Good morning everyone. So I have a few questions for all the automatic A8 owners. I have a 2016 z51 and am doing all preventive maintenance for knowledge and peace of mind. I have an appointment to do a triple flush at a corvette shop here in Miami, but they told me they don't drop the pan. They just empty and fill while running the car a little in between each session. They quoted me 385 for everything. But if I understand correctly, it's not proper procedure. Now the other thing is I did install the range finder and all is good. My car doesn't have any symptoms at all with shuddering or anything else. Should I still get the triple flush done or see what happens down the road. Also maybe it's possible it was done with prior ownership. I don't know. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all..

 

i would just drive it for now, its possible it has already been done. if you experience the shudder then pay for it

unless you just want to do it for peace of mind, i know i changed all fluids within the first year of owning mine... m7 though

 

OK that's what I'm figuring. Thanks

 

Not sure on the procedure but if I wasn’t sure, I would definitely have it done. By the time the shudder occurs, other parts( converter) have been affected.

 

I doubt that they are using Mobil 1 Blue label fluid which is the only approved and correct fluid to eleminate the known shutter issue. 24 quarts of Blue label fluid alone would cost more than $385 and thats the amount that a triple flush requires.

 

Hmmm....interesting. Yes and I want to make absolutely sure that the correct fluid is used to replace. So it's the Mobil 1 blue?
Thanks

 

Have you run a GM VIS report? If not contact one of your local GM dealer service writers and see if they will run a report. This will tell you everything that any GM dealership has ever done to the car. I have run my Range device since the 2nd week of ownership from new on my 2019 GS and luckily it was built a month after they changed to the new fluid, if you are not experiencing shudder I would leave well enough alone for now, again see what the report says and decide from there.

 

It cost me $700 at the dealer for the triple flush. But again if it isn't shuddering leave it alone.

 

Great info. Will definitely ask the dealer for that. Other then that yeah I think I will see what happens. I don't drive aggresive anymore anyways so there's that. Thanks.

 

That's a tough call. If it was me I would get the triple flush and have it done properly as GM outlines in the bulletin. You're spending $385 to begin with. Have a dealer do the proper procedure and kick in another $315 or so.

 

Yes. I was gathering it's about 600 or so from the dealer. I will find out this weekend. So the dealer would definitely have a better set up to do it properly? I've heard mixed stories. Thanks

 

The triple flush is a bit more than draining the transmission three times from the plug. They use a machine to pull it out from different areas. I paid $750.

 

As Keith said get a VIS report because it may have been done already.

 

When it was my money, I had no worries dumping the $700 to do the job. I didn't bother to ask anyone whether what had been done. It flows, it goes. I got no clue who did what and even with VIS, I don't know if you really did it properly. Besides, this is a great time to "interview" your tech. I get that people like to know which shop has done good and they want to go there. It doesn't tell you who worked on it so I might have got a good tech and you might not. See how he does the job. If he is a conscientious worker, have him to something more next time. If you slop the job through, I can bet you will do the same for the next job and the one after that.

As I see it, the Range device does little more than "band aid" the problem. If the issue is that the fluid picks up too much fluid for this type of transmission to handle, masking the problem isn't going to make it go away. It will still absorb moisture. If it doesn't shudder today, it might be because it hasn't picked up enough moisture to reach that threshold. What happens when it does and your device masks the problem? I don't care which dealer did what or didn't do what. I care which tech did what or didn't do what.

IMO, just do the job. $700 isn't going to kill you either way. Now if the fluid gets saturated with moisture, and it probably will sooner or later, would it hurt you then when you have to rebuild the transmission?

 

Aklim very well said. Didn't look at it that way. So now I just have to find a good corvette mechanic down here or someone from the dealer I can trust. It's tough here in Miami but I will search. As you said, if they do a good job for you the first time, chances are they will continue their workmanship. Thanks!

 

Dealer or not usually doesn't matter but I am GUESSING that there is something special about the Corvette certified and not sure if outside of dealer, you can do it. I don't talk dealer. I'm interested in the particular tech. This should be involved enough to get a tech and not a lube guy. Ask who are the Corvette certified techs and go from there.

 

On a older car with mileage you really need to drop the pan and clean the magnets and change the filter.

A bit more involved than just changing the fluid.

When I changed the ATF fluid myself the car only had ~1500 miles on it so I did not drop the pan.

Just sucked it out, refilled and ran thru the gears, repeated 3X, 8 Qts each time.

2X Black label, 2X Blue label (24 Qts each time, 3 x 8) GM changed from Original to Black to Blue just as I finished the prior exchange.

Not too hard but time consuming.

 

A Carfax report on your car should have the triple flush service listed if it was done. I found out shutter was a thing a month after buying my car. Although I had no symptoms I wanted to know if the flush had been done. I found it
listed on the Carfax report that came with my car. I got the range device at the same time and have never had an issue.

 

Did it specifically mention the triple flush or "transmission Flush" like with the OP's shop? I'd definitely want to check it out with the shop. I had to ask a couple of shops before I got one that could show me the process. A couple told me it was dropping the pan only, hence the question

 

Just had the triple flush done at the dealership this week 2019 gs 6,000 miles he said they removed the pan to drain only once then did the flush 24quartz used and the car was unbelievable better just on the ride home was thinking about selling the car before because the shudder was that bad