I know there's the TSB on the "triple flush" procedure. I know it sounds like I'm being cheap, but is there a way to flush at home? Changing the pan fluid is only 1/3 of the fluid yes? Years ago, we'd pull the return trans line off and drain it that way- but I haven't read any one doing that. 2016 stingray, Z51, 19,000 miles, no shutter yet.
Thanks in advance

 

Changing the trans fluid by just dropping the trans pan leaves about four quarts in the torque converter, and most cars today do not have a drain plug in the converter. A DIY can flush the old fluid out of the converter using the following procedure:

1 Remove and replace the trans pan and filter and refilling with new fluid.
2 Disconnect the trans cooler line. On my Stingray, I disconnected the line at the trans cooler inside the driver side rear wheel well.
3 Start the engine and run it long enough to flush a quart of fluid out thru the cooling line
4 Stop the engine
5 Refill trans with one quart of fluid
6 Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 until old fluid is flushed out of converter
7 Reconnect trans cooling line
8 Refill trans fluid to proper level
9 Done

I followed the steps above on my C7 last year. Here is the rational why I would not allow the use of an ATF fluid exchange machine connected to my car especially if the pan is not dropped and cleaned.

Most trans pans have one or two magnets attached to the bottom. Over time, the magnets collect metal debris and residue. And, the trans filter has also collected debris and residue. If an ATF fluid exchange machine is connected to a car for a trans flush, all that junk may work its way thru the trans. And if the junk gets into the valve body, it will hang its valves besides other problems. How do I know that the fluid exchange machine is clean? For me, servicing my car is more about trust than saving a buck.

The following video is a great example of a generic DYI flush as I described in the above steps.

 

Thank you Sir. I'm on it.
Do you remember which line was the return?

 

Sorry, I do not remember exactly. I think I went for the line that was the easiest to access, because I do remember having to disconnect just one line instead of disconnecting a second line. I appreciate if you would take a pic and post back to this thread. The next time I service the trans I going to shoot a video and post it. Good luck.

 

Is the fluid the only issue with the A8?

 

Another technique: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...g-the-pan.html

 

It seems to be pretty reliable as long as you keep it under 600 RWH.

 

Hi Guys,
Update-
I did a hybrid procedure last night.
1. Sucked most of the fluid out from the top with the mightyvac fluid extractor (if you don't have one of these, it's a life saver). It seems that no matter how careful you are, when you drop a full pan of trans fluid, it seems to go everywhere.

It sucked out about 4 quarts.
Then took the pan off to change filter. As other guys have mentioned- the bolts at the rear of the pan are a real bitch. I loosened the trans mounts, jacked it up until the nuts were almost out of threads. Swivel 10mm can then get in there.



The car has 20k miles on it, I've owned it for about 2k. It's pretty apparent a change or flush has been done in the past. Almost no motor mud on the magnets, fluid looks pristine, very little residue at the bottom of the pan.

I cleaned it anyway, new filter, new gasket.

I changed gears from wanting to flush the entire system (by pulling the return line on the trans cooler).
I'm just going to fill it up, warm/cycle it through, suck the pan fluid out again (another 4 quarts) for good luck since I already have the fluid ready. Refill/check, then call it done. It will be a long time before I ever have to mess with it again. The mightyvac fluid extractor/dispenser should make this job a breeze. I re-filled my c6 trans with the quart pumper method, I don't think my forearms had that kind of workout since high school.

Good luck to anyone attempting this, it's not hard. Just take your time. Make sure you get the new gasket on correctly, start ALL bolts by hand before using power tools to zip the bolts in (you don't want to cross thread).

 

Thanks to all for the thread and details.
My husband has gathered all the stuff to do the flush on my C7…

 

Exactly what I did ....... 👍

Dave

 

Mytivac is the way to go. Makes ATF fluid changes easy.

My C7 only had ~ 1500 miles on it so I did not drop the pan.

2X black label, then they changed the formula again so

2X blue label.

24 Qts each time, don't even want to come close to TCC failures. If the TCC failed and need to tear the car apart to fix it , the car would be gone.

Also tuned V4 mode out with a Diablo I3.

As safe as can be without a DOD delete.

 

One final note-
I finished up my job last night. I started with 12 quarts of the blue label. Sucked as much as I could out with the migtyvac, dropped the pan, refiled (almost all the way).
Started, went through the gears, etc. Mightyvac'd again. Refilled. I had about 6oz left in the LAST of the 12 quarts. My point is- if you do the double flush method, you're going to be down to the wire if you only have 12 quarts on hand. I would say there's another 2 quarts in the bottom of the pan after the mighty vac procedure.

 

Anybody have details on how to access the cooler lines? Do you have to remove the bumper cover or rear wheelwell liner?

 

My comments assume that you are referring to the auto transmission cooler lines. My C7 is a 2017 Stingray. When I disconnected the transmission lines from the cooler mounted in the rear, I removed the driver side rear wheel and the wheelwell liner. The lines were readily available for me to disconnect from the cooler. I did not need to remove the rear bumper. Please note that my Stingray does not include a front mounted transmission cooler. Other C7 models such as the Z06 will have a different trans cooling configuration.

 

Mine is a Z06 so it would be interesting to see a circuit diagram for that model. Maybe someone knows if the fluid flows thru the front cooler or rear cooler first? dcova - your procedure makes a lot of sense to me. I'll add pictures when I change the fluid.

 

Well I didn't take pictures but I disconnected and flushed fluid out of the outer-most line at the rear cooler. Running the engine for 10 seconds flushed about a quart. I used a Harbor Freight transfer pump ($8) to suck fluid out of the pan before removal and also to fill. It worked great. I did the 1-quart fill / flush cycle 5 times.

 

Thank you for posting about your work and the great success you had. I find this process of flushing the old transmission fluid out from the torque converter a neat trick. I believe it is superior to just dropping the pan and refilling with fluid. Thanks again for posting.