.
the transmission had been serviced at least a couple of times/
I service my transmissions at least every 20K miles , if
not sooner.
I would find a reputable shop to do a complete service on it.
You NEED to have the pan dropped so you can inspect for
unusual wear & particles.
IF this means the stealership then so be it.
IF the pan looks ok, then maybe a good idea to have
the shop do a "flush" on it.
Do NOT do a flush 1st without knowing the overall condition.
It will push crap where you don't want it.
I have over 100K on mine. It runs as good/better than on day 1.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 316
Likes: 1
From: Douglas MA
Anway... I decided to talk to In-Gear Transmission, a local tranny shop with a really good reputation. Everything he said seemed to align with what I've read here. He quoted me $169 for a full flush. The car's going in on Thursday.
Last edited by webelo; Mar 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM. Reason: found a typo.
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,100
Likes: 17
From: Somers, CT and Clermont, FL
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
DO NOT FLUSH it, if it has never been serviced before. You will only be asking for trouble. Just have them drop the pan to inspect for debris, and only replace the filter and the drained fluid. (about 4.5 qts.)
If you do this every 20-25k miles, your transmission should have a long life.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,237
Likes: 11
From: Lacombe Louisiana
Seems odd that we flush auto transmissions every day at the shop and have had exactly one problem,and that was on a 360,000 mile deisel dually that towed a 10 horse trailer all over the country from race track to race track.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 316
Likes: 1
From: Douglas MA
I also have a hard time believing that the flushing machine would not be equipped to take the proper precautions to ensure a clean flush of the transmission.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,466
Likes: 51
St. Jude Donor '17
yes you are right it does seem odd that you flush transmissions that often. IT is not a wise choice to make and someone in your shop is selling flush jobs and can careless at the tranny problems it causes the customer down the road.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,466
Likes: 51
St. Jude Donor '17
I'm tending to agree with this. I'm not a transmission expert, but the people I talked to are. They work on transmissions for a living. I have a hard time believing they would have the reputation they do if they recommended bad procedures.
I also have a hard time believing that the flushing machine would not be equipped to take the proper precautions to ensure a clean flush of the transmission.
I also have a hard time believing that the flushing machine would not be equipped to take the proper precautions to ensure a clean flush of the transmission.
Flushing moves fluid from areas that is not in the pan. Moving this fluid will move particles and can cause transmission failure on transmissions that are not regularly serviced. Usually clogging up the filter you just replaced.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,466
Likes: 51
St. Jude Donor '17
still have to tell those that are past x miles and never had a flush that it may not be the best choice
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,100
Likes: 17
From: Somers, CT and Clermont, FL
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
This sounds a little too risky to me. Only time will tell now, if it was a good decision or not. I'm, of course, hoping for webelo that no harm was done.
In over 40 years of servicing the automatic transmissions in my cars and trucks with regular fluid and filter changes at 20-30k mile intervals, and never having any one of them power flushed, I'm still a believer in the old tried and true method of regular maintenance.
