I am not a fan of the transmission being flushed. Sometime the flushing procedure introduces problems of it's own. Drain the trannie fluid and drop the pan and change the filter then put in new fluid, yes, but flush, no.
'05' F-250 Power Stroke
'00' 30' Cameo Fifth Wheel
I would flush real well and fill with new oil, then put 5k miles and do it again.
Papa Bob
1* DW "Granny"
1* 2008 Brookside by Sunnybrook 32'
1* 2002 F250 Super Duty 7.3L PSD
Husky 16K hitch, Tekonsha P3,
Firestone Ride Rite Air Springs, Trailair Equa-Flex, Champion C46540
"A bad day camping is better than a good day at work!"
I also agree with Road Runner. Flushing is not really necessary. Be sure you clean the pan very well so that with the filter being changed and new fluid being added you should be in very good shape.
Jim
Driver: Me Passengers: None RV:1996 Holiday Rambler Endeavor LE, 230 HP Cummins - FMCA F408358 Toy:1992 Geo Tracker 4x4 Favorite Quote: Now that's funny! WARNING: THIS RIG PROTECTED BY SMITH AND WESSON!
Our shop has a policy to not do a flush if the vehicle has more than 75,000 miles and has never been done at all. The reason we decided to do it this way is because after doing this with a couple high mileage pickups the transmission went out. My ASE certified transmission builder told me if they have never been serviced and are flushed that all the dirt & grit you flushed out was what was acting as the friction is flushed away & the transmission will slip. We have witnessed this a few times. If you must do something just drop the pan & change the filter & add enough fluid to refill.
Since in poor condition from lack of servicing/flushing/etc, it is pretty close
to failure anyway.
Flushing will have the new ATF and it's additive package do it's work as it is
designed to. Clean off the various component parts.
Since it worn and held together or sealed by or whatever by the dirt/varnish/etc
it will leak or 'seem' to fail right after the flush.
Ask where would you prefer to have your setup fail? Out in the boonies where it
will cost much more, sweetie mad as a wet hen at you, or even worse, they can't
fix it and either you have to have your stuff towed for you, or fly in the new
components...
-Ben Picture of my rig
1996 GMC SLT Suburban 3/4 ton K3500/7.4L/4:1/+150Kmiles orig owner...
1980 Chevy Silverado C10/long bed/"BUILT" 5.7L/3:73/1 ton helper springs/+329Kmiles, bought it from dad...
1998 Mazda B2500 (1/2 ton) pickup, 2nd owner...
Praise Dyno Brake equiped and all have "nose bleed" braking!
Previous trucks/offroaders: 40's Jeep restored in mid 60's / 69 DuneBuggy (approx +1K lb: VW pan/200hpCorvair: eng, cam, dual carb'w velocity stacks'n 18" runners, 4spd transaxle) made myself from ground up / 1970 Toyota FJ40 / 1973 K5 Blazer (2dr Tahoe, 1 ton axles front/rear, +255K miles when sold it)...
Sold the boat (looking for another): Trophy with twin 150's...
51 cylinders in household, what's yours?...
Change it out but don't do the 'power flush' with the pump machine they have at the quick lube place. Just have them remove the pan and drain the tranny and the cooler lines, button it back up and fill with fresh fluid. Do this a couple times in the next few thousand miles and you will have all the fluid changed out without risking blowing any crud into the passages with the pressure pump.
I agree with SoCalDesertRider or you can take his idea one step further as I did, with a tranny cooler you can actually do a full fluid change. Let it pump out the fluid, refill and let it pump the fluid out again. It took about 4 cycles to get all the fluid nice and bright red. Then drop the trans pan and change the filter. But on an 02 F150 there is very possibly a drain plug on the torque converter, this is where most of the fluid is stored, removing the drain plug and changing the filter while it is open will be good.
2006 F250 Extended Cab, Long Bed, 6.0 PSD, Tow Package
2006 Keystone Springdale 242
BrickBrain wrote: I have a new to me '02 F150 with 90K miles. I'm not having any problems but have learned that the tranny fluid may have never been changed. My first thought was to rush out and get it flushed but some old timers tell me it's too late. They say if I get it flushed it may cause problems. May I get your opinions?
Thanks
IMHO you do need to change the fluid. HOWEVER, here are a couple of thoughts to consider...
1. Do not have it flushed with chemicals with something like the B&G flush machine or back flushing, etc. That can loosen deposits w/o actually removing them and causing issues down the road. There are or should be ways to use just the existing tranny pump to change out close to 95% of the fluid. A simple drop the pan or drain via the plug and refill might be O.K., but you might want to do that like 3X in the next 20K miles to get as much new fluid in there as possible. With that many miles w/o service I would want to drop the pan and look what is on the magnet in the bottom of the pan.
2. Look at installing prior to the flush an inline tranny filter like the Magnefine one from the outlet of your tranny and before the coolers. That will help to prevent anything getting to the coolers and continuing to recirculate in the tranny. These little filters that are only about $25 have both a very strong magnet and an actual filter and do a remarkable job is preventing even the normal "stuff" from getting to the coolers and getting deposited there. Below is a pic of one taken apart that was on my tranny for 25K miles. 11K of those miles were on my tranny with total miles on it from 22K to 33K miles and the other 14K miles were after installation of my built tranny which was basically a new tranny. You can clearly see the mud that the Magnefine magnet caught and prevented it from even getting to the coolers and possibly being deposited there before getting back to the pan and maybe being picked up by the magnet there. All the fluid passes thru this little filter and not just that chicken wire one in the tranny pan.
If the transmission is in good internal condition, changing the fluid will not damage it. The people that think that the debris and material in the fluid are generating the 'friction' that is keeping it together have no idea how an automatic transmission works. If the internal parts of the transmission are coated with varnish/sludge because the fluid has already failed, it is that material that may become dislodged by the detergent properties of the new fluid, and this material will travel through out the trans and eventually collect in the filter/screen and this can cause a loss of pressure which will cause clutch pack slippage. As long as the fluid isn't already burnt, I would change it. If it is already burnt, then you are probably too late!
If it ain't broke,
Fix it until it is
Gary & Jeanne
Beau, Rafe, and Guy (3 Fur Kids)
+ 'Pop' my 'working dog'
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